The big day has come at last! After 90 years their incredible story
is finally being told on PBS stations around the country. And for the
living relatives of the WWI Polar Bear soldiers across the country,
this date couldn't come too soon. Their father's and grandfathers
longed for their incredible story to be told and sadly died thinking
it never would be. The film, called Voices of a Never Ending Dawn,
takes us on an emotional journey, inside the hearts and minds of a
group of young American soldiers who not only struggled with a mission
that became known as the most "horrific" mission ever assigned,
but these young soldiers also struggled with the thought that their
country had forgotten them while on that mission!
Voices of a Never Ending Dawn, the film about WWI's soldiers known as
"The Polar Bears" has been airing on six Michigan PBS stations, has now
been picked up by between 50 and 60 PBS stations across the country,
which will air the moving film during the months of May, June and
July 2010.
Airing on PBS stations as both a 2-hour film and a two-episode dramatic
documentary, the emotional film is about some 5,500 young WWI soldiers
known as The Polar Bears. The story is told in the words of the young
soldiers themselves. And after 90 years it will finally be known that
America's "Cold War" did not begin without fire!
These young American soldiers, who named themselves The Polar Bears,
were shipped off to Northern Russia to fight the first Communists
during the start of the "Bolshevik Revolution" in 1918 and 1919.
They were called upon to fight an unknown enemy (the first Communists)
in 60 degree below-zero blizzards under a confusing midnight sun, eight
long months after WWI had ended and all other American soldiers had
come home! Night usually gives cover and rest to fighting soldiers,
but this was not so for The Polar Bears. They never knew if it was
night or dawn so they simply were forced to keep on fighting while
time seemed "never ending".
Stripped of everything American, given little to no medical supplies,
and placed entirely under British rule, our young American soldiers
found themselves facing what has become known as "the acid test of
loyalty to country". And despite all of the odds against them,
the majority of these men not only survived, but they became known as
one of the most courageous and decorated units in all of WWI.
Voices of a Never Ending Dawn is not a political film nor is it a
"war documentary". It is a moving human story about survival against
all odds and the cohesiveness of a unit that became so strong these men
decided to stay alive and fight for each other while they hoped to
someday make it home.
U.S. Senator Carl Levin appears in the film making many insightful
comments about these men and their mission. He also makes the point
that as American soldiers they had the right to question this mission
although still expected to carry out their orders. And as they learned
that WWI was over and oddly no one was calling them home, many in the
Polar Bear unit did begin to question their mission wondering if they
had been forgotten. Senator Levin himself gave The Polar Bears a
Congressional Tribute for their courage to carry on so valiantly
under such horrific circumstances both physically and emotionally.
Through the film we also learn that it was the parents of these young
soldiers who were the first Americans ever to patriotically protest
and petition Washington D.C. to bring their sons home. These parents
were the first American citizens ever to make a change in US Foreign
Policy by doing so. All this and more is covered in the film - a film
that gives viewers much food for thought while making no opinions.
DEEP SNOW SCENES SHOT IN MICHIGAN
Although all the "voices" of the Polar Bears (the moving words from
their own diaries) were recorded by actors in Southern California,
dramatic re-enactment scenes, that accompany the soldier's recollections
on the battlefield were shot in the deep snows of Northern, Michigan
during a remarkable five-day blizzard that covered the entire state in
mid January of 2009.
Award-winning producer/director Pamela Peak (known for her moving PBS
documentary film Colorblind - see: www.ColorblindDocumentary.com ) felt
that bringing her viewers on the journey with the Polar Bears was
essential to getting everyone to understand what they endured. That is
why Peak and her crew traveled from sunny Southern California to brave
7-degree below-zero temperatures to capture dramatic scenes in blizzard
conditions in the dead of winter in Northern, Michigan. It is an
experience she and her crew will not forget!
Peak felt that only "Michigan men" (the state where Peak grew up and a
great many of the Polar Bears were from) could survive the unrelenting
blizzard conditions they faced while shooting dramatic battle scene
re-enactments. And, the entire shoot, although potentially dangerous
due to sub-zero temperatures and driving deep snows, went off without
a hitch during all five days of shooting.
PEAK'S OWN GRANDFATHER WAS A POLAR BEAR
Peak's own grandfather named Guy Campus was one of the WWI Polar Bears.
Not understanding history as a little girl, she grew up thinking that
"everyone's grandpa went to Northern Russia in WWI". It wasn't until
she was 21 and drove her grandfather to a "Polar Bear reunion" and
watched him break down and cry when he saw "the boys" - his fellow
soldiers then well into their eighties - that Peak realized there
must be a powerful story, hidden away that happened up in Northern
Russia that her grandfather simply refused to speak about. As she
began her research in 2007 she found a story so moving and incredible
she felt compelled to bring it to PBS audiences.
"When I began my research about this story", says Peak, "I couldn't
stop reading the soldier's diaries. I laughed with them, cried with
them, felt their fear as they faced war for the first time and I cried
as they recounted their buddies dying in their arms. But I also was
amazed at their strength (both emotionally and physically) and realized
how much they sacrificed for the country they so dearly loved. I am
happy that so many PBS stations nationally are bringing this story to
their viewers. It is a story that we can learn from each time we send
our sons and daughters off to war."
To learn more about Voices of a Never Ending Dawn see:
www.PolarBearDocumentary.com
See pictures for the press at:
www.PolarBearDocumentary.com/press
To watch a 5 minute preview see:
www.PolarBearDocumentary.com/preview.html
To reach Writer/Producer/Director Pamela Peak call: (949) 303-5496.
