Portraits of Valor

For MPR News

In the spring of 2020, I started seeking out living World War II veterans across Minnesota to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in 2020. Before the pandemic kept me from getting too close to near-centenarians, I was able to track down a half dozen veterans who shared some incredible stories with me– from dropping spies over Nazi-occupied Europe from a blacked-out B-17, to singing to troops in the Army glee club across Europe as victory was declared.

I traveled across Minnesota gathering these stories and building portrait studios inside each veteran’s home. Producer Britta Greene and I worked together to bring these stories to life with host Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer. You can see the full project here. Click on each veteran’s name to be taken to listen to their story.