Latest / Behind The Village Podcast / Preserving Veteran Stories Across 17 Countries | Zach Dunn

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Preserving Veteran Stories Across 17 Countries | Zach Dunn · Behind The Village Podcast

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You're listening to the Behind the Village podcast,
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where we invite you to join us on a journey to
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understand how to live a life worth living. Our
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guest today is Zach Dunn from Global Veteran
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Stories. He started this passion project as a
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way to preserve the stories of Canadian and allied
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veterans and has now been able to interview over
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150 people. It's a race against time to capture
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as many as he can. I was cleaning out my parents'
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basement. They lived in Port Perry at that time.
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And I found a bunch of old boxes with some old
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photos and medals of my granddad, who I found
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out later who served in World War II. This is
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my mom's father. And I asked my mom, and she
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said he never talked about his time in the service.
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And he would have been 100 that year. And I thought
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to myself, there's got to be maybe other veterans
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around his age. I just want to learn a little
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bit more about him. asked all my aunts and uncles
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different things, different questions. And again,
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found my first World War II veteran in Lakefield,
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Ontario. And I said, wow, let's go interview
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him. I just brought my phone, my $20 tripod.
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I didn't even have a microphone at the time.
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I just used the audio on my iPhone and sat down
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with him for 45 minutes and recorded my first
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interview. And the idea kind of sprung to my
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mind. I said, wow, he's 95. He was 18 when he
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joined. There's got to be more veterans out there.
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And that just kind of kick -started this project.
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Since then, I've interviewed over 165 veterans
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from World War II, Korea, the Vietnam War, the
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Gulf War, and other wars and conflicts. Not only
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from Canada, but from 17 other allied countries.
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And I post all these on my website. I have a
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YouTube channel I started a couple years ago.
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I also donate the footage to schools and museums.
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And it's all about, again, educating kids on
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this important history. Each veteran gets their
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own dedicated video that I edit together and
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basically put a mini documentary together. And
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I post on my YouTube channel, Global Veterans
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Stories by Zach Dunn, as well as my website.
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Then I also get a TikTok page and a Facebook
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page where I post mini clips and full paragraph
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write -up stories. So it's all accesses, you
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know, for free. um you know so people can kind
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of search come across it and uh yeah people can
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kind of learn about these incredible veteran
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stories My favorite class or my favorite subject
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in school was history. That's the only one I
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got an A on. I was a pretty terrible student.
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But I've always been interested in history, you
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know, movies, documentaries. I like reading a
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lot of books. And, yeah, just kind of learned
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about, like, you know, even ancient Rome, ancient
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Egypt. But I think, yeah, especially World War
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II was really interesting, you know, to me. It's
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not that far root from us, you know, only 80
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years ago. 81 years ago now that World War II
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ended. So, you know, I always kind of had that
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connection. And then when I found out my granddad
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served, it was like, wow, this is really close
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to me. You know, it's, you know, two generations
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removed. And then I found out my two uncles also
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served in World War II. And then I had a great
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grandfather who served in World War I. And I
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have his medals, you know, displayed downstairs
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in my house here. So, yeah, I've always had interest,
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you know, since being a kid. But it really kind
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of kick -started. um a passion project in 2021
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and uh yeah I was 22 at the time so it's uh yeah
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been almost five years now wow that's amazing
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and you're just you don't get like paid for this
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this is just like a passion project you get funding
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like you're just doing it because you love it
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just doing it because I love it you know there
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there's some generous donations from you know
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family members or you know anonymous people online
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you know every once in a while but uh it's very
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rare So basically 90 to 95 % of my travels purely
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out of pocket. What is it about the stories that
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makes you want to keep going and to keep these
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people connected, you know, to the future? Yeah,
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I think it's because so many are still untold.
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You know, I just did an interview with a World
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War II veteran. He's going to be 104 this November,
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I believe. And he's from a small town in northern
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Alberta. And he now lives in Edmonton. And he
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served three, four years in World War II. He
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was in Italy. He served in Africa, Italy, France,
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Belgium, the Netherlands. And he's never been
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interviewed. So you think of a guy who was born
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in 1922, who has never, ever shared his story.
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There's still so many out there. that have never
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been shared, never open about their stories,
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whether they haven't been asked before or they
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just didn't feel comfortable. You know, there's,
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I think the government of Canada put out a post
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the other day, there's still 3 ,300 World War
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II veterans left in Canada. Is there something
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in particular, either a story or a piece of advice
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that stuck with you, kind of from everyone you've
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spoken to? Yeah, I think there's a couple funny
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ones and then a couple ones that I've really
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taken into my own life. I think staying active
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physically and mentally. Some of the veterans
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I've interviewed, again, they're over 100 years
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old. Audrey Hines, who's in Toronto, she's going
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to be 105. I think she already is 105. Her birthday
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was last month. She walks three miles every single
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day. I had 105. Every morning, she has a routine.
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She walks. There's that aspect, eating healthy,
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exercising, keeping your mind healthy. I think
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it's more of the mind, to be honest. There was
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a World War II veteran in North Carolina who
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I interviewed, Merle Jean Hughes. She said her
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secret to living over 100 years old was staying
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away from vegetables. She said she'd never had
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a vegetable in her entire life. So it's you know,
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there's there's different things, too. So walk
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me through the process of how you find the veterans,
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what your kind of day looks like. Yeah. And then
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kind of how you bring it all together in the
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end. So come interviews or veterans contacts
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come to me in a lot of different ways. Of course,
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I work with not for profits, museums or schools.
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But one of the best ways. People can get in contact
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with me. It's just reaching out to me on social
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media. Some of my favorite interviews have happened
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literally because someone watched a TikTok of
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mine and messaged me on TikTok. And then we scheduled
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an interview. Jack C. Thomas out of Blunt, Ontario.
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One of my personal favorite stories to share.
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His grandson, Brian, literally, this is what,
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November of 2024, saw a TikTok video, messaged
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me and said, hey. My granddad, our grandfather
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is a World War II veteran, did a little summary
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about him and said, do you want to interview
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him? Took a couple months going back and forth,
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and we ended up doing an interview. And again,
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his story was incredible. It's posted on my YouTube
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channel. He was shot down during the Battle of
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Arnhem. He was a D -Day veteran. And he, yeah,
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was a prisoner of war for eight months. So just
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this incredible story off of, you know, seeing
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a little TikTok video. Sometimes it's literally
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just from, hey, I read this. Facebook post or
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I searched something and I found this name, you
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know, have you interviewed so and such and such?
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And I said, yeah, here's more information. So
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I think technology is a great thing and the internet
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is such a great thing for that. It's just kind
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of connecting people. I talked about it a little
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bit earlier, but Joseph Ashite Hammond is one
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of the last, I think he is the last Ghana -born
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World War II veteran in West Africa. And he was
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with the Gold Coast Regiment who served in Burma.
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And the only way I was able to interview him
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was over Zoom. He was in a village in West Africa.
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I was in Toronto. And we were able to connect.
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Think about it. We were able to connect on these
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two laptops that his grandson set up for me,
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set up for him, and my laptop right now that
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I'm on right now. And I was able to speak with
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him for over an hour at 5 a .m. because there's
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a five hour time difference, 10 a .m. there.
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So I remember waking up really early and it was
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well worth it. But now I'm able to share that
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video, post it online so people all over the
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world now can hear his story. That's pretty cool.
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That, again, is something that technology has
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granted us the access to do. You know, I would
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probably never even talk to him, maybe over the
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phone. But having that like face to face contact,
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like that's something that we would never have
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even imagined to do even 20 years ago. Even the
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one in Edmonton that I mentioned earlier, you
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know, he's in a veteran hospital in very northern
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Alberta and I'm in southern Ontario. We're able
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to set up an iPad and a computer here and I'm
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able to talk to him. almost 104 years old, sharing
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a story about fighting in Italy at Monte Cassino.
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You know, again, I can mention other stories
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in Sri Lanka and India and the UK. Like, you
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picture how far that is from where we are right
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now, like thousands of kilometers across massive
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oceans. Yeah, it's incredible to think about.
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A question aside, because you keep impressing
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me with remembering names and birthdays and how
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old people are going to be. Is that just stored
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in your head? Absolutely. Yeah, it's a passion
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out of love. You think about sitting down with
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a veteran who's in their 90s, who's over 100
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years old. How can you not remember? I'm not
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saying I remember every single name, but I think
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probably 85 % of I can rifle off right away.
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Just because they've left, you know, that impact
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on me. Yeah. How could you not remember? You
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keep like pulling these names out and I'm just
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like, man, like do you have them written somewhere?
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Nope. I got no notes in front of me. So once
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again, once I get that contact from wherever
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it comes from, you know, I'll send them an email.
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We'll set up a call and say, hey, you know, I'll
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be there at this time. I always like to ask veterans
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if they have photos of themselves in uniform
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or even younger photos of themselves, if they
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have a Legion blazer with their medals on it.
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So if that's the way, it's a really good visual
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video. And, yeah, it's a really simple setup.
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I'm a one -man show, so I literally film with
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my iPhone. I have a $30 tripod I got from Amazon,
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a $10 mic. Just, you know, set them up in a chair.
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I'll sit in the chair. I have my little laptop
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and my questions. And then just, you know, it's
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question by question. I don't call myself a historian
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because I don't know. I don't know the regiment
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names or too much, too many of them. I don't
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really know dates that well. You know, I'm just
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just someone who's really passionate about asking
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questions and interviewing. I think that's more
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of my strong suit than, you know, in 1942 at
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this month and this year or whatever. What do
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you remember? Um, it's just more the firsthand
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accounts. So once I get all the, you know, the,
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the footage done, then I upload the, uh, you
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know, the footage to my website. I write up a
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whole blurb, um, about their story and edit together
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these videos. And, um, yeah. And then I donate
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all the footage to a few different schools in
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Toronto and museums in the U S and the, uh, in
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Europe that I work with. And, um, I got a few
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non -for -profits and that's, that's kind of
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it. And obviously I give a copy. of the interview
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to the veteran and the veteran's family and that's
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that's kind of the whole process it's uh getting
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the contact sitting down the veteran filming
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their stories and then sharing it you know to
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as many channels um as i can that's really cool
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so what i picked up on while you were talking
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was you know you mentioned you're not so much
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kind of dates focused but um it really felt like
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to me you're more impact and emotion focused
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like you're really trying to get the the story
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and the feel uh from who you're speaking to and
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so i was curious what it feels like for you to
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be on the other end of that when you're hearing
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them recount these stories and their lives from
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you know as far back as you know it was for them
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what is that like yeah sometimes it's incredibly
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emotional um there's been um Some interviews
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were, you know, I'll be honest, I was tearing
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up. Like, just the way that they describe their
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stories, you can tell that a lot of the times
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they're reliving it, as they tell you. You know,
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William Seyfried out of Guelph, Ontario, unfortunately
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just passed away a few months ago. He was at
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the Battle of the Shelt during World War II.
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And, you know, a very difficult battle for the
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Canadians. And he was in the infantry. And as
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he was telling the stories, he got really, really
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emotional. And, you know, I got emotional, too.
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So we were both sitting there crying a little
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bit. But sometimes, you know, you got to hold
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it together a little bit. But again, a lot of
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the times they're so emotionally fueled. I mean,
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you can see that they're, again, reliving it.
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And I'm a big visual person. So sometimes I can
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almost see what they're explaining. I did an
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interview. You know, again, a lot of different
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interviews where you can see that it hasn't been
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told in so long. And again, the emotions are
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still there. A lot of those stories come out
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in different ways. And the personalities of the
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veterans are completely different. And, yeah,
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it's captured in these incredible videos that
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I film. Are the veterans fairly open in terms
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of sharing their stories? I guess because they
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reach out to you mostly. I'm sure they are. But,
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you know, are people maybe a bit more reserved
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sometimes about sharing? Sometimes they are.
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And, you know, I've been very fortunate to interview,
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again, over 150 veterans now. But I have gotten
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some no's. And a lot of the times they say it's
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too difficult to say or, you know, it's too long
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ago. I don't want to talk about it. But some
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veterans, you know, take a little bit of convincing,
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you know, once you kind of get them on the phone.
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But I think I was speaking to a veteran the other
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day, and they said it takes between 50 to 70
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years for someone to open up or a veteran to
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open up about their time in the service. A Vietnam
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veteran that I interviewed in Barry on Saturday,
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he said it took 35 years for him to open up.
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So you think about that time, the weight that
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they were carrying for that long. With the World
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War II veterans, sometimes, you know, it's 70
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years at minimum. Korea, 50, 60, 70 years, same
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thing. And a lot of the times it's, you know,
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20 plus years, whatever it is. It's even just
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what I did. You know, a lot of the times they
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put their medals, they put their uniform, paperwork,
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they just put it in the closet and they forget
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about it. George Ferguson, he's in Orillia, Ontario.
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He just opened up about his time in the service
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in 2024. That's 80 years, you know, by the time
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he landed in Normandy with the Canadian Army
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during World War II. And so a lot of the times
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they're open, but a lot of times they're not
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because maybe no one has asked them. That's been
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the biggest thing. I've interviewed veterans
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and I say, you know, why haven't you shared your
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story? He said, I was never asked. And that just
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gives me goosebumps. I'm like, wow. That's, it's
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sad, but also exciting. Like, you know, this
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is the first time you're sharing your story.
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It's a lot of responsibility, I think. It is.
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Yeah. And what's the feedback typically, you
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know, once you've concluded your interviews and
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I'm assuming you chat a little bit after, you
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know, the cameras are off or is it because you
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mentioned the weight that they carry. I was curious
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if this is healing in a way for them or a way
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to process. Yeah, I think. Yeah, I think it is
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really healing. There was, again, a World War
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II veteran interviewed in Brampton, Ontario.
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He's 103, never been interviewed, saw my name
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in a newspaper article and said, you know, I
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want to share my story with you. And he said,
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it's so, again, this weight off my shoulders
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or so relieving to share these stories because
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it's been built up for over, you know, 80 years
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or so. And his niece actually reached out to
17:10
me to schedule it. And she was, you know, in
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tears when we when I sent her the footage. She
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was so thankful. And, you know, because in recent
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years he had some health problems, but he was
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quick as a whip and he was just amazing. What
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gets lost when veterans don't share or don't
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tell their story? Oh, wow. I think their names.
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You think about like, what is your name? Your
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name is your family name, but it's also like
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who you are and your story. I remember reading
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something online the other day. It was in someone's
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lifetime. Somebody dies twice when they actually
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die. And then when the last time someone ever
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says their name. So I thought that was a pretty
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interesting quote. So I think. What gets lost
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is who they are, who their story was, and what
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their story was, really. What they experienced,
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the life advice, the joy. Yeah, just what they
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experienced in life. I think that gets lost.
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And again, my interview style is I'm not just
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going to talk about the combat and the war. It's
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like, what was it like growing up in the Great
18:26
Depression? What life advice do you have for
18:29
kids nowadays? What did you do for fun? It's
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just like you're capturing who they are and what
18:37
their life was in a 30, 40, 50 -minute video.
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It's difficult to do, but it's fun. Yeah, you're
18:48
kind of recording a story that might never be
18:51
shared or might never be seen by anyone until
18:54
it's shared. It's like a race against the clock
18:56
now. Did you have anything else you wanted to
18:59
share? I think I just want people to be curious.
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If anyone listening gets one thing out of this,
19:07
listening to this podcast, I think I want people
19:09
to be curious, you know, whether it's in your
19:11
life or about your own family history, you never
19:15
know what path it might lead you down. Like you
19:19
might have a famous painter or a famous, you
19:22
know, athlete in your family that you never knew
19:24
about. And now you have a brand new passion.
19:27
to kind of pursue and now it's like a family
19:30
heirloom. So I think I want people to be passionate
19:32
or curious rather in themselves, in their family
19:37
history and anything that they do because you
19:40
never know what you're going to find. And ask
19:43
your family questions. Ask your aunts and uncles.
19:45
Ask your grandparents who hopefully are still
19:47
around. Yeah, just sit down with them, learn
19:50
from them. There's so much knowledge there that
19:52
could be slowly slipped away if you aren't curious.
19:56
You don't ask those. Ask good questions. Be a
20:00
good listener. That's the skill I've learned.
20:02
So I think it's a skill that you have to learn.
20:06
And I think, yeah, try to be a good listener
20:10
and ask good questions and soak up as much knowledge
20:13
as you can. You never know what project or passion
20:16
or hobby might come about. I actually encourage
20:20
people to do what I'm doing in any other parts
20:25
of the world. Because I'm not going to be able
20:27
to save all these veteran stories. Their stories
20:29
are important. They need to be shared. Anyone
20:32
can do what I'm doing. And I really encourage
20:34
people to do what I'm doing in their spare time.
20:38
They don't have to interview 10 to 15 veterans
20:40
a month like I'm doing. But, you know, one a
20:43
month, one a week, one a year. That's going to
20:47
be worth it 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now when
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these stories are not accessible anymore. If
20:55
you know a veteran who wants to share their story,
20:57
again, please reach out to me, globalveteranstories
21:00
.com. I would love to be able to share their
21:03
story. Thank you, Zach, for sharing your passion
21:10
project with us. Preserving these memories of
21:12
people who may not have shared otherwise is important,
21:15
and I look forward to hearing many more. Thank
21:19
you for listening to the entire episode. All
21:22
the links and info you heard in this conversation
21:23
will be featured in the show notes on our website.
21:26
If you'd like to know more about anything we
21:28
mentioned in this episode, make sure to check
21:29
villagermagazine .ca slash podcast. If you enjoyed
21:33
this episode, please leave us a review on Apple
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Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening
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from. If you'd like to help this podcast grow,
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like YouTube or Spotify so you never miss an
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episode. Thanks again, and I'll see you next
21:47
time.