On Nov. 6, the Iowa Court Reporters Association and the Des Moines Area Community College’s court reporting program joined forces to host their second annual Veterans History Project event and transcribed the stories of 13 dedicated WWII veterans. One of the veterans interviewed was Leland Lester, who shared his story about surviving the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately, Lester passed away just one week after he participated in the event.
“I’m so glad that he was able to tell us his story,” said Pam Burkle, RPR, an official court reporter from Marshalltown, Iowa, who also serves as ICRA’s vice president. “He was such a war hero … surviving the bombing at Pearl Harbor.”
The National Court Reporters Foundation, NCRA’s philanthropic arm, has partnered with the Library of Congress to help collect transcripts for the VHP through its Oral Histories Program. Transcripts collected through the VHP are transcribed and provided to the Library of Congress where they are preserved for future use.
