Vision of Vets Utilizes Technology to Deliver Veterans’ Stories to Schoolchildren  
The below article was published in Signals AZ on April 26, 2019:

By Torrence Dunham

Over the past few years, individuals have been able to do a number of remarkable things utilizing mobile phones. Vision of Vets, a non-profit 501(c)(3) based in Prescott Valley, is using this continually evolving multimedia platform to keep the stories of America’s heroes alive while connecting with the youth of the country through live portrait technology.

Giving Back to Veterans and Connecting to Youth
“Our whole program involves giving back to our veterans and also the youth of this country through our portraits and videography,” Founder Bruce Roscoe said, adding he got the idea for the project in 2014 after visiting his friend who was suffering from exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

Vision of Vets takes professional photographs of veterans. Using a cellphone with an app called “Live Portrait”, individuals can scan the picture and view of a video of the Veteran telling their own story produced by the organization.

In order to cover past history, events that happened before World War Two, Roscoe will utilize actors in reenactments.

Roscoe says Vision of Vets will be covering 13 different wars dating back to the French and Indian War.

Used In Schools to Teach Freedom is not Free

Lisa Pasalich is a board member for Vision of Vets and fills a variety of roles for the non-profit organization. She is a teacher at Granville Elementary School in Prescott Valley and uses this technology in her classroom.

“I use this in my classroom to spark patriotism in my kiddos,” Pasalich said, adding she witnessed a huge spark in patriotism utilizing the technology. “I’ve taken it a step further and put it into our schools so that our children will learn that freedom is not free.”

Vision of Vets has interviewed and produced a few videos already, including one with WWII Code Talker Roy Hawthorne who recently died in April 2018.

“We’ve learned with the loss of our Code Talker in April (2018) that this is a mission that we need to get to quickly,” Pasalich said. “We know we are losing them at a rapid rate and we would love to capture as many World War Two veterans as we can.”

The organization is asking for the community’s help to keep the stories of America’s veterans alive and “light the spark” in the youth of America by providing a tax-deductible donation to the organization through the official website.

It is stated each veteran who participates in the project receives a professional 16×20 framed portrait and prints in different sizes along with a DVD of the interview and a essay summarizing the interview, all for free.