America the Beautiful: Heritage & History | July 2025

Commemorate our country's 249th Independence Day with the 45th broadcast of America's grand Fourth of July celebration - a star-spangled event for our nation, where music, fireworks, and heartfelt tributes light up the special night.
MEMPHIS BELLE: HER FINAL MISSION is an hour-long documentary that tells the story of two teams: the crew who flew her into combat and the restoration team that took 13 years to return her to her former glory. Two teams, separated by more than six decades, are bound together by their love of this remarkable and historic plane called the Memphis Belle.
FLY BOYS: WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA'S TUSKEGEE AIRMEN tells the story of struggle and the ultimate triumph of the brave African-American soldiers who served their country during World War II. The film chronicles the "Tuskegee Airmen" program, a controversial military initiative designed to measure African-Americans' competence for flying the engines of war. This fascinating documentary features the stories of the more than 40 aviators from western Pennsylvania, including the pilots, navigators and bombardiers who flew fighter and bomber planes during the war, as well as the maintenance and support staff, instructors and personnel who kept the planes in the air.
This two-part documentary shares the service and sacrifice of the young Americans who volunteered in a time of global crisis to defend the principles of liberty and democracy, and chronicles the toll paid by America's first combat aviators.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick tell the epic story of the war as it's never before been told on film. The 10-part series features testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, American and Vietnamese, bringing the war and its chaotic epoch viscerally to life.
Episode 5: "This is What We Do" (#105)
Episode 6: "Things Fall Apart" (#106)
Episode 7: "The Veneer of Civilization" (#107)
Episode 8: "The History of the World" (#108)
Episode 9: "A Disrespectful Loyalty" (#109)
This 10-part series by Burns and Novick brings the war and its chaotic epoch viscerally to life.