Dear Fellow Veteran(s),
Please let us preserve your story by sitting down with me (Todd A. McKinley), and Carrie Carpenter a Hawkins County (Tennessee) School Teacher and amateur historian, either in person or via Zoom. Coming from a family of Veterans and being a Veteran of more than 20 years of service in the Army, which includes combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as having been active in Veterans Service Organizations since retiring in 2016, I truly understand that every Veteran has a story to tell. Sadly, in our nation’s history, there have been millions of Veterans whose stories have been lost to time. Certainly, I understand the various reasons why many Veterans don’t wish to share their stories or often wait until late in life to do so.
That said, to ensure the stories of your service to the nation, and life stories you would like to share, including any advice you would like to impart to future generations are preserved, here’s an excellent opportunity. The reason we’ve embarked on this project is to ensure that your stories will live on for generations to come. This is purely a not-for-profit endeavor, and to prevent exploitation of anyone's stories and experiences, we plan to merely document and edit (as needed) and then donate the finished stories to the Veteran’s local county archives, historical society, local libraries, state archives, and other institutions that would have an interest.
In addition to traveling throughout Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, we plan to also make ourselves available to any Veteran within a reasonable area from our hometown in Upper East Tennessee, who wishes to sit down in person versus utilizing Zoom.
“For God and Country!”
Todd A. McKinley, BA, MSL
SFC, USA-Ret.
Todd@toddmckinley.com