My Life My Story

The “My Life, My Story” project provides a window into patients’ lives, letting nurses and doctors know Veterans on a personal level.

For our last episode of the first season of the "My Life, My Story" podcast, we decided to record the story of the oldest Veteran we've ever interviewed. "Charlie" was nearly 108 when his story was written in the spring of 2020. That means he was old even for World War II Veterans. By the time he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, he was already 32.

When we ask Veterans to tell us about their lives, some choose to avoid painful subjects, and that's just fine by us. The aim of "My Life, My Story" isn't to drag out confessions or extract difficult memories. Here, Jess opened up. 

Most of the 5,000-plus Veterans we've interviewed for the "My Life, My Story" project aren't famous. In fact, when we enter someone's hospital room to ask if they'd like to participate, we usually know absolutely nothing about them. And we do that on purpose. 

A common theme that pops up in our My Life, My Story stories is perseverance. Anyone who lives a long life will, of course, go through hard times at some point. But for many of the combat Veterans we've interviewed, hard times are thrust upon them at an early age. That was the case for "Hank," whose story we hear in this episode.

Everyone we interview for the "My Life, My Story" project is, of course, a Veteran. Some of them talk about war – what they've seen in war, who they've lost, how it changed them. But at the core of almost every single one of the 5,000-plus life stories we've written since 2103 is love.

If someone asked you to tell your life story, where would you begin? For a lot of people, the answer to that question is "I was born in…"

We've heard a lot of war stories over the years from the Veterans we've interviewed for the "My Life, My Story" project. But here is a love story on how Veteran Stan met Ginny.

In this episode of our podcast, you'll meet Bibiana. Bibiana was a small, elderly woman in the hospital when she was interviewed for this story. But as we like to say about the Veterans we interview, "You never know who's behind that door." Her story truly astounded us, and we're glad to preserve it here. 

Almost 94,000 Americans were held as prisoners-of-war in Europe during World War II. In this episode of the "My Life, My Story" podcast, you'll hear the story of Harry Johnson, who managed to escape.

This episode of My Life, My Story podcast features Veteran Simon, who shares that not all Veterans' stories are war stories, how work is also his hobby.

This episode of My Life, My Story features Zack, an OEF and OIF Veteran recovering in the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, WI.