Legacy of Attack
NBC (Sun., May 27, 9 p.m. ET)
Show of the week
The expedition to find a sunken Japanese submarine is disappointing, but the recollections of Pearl Harbor survivors are invaluable in this two-hour special (also airing May 27 at 8 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel).
With host-narrator Tom Brokaw setting the scene effectively, American veterans share their painful and poignant memories of Japan's attack on Dec. 7, 1941. Meanwhile, undersea explorer Robert Ballard leads an effort to find the remains of a midget sub reportedly sunk by an American destroyer in the Pearl Harbor area more than an hour before Japanese planes began bombing.
The vets' testimony is exceptionally moving. You'll long remember the simple dignity of Carl Carson, dying of cancer yet determined to return to Pearl Harbor and honor more than 1,000 of his shipmates who lost their lives when the USS Arizona went down. Submersible cameras provide haunting images of the broken battleship in its watery grave. But Ballard's search, with its artificial suspense, becomes a distraction.
Bottom Line: Worthwhile remembrance
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