Rishi Sharma’s interest in World War II took him beyond reading about the past. As a teenager in Southern California, he began seeking out veterans who could describe what they had lived through.
By July 2026, reporting put the project at more than 3,000 interviews. What began with local conversations had become years of travel and an expanding collection of personal testimony.
The milestone was covered in Good News Network’s July 13, 2026 account, which followed Steve Hartman’s reporting on Sharma’s decade of work.
From a local visit to a camera
In a November 2024 interview with The Connexion, Sharma recalled visiting a retirement community while still in school.
He initially wanted to meet the veterans. The visit became an opportunity to interview them, and the director introduced him to the community’s former service members.
His mother then bought him a camera kit. After-school conversations led to introductions to other veterans, gradually extending the project’s reach.
By the time of that 2024 report, his travels had included every U.S. state as well as several countries abroad. His work in France included listening to Resistance veterans, bringing different wartime experiences into the collection.
A copy for the family
The project later became known as Remember WWII. Earlier coverage used the name Heroes of the Second World War.
A November 2022 VFW feature described Sharma giving interview copies to families as gifts. It also documented the practical demands of the work: travel funded through his nonprofit and nights spent in a car or motels.
A recording preserves more than a written summary. Relatives can hear a familiar voice and watch expressions, gestures and pauses as someone tells their own story.
The work between the milestones
WSAW’s July 2024 reporting found Sharma in Wisconsin, continuing his search for veterans to interview. It described accommodation ranging from rental cars to Airbnb stays.
The changing interview totals are snapshots from different dates, rather than a live count of the archive. The 3,000 figure belongs to the July 2026 reporting.
Sharma’s aim is ambitious, but the work happens one conversation at a time: locating someone willing to speak, setting up a camera and taking time to listen. For a family receiving that recording, the result is also something personal to keep.
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