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South Carolinians in World War II: Ted Bell and The Ridge

Retired Col. Ted Bell, his son, Ted Bell, Jr. and a film crew visited Okinawa, Japan, to revisit the site of a battle Bell lead during World War II. Here, filmmaker Wade Sellers films Bell at a memorial for Ernie Pyle at Peace Memorial.
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Retired Col. Ted Bell, his son, Ted Bell, Jr. and a film crew visited Okinawa, Japan, to revisit the site of a battle Bell lead during World War II. Here, filmmaker Wade Sellers films Bell at a memorial for Ernie Pyle at Peace Memorial.

(Broadcast August 23, 2013) - In April of 2013, an Army veteran from South Carolina returned to Okinawa, Japan, for the first time since he fought there in World War II. Retired Col. Ted Bell, 93, went back to the island after more than 67 years, this time with a film crew for South Carolina ETV, shooting part of the upcoming documentary, Man and Moment: Ted Bell and the Ridge.

Ted Bell joins Walter Edgar, filmmaker Wade Sellers, and The State newspaper journalist and documentary producer Jeff Wilkinson to talk about his visit to Okinawa, and about the brutal three-day battle on Ishimmi Ridge. Man and Moment: Ted Bell and the Ridge will air on South Carolina ETV on Thursday, August 29, 2013.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.