nurses, but when they came off the boat, who was waiting for them at the end of the boat was benjamin o. davis, one-star general. that part of history is lost, and not too many people know. his son was benjamin o. davis jr., which was the commander of the tuskegee airmen. so the nurses, their role was an important role as they spread out across the country and around the world, serving and period. >> you know, one of the fascinating parts of your documentary is that we actually hear from these women. that is because you don't want to lose their history once they're gone. did they recognize their place in history when they sat down and talked to you about what serving in the u.s. armed forces had been like? >> i'm glad you brought that up. 'cause one of the interviews that now comes back to me -- one of the women said to me, "we didn't know we were a part of history. we didn't know we were an experiment. so the eyes of the world were watching us, and they didn't think we were important." so when they left the service and years go by, and here i come ringing their doorbell -- "i want to talk abo