Nov 17, 2022
Unlike many high school graduates who follow a traditional path into higher learning institutions, Rishi Sharma forked his own for something greater than himself.
The 24-year-old Californian put his plans for college on hold at the time, devoting himself instead to a goal he had been working towards since sophomore year of high school — interviewing all World War II veterans alive today.
After more than five years on the road in a race against time, living out of his car, motels and the kindness of strangers along the way, Sharma has filmed interviews with more than 1,720 WWII veterans across the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia.
Sharma eats one meal a day, refuses to take a salary and remains loyal to his nonprofit, Remember WWII, which provides him with the necessary funds to continue his mission to interview all WWII veterans still alive today.
“The purpose of interviewing WWII combat veterans is to make sure the sacrifices made in the worst war in the history of the world is not forgotten,” Sharma told WGRZ-TV. “Here we are 75 years later and it’s like it never happened. If we do not document what they saw and experienced for our freedoms, we are going to forget it.”
Through his popular YouTube channel, Remember WWII with Rishi Sharma, Sharma shares all his candid, inspirational and informative interviews with real-life heroes of the “Greatest Generation” with an audience of more than 110,000 subscribers.
Sharma also makes copies of his interviews with WWII veterans and gifts them to their families to preserve family history in much the same way he has devoted his youth to preserving history for his own generation.
With his nonprofit funds running low, per his publicist, Sharma’s mission has become parallel with his own story of grit and sacrifice to serve a cause beyond himself.
For more information and updates on Sharma and his mission, or provide leads on WWII veterans wanting to interview, call/text Sharma at 202.315.8743