This week's "Covert Affairs" (Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. ET on USA) is momentous not just because it's the penultimate episode of Season 3, but because it commemorates Veterans Day and the courage of our military personnel in a way that few shows could manage so seamlessly.
The episode, titled "Quicksand," sees Auggie (Christopher Gorham) -- who was blinded while serving in the War in Iraq -- taking part in Operation Proper Exit, a real program from the Troops First Foundation that brings wounded warriors back to where they were injured in order to give them a greater sense of closure. According to the episode summary, "Auggie goes back to Iraq with the program as a “battle buddy” to a fellow wounded warrior, PFC Pete Downey, who has been suffering with post-traumatic stress. While trying to help Pete face his inner demons, Auggie revisits his own and together they find some solace and the peace of mind to continue on their roads of recovery."
In addition to making Operation Proper Exit an integral part of the episode's narrative, USA and Gorham have also filmed a PSA to highlight the important work of the Troops First Foundation and encourage viewers to support Operation Proper Exit and other efforts that help our military and their families. Above, HuffPost TV has an exclusive first look at Gorham's PSA ahead of its on-air debut, and fans can learn more and view additional content at CharactersUnite.com.
In HuffPost TV's recent interview with Gorham, he previewed the good work that the Troops First Foundation is doing through Operation Proper exit, as well as his involvement with the PSA:
"Rick Kell is one of the founders of Operation Proper Exit, and [he and] Command Sergeant Major Don Harbin and Corporal Craig Chavez actually came up to set for the two days where we were filming on that Operation Proper Exit stuff in Toronto and were there for the two days. Corporal Chavez lost his sight, much like Auggie, while serving, and he lost one eye and his vision has been restored only slightly in his right eye where he has some limited peripheral vision.
But he came up, and we just had a great time just talking and sharing stories, and they were so supportive of the collaboration that we were doing and the fact that doing this storyline would bring attention to their foundation ... It’s a great program. They were running it while our troops were in Iraq, and now that we’re out of Iraq, they just got approval to start doing this program in Afghanistan to take some of the wounded warriors back to Afghanistan. It’s pretty extraordinary, and they’re doing some great work, so we were really pleased that we were able to highlight it in the show."
"Covert Affairs" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on USA.
