We were lucky to catch up with Neil Gallagher recently and have shared our conversation below.
Neil, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I have always been fascinated with military history, especially the Second World War. Both my grandfathers had served during WWII but like so many of their generation, they never seemed to talk about their experiences. When they passed away, that history was lost forever. In an attempt to learn more about what my grandfathers went through, I began speaking to WWII veterans at my local American Legion.
These men became my heroes and over the years I have been able to interview over 150 of them. One of the most meaningful interviews I have conducted was for a WWII Marine veteran who was in end-of-life care in Hospice. I drove from Florida to Tennessee to speak with him. He passed away about a week or so after the interview. I am very proud that I could record his story before it was lost to time.
Neil, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Neil Gallagher. I am a Marine Corps veteran having served from 2014-2021 and left the service as a sergeant. I am a graduate of the University of South Florida and am a graduate student of military history at The Citadel.
From an early age, I have always been fascinated with military history.
I started interviewing WWII veterans as part of a project I called “Preserving the Stories” when I was 12 years old. Today it is a registered nonprofit and I have interviewed over 150 WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans about their experiences in the military. It is my mission to ensure their sacrifices are never forgotten.
I publish these interviews online and have had the honor of interviewing these men and women on three continents and across the country. It has become my life’s work to preserve this history, one story at a time.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
As these men and women begin to fade away, it is my mission to ensure their legacies are never lost to time. There are hundreds of these veterans passing away each day and I feel I am in a race against time to interview these heroes while I still can. I have created a website and YouTube channel to share these interviews and I hope it can become an educational resource so that this history is always kept alive.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I first started this project I was 12 years old and in the middle of the recession. I started conducting these interviews with just pen and paper and it was hard to capture the full extent of these interviews. As I grew older and began working, I was able to buy a tape recorder, and this allowed me to change the way I collected these interviews.
Today I have all the necessary equipment to ensure no details of these stories are lost to time. I have been able to purchase state-of-the-art cameras, and audio recorders, and host a website to showcase every aspect of the interviews.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.preservingthestories.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/preservingthestories/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/preservingthestories
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilhgallagher/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RememberThemPTS
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@preservingthestories
- Other: https://www.neilhgallagher.com/
Image Credits
Neil Gallagher