Living in a Van to Honor America’s Heroes | Kevin & Lauren Wallace | Van of Valor

About this episode

This episode features Kevin and Lauren Wallace, who travel across America in a van to honor and document the stories of veterans and their families.

What if honoring America’s heroes became your life mission? On this episode of The MisFitNation Show, host Rich LaMonica welcomes US Air Force Veteran Dr. Kevin Wallace and Lauren Wallace, the husband-and-wife team behind one of the most meaningful missions in America today—Van of Valor. Van of Valor is a cross-country project dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star families. Their belief is simple: “The highest form of honor is to remember.” Kevin Wallace is a retired combat photojournalist who served as a photographer for Air Force One and is himself a Purple Heart recipient and Bronze Star with Valor recipient. Lauren Wallace is a cultural anthropologist and Harvard history graduate student who helps ensure these stories are preserved with historical depth and meaning. Together, the newlyweds live as unpaid volunteers in a converted FedEx van—traveling over 30,000 miles across America with their dachshund Sunny—meeting veterans in homes, VFW halls, farms, and small towns to document stories that might otherwise be lost forever. Their mission goes beyond interviews. They conduct buddy checks, reconnect forgotten…

People in this episode

Host: Richard LaMonica

Guests: Dr. Kevin Wallace, Lauren Wallace

Topics covered

• honoring veterans
• Purple Heart recipients
• Gold Star families
• cultural anthropology
• documenting history

Keywords

• veterans
• honor
• stories
• mission
• sacrifice
• documentary
• travel
• history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Van of Valor

Places: America, Vietnam

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