KCET airs the story of local war hero, Cpl. Williams T. Perkins, Jr. on Thursday, November 6 (8:30-9:00 pm). While serving as a Marine Corps. combat photographer in Vietnam, the young man from the San Fernando Valley, threw himself on an enemy hand grenade saving the lives of his fellow Marines at the cost of his own life. Perkins was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He is the only combat photographer in our nation’s history to receive our nation’s highest award for valor.
Produced by Craig Ingraham and Debora Masterson, Above and Beyond serves as a tribute to a local hero who graduated from JamesMonroeHigh School in Sepulveda, CA, as did Debora . Though Craig went to BishopAlemanyHigh School, they had become best friends through music and humor. “I hope people will see that this is my way of telling Bill how proud I am to have known him and how much we all wish he were here,” says Ingraham
William (Bill) T. Perkins, JR was just 20 years old when he was killed in action exactly three months after he arrived in Vietnam. This moving, half-hour documentary includes actual footage shot by Bill Perkins in Vietnam as well as interviews with survivors and visits to the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Marine Corps Historical Museum, which displays the motion picture camera that Bill was holding when he threw himself on the enemy hand grenade.
