BY KRISTEN McKEITHAN: Special to The Pilot

“Thank You, Eddie Hart” — the uplifting, true story about a North Carolina soldier killed in World War II and buried in the Netherlands, and a Dutch brother and sister who adopted his grave — will air on UNC-TV stations on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m.

Three years in the making, the seed of the documentary was planted in Pinehurst during Thanksgiving dinner, 2000.

Betty Habets-Vrancken, who was visiting her son and daughter-in-law, Harry and Mary Ann Habets, told producer Brenda Hughes about adopting an American soldier’s grave in 1946, a soldier named Eddie Hart from La Grange. Eleven years later, when Betty and her young family immigrated to the U.S., she asked her brother, Johan, to continue honoring her promise to Eddie Hart, and he has. Thus, the Vranckens have kept their commitment to Eddie Hart for 57 years —and counting.

Production for this special began in March 2002, with a reunion of Eddie’s sister and Betty Habets-Vrancken in Pinehurst. The next month, production moved to the Netherlands, as Eddie’s family visited his grave for the first time. From there, the crew traveled to Germany, taking a route similar to Eddie’s G Company, which blitzed through that country in 1945 — a journey that ended for Hart on a battlefield at a small agricultural town named Barby.

Sponsored by BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company) and Kilpatrick Stockton law firms, “Thank You, Eddie Hart” is an emotional reminder about the goodness of the human spirit, the value of freedom and the importance of honoring a promise.

For Producer Brenda Hughes, bringing the documentary to life was a labor of love that evolved into a determination to see the project through as a tribute to the “greatest generation.”

“This is so much more than a World War II story,” she says. “It is positive, yet poignant; “reality” television, yet a reminder of a time we can never forget. Perhaps more than anything, ‘Thank You, Eddie Hart’ demonstrates that ordinary people can do most extraordinary things.”

Told by those on the front lines of history — including veterans who fought with and against Eddie Hart — the documentary is a North Carolina production — produced and written by Brenda Hughes with videography and editing by Adam Alphin — both from Wilmington and narrated by actor Pat Hingle, who is also from the Wilmington area and a World War II veteran.