Serving America: Memories of Peace Corps traces the roots of the Peace Corps traces and its mission and history, when then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries.

From that inspiration grew a federal government agency devoted to world peace and friendship. Within weeks of his inauguration, President Kennedy signed Executive Order 10924, establishing the Peace Corps on a temporary pilot basis.

By June 30, 1962, 2816 volunteers are in the field in 28 host countries: Afghanistan, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Iran, Jamaica, Liberia, Malaysia, Nepal, Niger, Peru, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, and Venezuela.

Serving America, a WPBT2 original documentary, highlights the experiences of South Floridians who served in the first decade of the Peace Corps. Through a mix of archival film and photographs with personal stories from these retired volunteers, The Peace Corps tells a story of service and idealism while tracing the history and heritage of an organization has inspired more than 200,000 Americans to work for peace in 139 countries.

the program premieres April 3 at 7:30 exclusively on WPBT2