America recently celebrated 250 years of Independence on July 4th, 2026. The country that today stands as the highest and most powerful democracy on the globe, has had its fair share of wars and battles. While historians and museums work to protect and preserve the parts of the past that worked to keep the present alive, one Indian-origin man has been on a mission to preserve the present that could soon become history.Rishi Sharma, an Indian origin man living in the US, has been working for over a decade to preserve America’s World War II history. He has crisscrossed the country on a mission to interview all WWII combat veterans and learn about their role in the war along with their life journeys.Till now, the 28-year-old has been able to interview more than 3,000 veterans and he’s not done yet. “For the last 10 years, I’ve been on the mission to interview every single World War II combat veteran,” he said to CBS. “And I’ve quite honestly spent every single day of the last 10 years doing that.”
Interviewing veterans
The 28-year-old has been able to interview more than 3,000 veterans and he’s not done yet
Rishi recently interviewed 100-year-old Marine veteran Nils Mockler of Yorktown, New York. Nils was a combat intelligence scout and his first battle was at Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest and most inspiring battles in Marine history. “What did it mean to you seeing the American Flag being raised?” Rishi asked Nils.”Well, the hair on my arms still stands up when I think about how beautiful it was,” Nils said.
A childhood dream
Rishi was fresh out of high school, 18 years old when he started his journey around his Southern California neighbourhood to record interviews with veterans. Over the decade, he has travelled across all fifty states including Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and France.He soon expanded his outreach by creating a map of places he hoped to visit in the years to come. “There are real superhero World War II vets out there, and I want to meet them,” Rishi said in 2016.Interestingly, his passion for World War II history did not come from family tradition. His parents immigrated to the United States from India and he has no military background. But he had always been interested in World War II history since high school.His project, Remember WWII, is funded by donations as Rishi talks to the vets for hours, then gives the recordings to the families. He does not take any salary for himself and all donations go toward the travel costs of getting the veterans on camera.He also posts videos of the interactions on his YouTube channel Remember WWII with Rishi Sharma where he enjoys 172K subscribers.
Protecting history and heritage
“Just the advice that they impart silently steers the ship of this country,” he said.
A decade ago, when Rishi started his project, there were about 700,000 World War II veterans alive across the globe. Today, only about 30,000 remain.According to him, when they all pass away, probably in the next decade or so, America will lose more than just a bunch of old war stories. “Because for so long they have been the moral compass of our society,” he said. “Just the advice that they impart silently steers the ship of this country.”With his mission, Rishi is reminding the country that the longevity and freedom they enjoy today, are thanks in large part to the veterans who sacrificed their lives for the United States of America. Go to Source
