Jim Hawks is retired from the movie industry but still works for hours shooting and editing the stories of combat veterans.

“I listen to every bit of it, their whole edit and sometimes, it’s too intense,” says Hawks.

It’s for an online project he and his wife created just months ago called on “On My Watch T.V.”. Their mission is to honor the service of our veterans by preserving their stories.

“When I started doing this project On My Watch T.V.”, I was really looking for heroes,” he says adding that every veteran is a hero just by stepping forward and serving their country, “without veterans and sacrifice we wouldn’t be living the life that we’re living.”

And our heroes are living history.

“They all have great stories to tell and they tell them from their heart,” but says that often our veterans don’t share their stories, even with their own family members.

A sad reminder their stories may be lost with time.

“It’s something they live with in their mind and their experience and often try to forget it,” says Hawks.

He says veterans feel at ease sharing their stories with him because he’s a Vietnam veteran, a link he hopes serves as a life story preserver, “So that the memory of those veterans can carry on forever.”

And just maybe save one of the heroes who forgot they make up the stars and stripes.

“There’s 20 veterans a day that are committing suicide, we all know that number and if we can reach one … and just by telling their story they were able to see how important they are … well that would be worth everything,” says Hawks.

Hawks’ goal is to share the stories of 100 veterans.

To watch the full veterans’s stories or to participate click here: ON MY WATCH T.V..

Vietnam Veteran Preserving Heroes’ History