TUESDAY, May 24, 10pm

How the States Got Their Shapes: State of Rebellion

HISTORY In each hour-long episode of this series, host Brian Unger probes how the boundaries of our states were set. Tonight he looks into the Montana-Idaho border, the two Carolinas, and how Texas could have ended up as five states. Advisory: TV-PG.

SUNDAY, May 29, 8pm, live

National Memorial Day Concert

PBS Actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise host this concert from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Joining the National Symphony Orchestra will be tenor Daniel Rodriguez, other singers and military choruses and color guards. This tribute to America’s war dead will honor World War II veterans, welcome home U.S. troops from Iraq, and salute a woman whose father died in Vietnam and who helps children who have lost parents in military service. Re-airing at 9:30pm.

MONDAY, May 30, 9 and 10pm

Memorial Day Documentaries

PBS At 9pm, American Experience: War Letters presents letters to and from our military personnel in every generation (re-airing from 2001). At 10pm, Hallowed Grounds visits 22 overseas U.S. military cemeteries from World Wars I and II to remember the nearly 125,000 Americans who rest there and the almost 100,000 more never found (re-airing from 2009).

MONDAY, May 30, 8 and 11pm

World War II Classic Dramas

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), shown at 8pm, won a Best Picture Oscar for its moving portrayal of three servicemen’s homecomings after World War II. Advisory: TV-PG. At 11pm, in Since You Went Away (1944), a wife and her daughters bravely cope as they wait and pray for Dad to return from the war. TV-G.

MONDAY, May 30, 9pm

Gettysburg

HISTORY The network kicks off its “Civil War Week” with this new, two-hour special for the 150th anniversary of the conflict. The show uses action footage and computer graphics to follow each side’s troops during the three-day battle.

TUESDAY, May 31, 8pm

Great Performances: Carnegie Hall 120th Anniversary Concert

PBS The New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert, with pianist Emanuel Ax, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Gil Shaham and singer Audra McDonald, performs works by Beethoven, Duke Ellington, Dvorak and George Gershwin.

WEDNESDAY, June 1, 10pm

A New Translation for a New Roman Missal

EWTN Msgr. James Moroney, executive secretary of the Vox Clara Committee, shows how the new English translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal will enhance the celebration of the Mass. Re-airing at 1pm Friday and 5am Saturday.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.