Yorktown, New York — For the past decade, Rishi Sharma has traveled across the United States with a singular purpose: to safeguard living history. He has recorded interviews with more than 3,000 World War II combat veterans — and he has no intention of stopping.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been on the mission to interview every single World War II combat veteran,” the 28-year-old said. “And I’ve quite honestly spent every single day of the last 10 years doing that.”
One of Rishi’s recent interviews was with Nils Mockler, a 100-year-old Marine veteran from Yorktown, New York. Mockler served as a combat intelligence scout, and his first experience in battle came at Iwo Jima — among the deadliest fights in Marine Corps history and also one of its most iconic.
“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.
Rishi began the project 10 years ago by driving through neighborhoods in Southern California, seeking out veterans willing to share their memories on camera. Over time, the effort grew far beyond his local community, leading him to build a map of places he hoped to visit in the years ahead.
“There are real superhero World War II vets out there, and I want to meet them,” Rishi said in 2016.
His deep interest in World War II did not stem from a family military legacy. Rishi’s parents came to the United States from India, and he did not grow up with a personal connection to the armed forces.
MORE STORY: Woman Injured in Monaco Bombing Identified as Ukrainian Oligarch’s Partner
The project — called Remember WWII — is funded by donations, and Rishi talks to the vets for hours, then gives the recordings to the families.
A decade ago, there were about 700,000 World War II veterans still alive. Today, only about 30,000 remain. And Rishi says when they’re all gone — probably in the next decade or so — America will lose a lot more than just a bunch of old war stories.
“Because for so long they have been the moral compass of our society,” Rishi said. “Just the advice that they impart silently steers the ship of this country.”
This weekend, we get to celebrate 250 years as a nation. And Rishi reminds us that it is not by accident, it is thanks in large part to that generation of sacrifice and moral clarity – that we call the greatest.
