‘Veterans History Project’ encourages veterans to share their stories

Jeffrey Sherwin wants kids in Southwest Florida to learn from his service and maybe even follow in his footsteps.

Sherwin spends two days per week walking children and their parents around the Military Heritage Museum as their Lead Tour Guide.

He knows so much and just wants to share it all.  “I’ll tell you about that later,” Sherwin said. “I know you haven’t had time to put that on tape but I’ll tell you off-camera.”

Sherwin spent 34 years in the military and will never forget his time serving. “It just never leaves you. Sometimes at 2:00 in the morning, it never leaves you but it never leaves you. Ever,” he said.

The veteran says as painful as his memories are, they can make a difference.

“We all feel this need to educate those who are coming after us as to what happened before us. And we take great pride in that,” said Sherwin.

Now, he’s proud to be a part of the Veteran’s History Project.  The Library of Congress films interviews with veterans to preserve their memories and stories as part of this project.

“We had to cancel that because this happened right around March but we’re now going to try it and do it remotely,” said Congressman Greg Steube.

Sherwin is a sixth-generation veteran and feels it’s his duty to his family and to future generations. “Sometimes I kind of say to myself “how am I looking, grandpa”? you know they didn’t get this opportunity to pass it on,” he said.

If you are a veteran or you know any, the Library of Congress wants your stories. Here are the steps you can take.