Ever since I was little, I’ve always enjoyed learning about the Second World War. Now I’ve gained info that my grandfather was a World War Two veteran, and I went to interview him for him to tell his stories

I want to preserve his stories for future generations. And I am grateful to him for his sacrifice.

“They’ve given us the world that we have,” he said. “It’s truly amazing.”

Robert Gay, 99, fought with the 32nd Infantry Division in the Pacific.

According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, 558,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were still alive in 2017.

But the youngest of them are in their late eighties, and some are more than 100 years old. The VA estimates an average of 362 of them die each day..

Robert "Doc" Robert, 95. After Robert was captured by the Japanese he was forced to work on the Burma railroad as a slave laborer.

‘Fighting the war all over again’

The stories are powerful, told with emotion by the man who seem to recall them vividly.

My grandfather said he saw some horrible things done in humanity.

“That was the most godawful thing we’ve ever had to witness … what happened when the Germans beat those people,” he said.

I also have talked to many veterans about their struggles after the war.

“The nightmares were there,” he said, “and you couldn’t go to sleep at night without fighting the war all over again.”

Real-life heroes

“We don’t need to use iPhones to take selfies,” he said. “We can actually document history with them.”

After this interview, my  passion for this interview doesn’t appear to be fading anytime soon. I am looking for more WWII veterans to talk to.