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Story of Michigan Polar Bears to be told

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

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FRANKENMUTH (WJRT) -- (05/27/09) -- It's a little known chapter in U.S. history. At the end of World War I, thousands of soldiers from Michigan were sent to Russia.

There they endured a severe winter and bloody battles against Communist troops.

Now a soon-to-be-released documentary tells their story.

Most people don't know about Michigan's Polar Bears. Nearly 8,000 American soldiers, most from Michigan, spent about nine months in northern Russia. A Michigan-born film maker decided it was time to tell the story in a movie called "Voices of a Never-Ending Dawn."

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"When I looked into it and read their diaries, I was so moved by what the story was and how they were forgotten and the hell they went through," Producer-Director Pamela Peak explained.

Last winter she shot several scenes in an Upper Peninsula snowstorm. As word got out about the movie, descendants of Polar Bears began contacting her.

"I hear from relatives all the way from the Upper Peninsula: 'My dad or my grandfather was a Polar Bear.' They were from all over Michigan," she said.

When Peak was doing her research for the movie, she came to Frankenmuth to the Michigan's Own Military and Space Museum. Here she found a plethora of displays and books.

"It's the best and only example of the Polar Bear experience in the United States," said Stan Bozich, the curator of Michigan's Own Military and Space Museum.

Bozich has collected uniforms, equipment, medals and stories from the men who went on the ill-fated mission. Many hoped to someday see a movie about the Polar Bears. "Pam is the first one to follow through and do it and we're very happy she did," Bozich said.

"Stan has given us a tremendous amount of support through this museum," Peak said of Bozich.

While most of the world has forgotten what Michigan's Polar Bears endured, the museum and the new film will make sure the story stays alive.

The documentary "Voices of a Never Ending Dawn" makes its Mid-Michigan debut June 6 at 6pm at the State Theatre in Bay City.

On the Web:

Polarbear Documentary
Michigan's Own Military & Space Museum