As two unpaid volunteers, my wife and I will give up two years of our lives to solely dedicate ourselves to living in an old Fleet van with no running water or kitchen, and a camping toilet, and driving the entire CONUS, including as many small byways and trails as needed, to record and later convey the stories of hundreds of Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star families.

The goal is to complete a printed Americana book of 100 of these heroes; host daily podcasts and blog; host recurring radio, tv, social media events; create continuous content, to share these stories of heroism and sacrifice, and celebrate the lives of those fallen through the stories of grieving children and spouses left behind. We seek to create a culture of support, and, finally, for America’s first time, an understanding of patriotism and sacrifice, from all parts of American society.

We are taking this mission across America; over 30,000 miles of highways, byways, and roads; in cities, suburbs, and on farms; near the beaches and mountains; from sea to shining sea; in any place in the ‘Lower 48’ we are asked to be, and can access.

This is the only project of this nature ever accomplished. The idea was suggested at the Military Order of the Purple Heart national convention in 1992, but has proven nearly impossible.

The truth is, it will take complete sacrifice up front from two people surrendering any other ambitions for two years to accomplish this, without any personal return on investment. It truly is a sacrifice forward; but these wounded and fallen heroes are worth it! Many of the Purple Heart Veterans are dying or worse; we had to cross two names off our interview list last week. We need to do this now, and we are already on the road; broken down at this moment, actually.

We have 147 interviews already scheduled with Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star families. By the end of 2025, we anticipate bringing personal care and attention directly to the homes and rest-homes of over 250 combat wounded Veterans. Through outreach, we impacted more than 50,000 in January, and are using a targeted communication campaign created for us pro-bono from Ph.D. Communications Consultant. Our growth has continually exceeded our goals by margins well over 300 percent monthly. We will release a 1-of-a-kind book connecting America’s Purple Heart trail for the first time ever on America’s 250th Birthday.

We hope to create genuine understanding and empathy with the Van of Valor. Three separate Gold Star teens reported they are currently being bullied for their parents’ ultimate sacrifice. Does that drive suicide reduction? Our warfighters and fallen families deserve the best care our country can afford. We increase the understanding for those who gave all, those who shed blood time and time again, since WW2 still alive to give live anecdotes that shall inform citizens of today and tomorrow. There’s collaboration w/ a university, interested in preserving our oral narratives, ensuring the knowledge recorded will be impactful well into the future.

Suicide, substance abuse, homelessness, and isolation are real problems, and they plague Veterans (especially Combat Veterans and those who suffered military sexual trauma) at an extreme level, resulting in 20.6 Veteran suicides a day in 2023, and has been rising over 11 percent a year since 2020. There’s such a disconnect between that and the civilian population. Our research has concluded that many Veterans no longer like the country they were wounded, and had friends die, defending. Our mission is to build sympathy and understanding through the stories of sacrifice from World War II through a week ago, when yet another two children became Gold Star.