{"id":876504,"date":"2026-10-09T16:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T16:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876504\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T16:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T16:40:12","slug":"world-premiere-of-delco-vietnam-vet-documentary-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876504\/","title":{"rendered":"World premiere of Delco Vietnam vet documentary Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday will be the world premiere of a documentary focused on the path of Delaware County Vietnam veterans\u2019 experience in the war and how that transformed their lives.<\/p>\n

At 7 p.m. Saturday at the \u200bVeterans Memorial Park Amphitheater at 3264 Concord Road in Aston, \u201c9000 Miles to Delco\u201d features nine Vietnam veterans from Delco sharing their experiences.<\/p>\n

\"VietnamVietnam Army veteran Joe McGinn Sr. is featured in \u201c9000 Miles to Delco,\u201d a film sponsored by his son\u2019s employer, Energy Transfer. (COURTESY OF RED SKY PICTURES\/ENERGY TRANSFER)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a Ken Burns documentary,\u201d Joseph McGinn of Energy Transfer said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t about the Tet Offensive or some military history or \u2026 should we or should not have gone into Vietnam. It\u2019s really a personal story about men and women and their experience there and also giving that feel of who they are after.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 58-minute documentary is directed by Anthony B. Sacco of Red Sky Pictures and narrated by four-time Super Bowl champion Rocky Bleier, who received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Energy Transfer sponsored the documentary produced by Red Sky Pictures and Bravo Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thought was the average Vietnam veteran now is 79 years old,\u201d McGinn said. \u201cSo, these guys and gals, we\u2019re losing more and more of the each year. The timing is really important to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that when Energy Transfer learned that The Wall That Heals was coming to Delaware County, they reached out to Bravo Group to create this living history passion project.<\/p>\n

\u201c(We) really wanted to make sure that we could tell the story the best way possible,\u201d Will Elliott of Bravo Group said, adding that it was so impressive that Sacco and Red Sky Pictures took this on.<\/p>\n

The documentary was filmed over three months in the summer. Elliott said the filming team embedded themselves into the community for a month while shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of the part we could play and bring this to Delaware County,\u201d Elliott said, adding that they intend to take the film on the festival circuit. \u201cWe feel strongly that it\u2019s a powerful documentary. A lot of hard work went into this, and we\u2019d really like to make sure it\u2019s seen by many people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott said his grandfather landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and never spoke a word about it. Elliott he learned about what he went through by seeing \u201cSaving Private Ryan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, it\u2019s very much the same as now where then all those guys (World War II veterans) were in their late 70\u2019s, 80s and were dropping one at a time,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cThat certainly was in the back of my mind as we were doing this project (that) it\u2019s of the utmost importance to get these stories on record before they\u2019re gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Energy Transfer\u2019s support was an extension of its long-time appreciation for veterans, as seen in work with the Delaware County Veterans Memorial, the Seamen\u2019s Memorial in Marcus Hook and the company\u2019s production of Allied aviation fuel during World War II, McGinn explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was engaging with people that I felt relationships with,\u201d he said. \u201cProbably one of the hardest sells was my dad. He was very supportive but just saying, \u2018Hey, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m comfortable\u2019 because growing up it wasn\u2019t something we talked about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that they all shared their stories was incredible,\u201d McGinn added as he commended the director and his team for weaving the stories nicely and producing fantastic cinematography.<\/p>\n

\"MarshaMarsha Tansey Four shares her experience as a U.S. Army Nurse Corps veteran in the Vietnam War in the documentary, \u201c9000 Miles to Delco.\u201d (COURTESY OF RED SKY PICTURES\/ENERGY TRANSFER)<\/p>\n

The veterans featured in the film are: Patrick J. Hughes, Marine Corps veteran; Capt. Ralph Galati, Air Force veteran and former prisoner of war; David J. Humphrey, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Delaware County Chapter 67; Sgt. Joseph Daly, Marine Corps veteran and retired Springfield police chief; Marsha Tansey Four, Army Nurse Corps veteran; and Army veterans Bruce \u201cRudy\u201d Egan, Thomas A. Clay, Joe McGinn Sr. andDonald Tuohey.<\/p>\n

The documentary screenings coincide with the visit of The Wall That Heals<\/a>, the replica of Washington\u2019s Vietnam Veterans Memorial on display at the Aston Municipal Complex through Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a war film or political film, this is a film about people,\u201d McGinn said. \u201cIt\u2019s about Delaware County, as well. It\u2019s almost as if Delaware County is the unnamed character in the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the way that that year shaped them,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then, they took home how that year shaped them and applied it to the rest of their lives and applied it to the way they then became stewards of the places they lived.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGinn added this sentiment: \u201cWe want people to know and appreciate that generation and we want them to be moved. Anybody who watches this will laugh, which is hard to believe \u2026 they\u2019ll think, it\u2019ll make everybody think and it\u2019ll 100% make everybody cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are two other screenings scheduled: 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 10 and 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 11, both at the Media Theatre, 104 E. State St.<\/p>\n

A fourth screening is being planned for November in Marcus Hook.<\/p>\n

\""9000\u201c9000 Miles to Delco\u201d is a 58-minute Red Sky documentary that features the experience of Vietnam veterans from Delaware County. (COURTESY OF RED SKY PICTURES\/ENERGY TRANSFER)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday will be the world premiere of a documentary focused on the path of Delaware County Vietnam veterans\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[41347,88,983,206,3,3234,126889],"class_list":["post-876504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-delaware-county","tag-entertainment","tag-local-news","tag-movies","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-dtd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}