Wars and Sacrifice: WWII Vets Project in Northern Washington

This is such a cool project. I am ordering a book now, hope that some of my readers do as well. The Vets all over the country should have something like this done for them. Wonderful work.

"A few years ago for Christmas, I put together a memory book for my grandpa and grandma. As I sorted through old albums, I came across war-era photographs that depicted a young man in a medic's uniform- my grandpa. I had long known that he was a medic during World War II, and had heard bits and pieces of his experience, mostly through my parents. But my grandpa never really talked about it. It was then that I realized that when my grandpa is gone, no one would know about the sacrifices he made. And I felt that would be wrong.

A couple years went by and then another thing happened that stood out to me. My father and my grandfather came home from a Memorial Day Service. They seemed a little disappointed. When asked how the event was, they mentioned that none of the World War II veterans had even been acknowledged. My father suggested that perhaps there weren't but one or two there anyway. This made me sad with disbelief. Were they really gone?

Finally, last summer, I attended a photography workshop led by Don Giannatti. I asked Don what I should do to help my photography. Instead of giving me tips I expected, he suggested that I go out and do something for the community. I went back and talked with my family that night and my father suggested doing a project for my grandpa. 'Of course,' I thought. So there I went, pumped up on determination and a dream, and told my grandpa all about my idea to photograph local World War II Veterans and put the photos in a coffee-table book. And then I got busy with other things, but my grandpa didn't forget."