ABOUT THE FILM

FILMMAKER Q & A

Aren't there enough World War II documentaries already? Why is the 507th story important?
Phil: This was a question one of my friends asked me when we started the project. I laughed and said, "We need one more—this one." In truth, there have probably been more documentaries and movies made about World War II than any other subject in the history of the world. I think the reason for this is that there are so many profound, personal and important stories that came from this global conflict. In our film, Marty Morgan argues that D-Day was the most important day of the 20th century and that it changed the course of history.

So for us to have access to a group of D-Day veterans who played a significant role in the liberation of Normandy and throughout the rest of the war was something of great value. The fact that they decided to reunite 60 years later to establish a memorial for their regiment was remarkable. How could you not tell that story?

It is also worth noting that this may be the first World War II documentary that neither mentions nor shows an image of Adolf Hitler. In the first cut of the film we realized that the vets didn't talk much about Hitler, Churchill, Eisenhower, Roosevelt, etc. They talked about their experiences. So in keeping with the spirit of Down to Earth we decided to leave out the big names and keep our focus on the veterans' war experiences.