WATCH: Man's quest to document World War II stories comes to Jersey

Wednesday 12 June 2024

A 26-year-old Californian who has been recording the stories of thousands of World War II stories since he was in high school is travelling to Jersey this week in search of veterans who will share their stories with him.

Rishi Sharma was due on today's ferry crossing, travelling from St Malo to Jersey to interview Maurice Marie, an islander who fought in North Africa during the war.

Starting as a 15-year-old speaking to residents of a local care home, Rishi has built up an archive of hundreds of interviews with men who he considers his heroes.

He had initially thought he would continue the project until his late teens, when he'd go to college.

"By the time I was a senior in high school, I was ditching class - I was learning more from the veterans than in school."

Instead of stopping, he raised funds to continue the Remember WWII project. And when these funds ran out, he found he could sustain his project through YouTube revenue, although this has become more difficult in recent years as the platform changes its algorithm and becomes more sensitive to war content.

Pictured: Rishi with Harold Nelson of Colorado, who served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy

Rishi's interviews are in-depth and can take days to record before he uploads them to his Youtube channel. He also owns a TikTok, which he says is successful but its busy, short-form style doesn't lend itself well to the format he works in.

"TikTok is pretty popular, it's pretty good," he explained.

"TikTok is more just showing people what we're doing, behind-the-scenes and travel aspects. I'll show veterans doing interesting things."

And, he adds, on his quest for referrals and interviewees, many come to him through TikTok.

Once he has found his interviewees, he has found they are "remarkable", "humble", and keen to talk about their lives, he explained.

"These are people who are happy, who are genuinely people who love life.

"A lot of it is because when they came home from war, they made a concerted effort to make the most of their time here."

@rememberww2 Lets make this WWII veteran a star! I am on a misison to meet and interview all the WW2 veterans of the Allied Countries! #ww2 #veterans #seabees #navy #marines #army #airforce #miltok #singing #birthday #heroes #wwii #fyp #foryoupage #prayers #faith #fitness #gym #GOD #BHAGWANJI #JESUS #LORD #LORDS ♬ Courageous Heart - intune & MNR

Particularly moving, he said, are the stories he hears about other men who fell in the war.

Their friends will, 80 years on, remember who they were, and families have "on occasion" called Rishi to say this was the first time they found out how their relative had died.

"People who die for our existence, we owe it to them. 

Watch: Rishi speaks to Isle of Man veteran Hector Duff

"We can't change the fact that they died, but we can change the value of their death."

Rishi has made several trips to the Isle of Man already and interviewed the island's last Normandy veteran, Hector Duff. 

"He's someone I really look up to," he said.

In Jersey, he has arranged to speak to Maurice Marie, an islander who fought in North Africa. Hopefully, Rishi said, they will be able to sit down for a few days.

He is on the lookout for anyone else in Jersey or Guernsey who knows of any World War 2 veterans. He would also be interested to speak to people who were old enough during the Occupation to remember it well.

Anyone who knows someone who might speak to Rishi can contact him on +1 202 315 8743, via WhatsApp, or via www.rememberww2.org.

Pictured - top: Rishi interviews veterans in depth - sometimes over the course of several days