Why do we do this?
It all started during a mighty blizzard in 1978. Having nothing better to do, my father sat down at a cassette recorder and began to tell the story of his life. Over the next several months he pieced together three hours of tape. When he died in 1986, those tapes became more precious than gold.
For years I had thought about gathering the stories of our Veterans, just like my dad had done for me, and kept looking for somebody to do this. One day in 1998 I figured that I was as somebody as anybody, and began to work with my friends to form the NVHA. You can see the growing list of interviews we have recorded since then by clicking on the "Veterans we have interviewed" link.
It is our goal to catalog these interviews and to make them available for public research on Family, Hometown, and Military history.
We do not charge for these interviews. We give a DVD copy to the Veteran to keep as a family keepsake. Before we begin the interview we sign away all of the commercial rights to the Veteran interviewed (see the interview release). We cannot profit from a book, or a movie, or a mailing list. We can't profit a dime for ourselves or the NVHA.
One may ask, with the cost of travel these days and so much time away from our families, "Why do you do this, what's in it for you?" In a world that thinks money is made of paper or metal that one is hard to comprehend. Suffice it to say that there is no amount of money in the world that can purchase the experience of sitting across from someone in their 70's, 80's, 90's, or even 100's, and watching them turn young before our eyes. What price can one put on being able to shake the hand of someone who paid for every liberty we enjoy?
We found out a long time ago that this wasn't just about recording history. This is about making many dear friends. Please consider giving this precious gift to your family, and your country. Contact us today at nvha01@hotmail.com.
Don McAllister
Director National Veteran's Historical Archive Inc.
