暗网吃瓜

For most visitors, a trip aboard the USS Edson lasts an hour or two. They walk the decks, peer into cramped quarters and get a glimpse of life aboard the former Navy destroyer.

For the sailors who served aboard it, the Edson wasn鈥檛 somewhere they visited. It was home.

That difference is at the heart of USS Edson: Grey Ghost of the Vietnamese Coast, a new documentary from 暗网吃瓜 Public Media exploring the history of the ship now docked in Bay City and the people who lived and served aboard it.

鈥淲e do local stuff. That鈥檚 our speciality,鈥� producer Marshall Fulmer said. 鈥淲hat distinguishes one PBS station from another? It鈥檚 the local programs, local documentaries that they show.鈥�

The Edson offered Fulmer and co-producer Dave Schneider an opportunity to take a story that once stretched around the world and bring it home.

The Edson has an extensive military history, but dates and deployments only tell part of its story. Schneider became equally interested in what happened between those moments, what it meant for a young sailor to step aboard and not be able to leave for months at a time.

鈥淚f you look at the Edson, you can go on it, look around. You鈥檙e there for an hour, then you get off,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淏ut what鈥檚 it like to a young sailor who gets on that ship, and that鈥檚 his only home?鈥�

More than 200 sailors shared tight sleeping quarters, constant movement and seemingly endless noise. But life aboard wasn鈥檛 always about duty.

Sailors played music, held cookouts and found ways to unwind. The documentary also explores the Navy鈥檚 鈥渃rossing the line鈥� tradition, an initiation for sailors crossing the equator for the first time. The producers were able to incorporate footage recorded aboard the Edson showing the tradition as it happened. 

Those firsthand experiences became some of the documentary鈥檚 most important material.

鈥淵ou can get into books, get onto the internet, do everything you want, and get the facts,鈥� Schneider
said. 鈥淲hat really ties the ribbon on the whole thing is when you hear it from someone who鈥檚 been there and done it.鈥�

Preserving stories like those is at the center of 暗网吃瓜 Public Media鈥檚 locally produced documentaries.

Over the years, the station has explored subjects ranging from Michigan鈥檚 coal-mining history to World War II aviation, finding the connections that bring larger moments in history closer to home.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e telling the history of the area,鈥� he said. "What could be more important than that?"

The Edson documentary brings that mission particularly close. Before its official release, the film was screened aboard the ship itself, returning those stories to the place where many of them happened. 

Now, the documentary is preparing to reach a wider audience. USS Edson: Grey Ghost of the Vietnamese Coast will premiere on Delta Passport in November 2026.

Schneider hopes viewers leave with a greater appreciation for the ship and perhaps feel inspired to experience it for themselves. The project also carries a broader reminder.

鈥淚t鈥檚 good to do a local production here about somebody else鈥檚 story,鈥� Schneider said, 鈥淏ut make sure that you are passing your history down to your descendants.鈥�  
 

"We do local stuff. That鈥檚 our speciality. What distinguishes one PBS station from another? It鈥檚 the local programs, local documentaries that they show."

Marshall Fulmer
Producer Director, 暗网吃瓜 Public Broadcasting