Year-round the Historical Truth 101 staff interviews war veterans, Holocaust survivors and research experts to preserve the non-renewable history of those interviewed.

Based out of the Shoals, Historical Truth 101 has traveled to Virginia, New Orleans, Texas and 17 other states to preserve history through audio and video interviews.

The inspiration to start Historical Truth 101 came from a desire to share the wisdom of those interviewed, said Historical Truth 101 interviewer Angela Broyles.

“All of the World War II vets, Holocaust survivors, Vietnam and Korean vets all have a lot of wisdom that needs to be shared,” Broyles said. “All of their stories are very inspiring in their own words, and our oral and videotaped interviews make sure that their story is told.” 

When asked how Broyles and her team find veterans to interview she said they come to her.

“It’s amazing, they pretty much contact or come to us and we can recognize more and more people,” Broyles said. 

It is Historical Truth 101’s goal to make “truth” accessible, according to the group’s website, historicaltruth101.com

 

Historical Truth 101 has been interviewing war veterans for the past eight years through oral history, Broyles said.  

“We wanted to make the website available to honor the people that we have interviewed and for people to learn more about the past,” Broyles said.

By listening to first-hand experiences, viewers can get an understanding of how the world used to be, Broyles said.

Broyles told the story of a war veteran who she had interviewed that continued to pray he would be able to come home for Christmas so he could meet his 18-month-old daughter for the first time. The soldier was able to come back to the United States for Christmas and hitched rides to his home, Broyles said.

“A farmer carrying the soldier had reached his destination and dropped him off even though he was several miles from home,” Broyles said. “The farmer then turned around and gave the veteran his truck and told him to return it after Christmas. We live in a world today where that would never happen, because people don’t trust people anymore.”

Historical Truth 101 will continue to interview war veterans, Broyles said. They are in need of volunteers to carry out interviews, do editing and to market and promote their website.