ANDY FANCHER: When I was nine years old,
I was sifting through old family photographs
when I stumbled on one of a young man in military uniform.
ROBERT FANCHER: We had a picture of my grandfather.
He would pull that one down and ask about him.
And I had no information.
ANDY FANCHER: I guess what really
piqued the interest was the fact that there were no answers.
And then that just cracked open this whole world
of what happened in Italy?
What happened in Germany?
Pacific?
I just wanted to find out all of it.
And when I was 16, I started a YouTube channel
documenting the services of World War II veterans.
The mission is just preserving history for future generations.
Whenever I go visit the veterans,
after the initial video interview,
a bunch of amazing stories come out.
You talk to these guys.
You feel the emotion.
You hear firsthand what they experienced.
How you doing?
Thank you so much for coming out here in the rain.
Calvin, it's been a while.
KEITH JERNIGAN: He was always a hero to me.
But as I've gotten older, I've realized
how important that service was.
And it seemed like Andy was the person to bring it out of him.
And he really cracked an egg open,
and I heard stories from him that I'd never
heard in all my life.
ANDY FANCHER: As soon as I got on the StoryCorps app,
I started listening.
And I found some amazing stories.
Stories really bring people together.
CALVIN JERNIGAN: And then I went into the ship, and they said,
the war is over.
And we celebrated.
[LAUGHTER]
KELLIE FANCHER: You can read words.
When it comes from that person, I
think it creates lot more compassion because you're
actually hearing their heart.
ROBERT FANCHER: It does everybody good to open up
when both sides get medicine.
Listening is honoring.
Here are people that are sharing something that they haven't
talked about in 70-plus years.
Everybody should dedicate a little bit of time
to just preserve the stories of our veterans
while we still have time.
ANDY FANCHER: Sometimes all the veterans need
is just somebody to listen.
[MUSIC PLAYING]