by David Colburn, The Timberjay
REGIONAL- The United Way of Northeastern Minnesota offers the Iron Range and Koochiching and Lake of the Woods counties something no other United Way in the state does – programs and support for military veterans.
Last spring UWNEMN launched a new initiative as part of its United for Veterans program, an oral history project to preserve the stories of veterans for families and communities called “Operation: Solider Story.” The name has since been changed to “Operation: Service Story” to be more inclusive of all facets of service represented by military veterans.
The Timberjay spoke with Community Impact Coordinator Michelle Lampton on Monday to find out how the project has been coming along over the past year, and while Lampton reported that the number of veterans sharing their stories is lower than they had hoped so far, the experiences of all those who’ve participated have been extremely rewarding.