I’m Jacob Erickson, a graduate student of New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM. My interest in working with veterans comes from volunteering for four terms in AmeriCorps; one where I worked with and interviewed WWII veterans from NM, and another where I interviewed citizens of Los Alamos, NM. For both projects, I compiled an oral history archive of roughly 20 interviews per project. Both collections are housed in their respective state and local libraries. 

​

The inspiration for this project comes from the disappointing public reception results I saw from those last few projects; all my work does is sit in an archive waiting for people to make requests to view them for research purposes. For this project, I wanted to put these stories front and center in people's lives and make them come alive through immersive exhibition design. I wanted to give people a physical space to immerse themselves in, give them ways to interact with the installation, and to let them experience for themselves the stories of our armed forces. 

​

If you are a veteran and would like to share your story, please don't hesitate to contact me. History is important, regardless if it's Vietnam or another conflict, your story matters and I would love to have the privilege of recording your story for future use.