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Encore: Filmmaker tells WWII vet's story

Navy Veteran Robert Vandegrift is the main subject of Andre Fuad Degas’ latest film, “I Walked With Heroes."
Andre Fuad Degas
Navy Veteran Robert Vandegrift is the main subject of Andre Fuad Degas’s latest film, “I Walked With Heroes."

This episode originally aired on January 25, 2023.

As World War II recedes farther and farther into history, only a fraction of those veterans are still alive. And many of the stories are being lost. Andre Degas,a filmmaker and playwright in Bonita Springs, knew his neighbor Bob Vandegrift for many years but never really got deep into the history of Bob’s military service. When Bob got into his mid-90s, though, he and Andre began to talk more, and Bob opened up about the war, and the struggles he’d had after the war.

Walk With Heroes: Preview

What resulted is a film called “I Walked With Heroes,” and it’s the story of this remarkable man, Bob Vandegrift, his military service, and his whole life. Filmmaker Andre Degas joins us to talk about the film, which airs Thursday, May 25 at 8:00 PM on WGCU-TV.

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