This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: There is now a third season. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(July 2018)
Citizen Soldier is a television program produced by the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. It airs on PBS channel WTTW. Each 26 minute episode of Citizen Soldier explores topics on military history, affairs and policy through interviews and panel discussions with scholars, military personnel, and authors. From exploring the military necessity of the Emancipation Proclamation with James McPherson to an alternative history of the Battle of Midway during World War II, this series seeks to educate the public about important aspects of history and policy.[2]
Production
Citizen Soldier is created by Pritzker Military Museum and Library as part of the Library's mission to develop appropriate programs focusing on the Citizen Soldier in the preservation of democracy.[3]
Two episodes from the second season won Telly Awards.[4] The fourth episode, "The Tuskegee Airmen Of World War II" won in the Online Video category and the ninth episode, "The Next Battlefield: On Cyber War" received its prize in the Film & Video category.[5]
Episode List
Season 1
Season
Episode
Title
Hosted By
Panel Members
Sponsored By
Original Air Date
Original Record Date
1
1
"The Reserves and the National Guard in the 21st Century"
Major General Andrew B. Davis
Colonel Paul Hastings, Major General William D. Razz Waff, Secretary Dennis M. McCarthy, Major General William M. Enyart,
Reserve Officers Association
TBA
10 May 2012
This program features a discussion of the United States Military Reserves and the National Guard in the 21st century.[6]
1
2
"150 Years After the Emancipation Proclamation"
Kenneth Clarke
James McPherson James Cornelius
Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum Foundation
17 February 2013 (2013-02-17)
28 September 2012
This program features a discussion about the military necessity of the Emancipation Proclamation.[7]
A conversation between Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Dakota Meyer and noted author Bing West about Meyer's experience in the battle of Ganjigal.[8]
1
4
"Battle of Cantigny"
Dr. John Allen Williams
James Carl Nelson, Paul Herbert
First Division Museum at Cantigny
TBA
November 14, 2012
Dr. John Allen Williams moderates a discussion between James Carl Nelson, author of The Remains of Company D: A Story of the Great War and Paul Herbert, Executive Director of the First Division Museum at Cantigny about the WWI Battle of Cantigny and Colonel McCormick's legacy.[9]
1
5
"Lake Michigan's Lost World War II Aircraft"
Bob Rasmussen
Taras Lyssenko, Captain Ed Ellis, Bill Marquardt
A&T Recovery, The Naval Aviation Foundation and Glenview Hangar One foundation
TBA
4 December 2012
This episode features a discussion about carrier qualifications during World War II and the ongoing efforts to recover and preserve the aircraft lost during the war.[10]
1
6
"Changes And Challenges: Women In Today's Military"
Stacey Baca
Erica Borggren, Dr. Rebecca J. Hannagan, Kimberly Mitchell
Sponsored by Easter Seals, Inc with additional support from Chicago Foundation for Women.
25 September 2013 (2013-09-25)
24 January 2013
This episode features a discussion of the issues female veterans encounter during and after service in the military.[11]
1
7
"Max Hastings & Rick Atkinson: The Embedded Journalist And Military History"
This panel featured three American veterans who were prisoners of war in different conflicts. They discussed their experiences as POWs and how they endured their time in captivity.[14]
1
10
"Nazi Concentration Camp Liberators"
Elizabeth Brackett
Dr. Waitman Beorn, Michael Hirsh, Dr. Keith Huxen, Major General William Levine, Dan Baker, Don Johnson
National WWII Museum
TBA
28 March 2013
This episode focuses on the liberation of concentration camps including first hand account by men who were there.[15]
Season 2
Season
Episode
Title
Hosted By
Panel Members
Sponsored By
Original Air Date
Original Record Date
2
1
"Refighting The Pacific War - Alternate History And The Battle Of Midway"
Jim Bresnahan
Elliot Carlson, John Lundstrom, and Jon Parshall
U.S. Naval Institute
TBA
29 March 2012
Jim Bresnahan leads a panel of historians in exploring an alternate history of World War II in this episode of Citizen Soldier. Panelists Elliot Carlson, John Lundstrom, and Jon Parshall discuss the "what if" questions surrounding the Battle of Midway.[16]
2
2
"In Our Voices, Veterans From WWII, Vietnam, Iraq And Afghanistan"
Laura S. Washington
David H. Hymes James Mukoyama
Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
TBA
11 November 2012
This episode features veterans discussing the ways in which military service has changed in the last 60 years, the ways in which it will never change, and how their sacrifice shapes our world today.[17]
An exploration of the history and heritage of America's first black military aviators[19]
2
5
""The Fiction Of War," With Tim O'Brien And Karl Marlantes"
Karl Marlantes
Tim O'Brien
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
18 January 2015 (2015-01-18)
15 November 2013
An insightful discussion by Vietnam veterans and award-winning fiction writers Tim O'Brien and Karl Marlantes on the subjects of literature, war, politics, and writing.[20]
2
6
"The Big Red One On D-Day"
Paul Herbert
Joseph Balkoski, John C. McManus, and Steven Zaloga
First Division Museum At Cantigny Park
9 November 2014 (2014-11-09)
13 March 2014
Leading historians discuss the United States Army " Big Red One" First Division History[21]
2
7
"Navy SEALs: The Unspoken Sacrifice"
Kenneth Clark
Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward Stephanie Freid-Perenchio Mike Martin
Stone Park by the Lake
25 January 2015 (2015-01-25)
15 May 2015
Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward discusses the SEAL experience with documentary photographer Stephanie Freid-Perenchio and SEAL Mike Martin[22]
2
8
"On The Brink Of World War I: Citizen Soldier"
Dr. John Allen Williams
Doran Cart Dr. Nikolas Gardner Dr. Saje Mathieu
National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial and Shook, Hardy, & Bacon through the Charles Bacon Fund.
16 November 2014 (2014-11-16)
12 June 2014
Leading Historians Discuss the causes of the outbreak of the First World War[23]
2
9
"Cyber War: The Next Battlefield"
Kenneth Clarke
Michael V. Hayden Jason Healey
Cyber Conflict Studies Association,
22 February 2015 (2015-02-22)
26 September 2014
General Michael Hayden, a retired four-star Air Force General and former director of both the NSA and CIA, discusses with cyber security expert Jason Healey the rapidly evolving role played by technology in military, intelligence and counterintelligence operations.[24]
2
10
"The Ongoing Story Of USS Pueblo, With Executive Officer Edward R. Murphy, Jr.: Citizen Soldier"
Dr. John Allen Williams
Edward R. Murphy, Jr.
Colonel (IL) J.N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired) and Act One Mayne Stage.
8 February 2015 (2015-02-08)
30 September 2014
Author and former Navy Lieutenant Edward R. Murphy Jr. shares his experiences as Second in Command aboard USS Pueblo, the American spy ship famously captured and held by North Korea since 1968.[25]
