In the video below, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes shares some great stories about her Grandfather, the famous General, Jimmy Doolittle, from her book 'Calculated Risk.'
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She concludes with this: "My grandfather used to say that we were all put on this earth for a purpose. And that purpose in life was to make this world a better place in which to live. He said we could do that by painting a picture, writing a poem, building a bridge, combating injustice or prejudice, and in a thousand other ways."
"His story is fairly well known, but as I look around this room, I see other stories, equally as important, other stories that really should be told. And what started out as a mission for me to protect my grandparents became something a lot more important, and that is to preserve history."
She went on to challenge people, to record their history. "It doesn't really matter if you write a book," she says, "or go to a museum and do an oral history that is recorded. You can even write letters to your grandchildren, and tell them what you did and I'm not just talking to you boys, I'm talking to you ladies, as well. This is our history. Every piece of it is what we put together as Americans. And if we don't record it, it is lost forever. And if it is lost forever, we can't really turn to Hollywood and complain that they aren't getting it right, because it is our job to make sure that it is there for them."
This is exactly why the Joe Foss Institute supports the work of--and partners with--teachers like Jamie Sawatzky in Chantilly, Virginia, and Barbara Hatch, in Cave Creek, Arizona. Ms. Hatch is the founder of the Arizona Heritage Project, an initiative in which students interview veterans and write essays about the veterans’ stories. These essays are then published in book form, and submitted to the National Archives.
Mr. Sawatzky, a 7th grade history teacher, created the Oral History Project, an initiative in which students interview veterans on video, to capture their stories. These stories are then sent to the Library of Congress. Mr. Sawatzky believes so strongly in bringing veterans into his school that he has created an annual event that brings the largest number of World War II veterans to visit a public school on one day in our nation.
