Portland, OR — According to a 2016 estimate by the Department of Veterans Affairs, we are losing 362 American WWII veterans every day. The few remaining, approximately 558,000, WWII veterans will soon be gone, taking with them their stories of life during the war.
Veterans’ Legacies, a non-profit group based in Oregon, is working to capture personal accounts of WWII veterans in order to preserve and share them in a free, online database, available to the public.
Gary Mortensen, co-founder of Veterans’ Legacies, and Mark Browning, executive director of the organization, have recently expanded their efforts to collect the stories of Oregon’s WWII veterans. In response to the growing urgency of the situation, Mortensen and Browning looked for ways to increase the ability to research and interview surviving veterans, and their families.
In September, the organization launched the Mighty Endeavor, an initiative that leverages educators, students, volunteers and service organizations across the state. According to Mortensen, “the goal of the Mighty Endeavor is to have Oregon successfully collect history about every WWII veteran who enlisted from the state.”
To create a road map for the Mighty Endeavor, Mortensen and Browning partnered with OregonASK, a group whose expertise includes curriculum development, educational training and creating enrichment opportunities for students. Together, they created a curriculum that can be used to guide efforts in the classroom, in an after-school program, or by a family member of a veteran.
With interest by the State Library of Oregon and schools across the state, the program
Views: 16
