>> it was a bunch of ordinary guys who by way of training and volunteerism and sacrifice both saved the world and were forever changed by what they did. >> a lot of those veterans were still alive. we got to meet them, we got to talk to them. >> i've seen my friends, my men being killed. and it doesn't take too many days of that and you change dramatically. >> the show premiered september 9th, 2001. two days later, everything changes. people were concerned, should we stop airing it, because it's a war story, and now the country is at war again? >> it turned out to be something that was necessary, because now almost every american, i think, felt as though they had enlisted in something that they had not enlisted in before.