Back in Time

Many Oklahoma Soldiers didn’t come back from World War 1. They left behind children who needed a place to stay and people to care for them. A Ponca City oilman, E.W. Marland, teamed with the American Legion to create a children’s home in Ponca City that continues to this day. In this “Back In Time,” Children Brought together by war, poverty, and a shared history that grew into One Big Family.

Thousands of refugees escaped Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. Fearing the brutal treatment of the communist forces they made their way to freedom in a new country. They came as refuges to America to start a new life often times with nothing but the few belongings they were able to take with them. Back in Time speaks to these refugees about their stories of how they came from Vietnam to Oklahoma.

Father Stanley Rother found his life’s calling at a mission in Guatemala. He became very close to the people of the mountain village, but his compassion made him a target. In July 1981, he was brutally murdered in the rectory of the church. In September Father Rother was beatified in Oklahoma City by a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and is on a path to being recognized as a saint.

OETA’s award winning documentary series Back in Time introduces us to three very different men. Bass Reeves, was a runaway slave that became the first black US Marshall and may have inspired “The Lone Ranger.” Moman Pruiett was a shady frontier lawyer who won 304 murder cases & was called “The Murder’s Messiah.” Don Porter, who took softball from the playground and got it into the Olympics, twice.