Veterans Day 2018

Go behind-the-scenes of today’s Doodle below.

Today’s interactive, animated Doodle for US Veterans Day honors the brave individuals who have served our country by inviting us all to listen to their stories. Created in partnership with StoryCorps, Google’s internal employee veteran network (VetNet), and animation studio Foreign Fauna, the Doodle features five veterans’ voices – one from each branch of the military – each sharing a real story from their service. Aside from covering experiences from a range of time periods in our nation’s history, the stories also touch on a spectrum of veteran experiences and emotions such as friendship, loss, hardship, hope, and love.

Today’s Doodle is also part of our larger #VeteransVoices initiative, a collaboration between StoryCorps (whose mission is to collect and preserve humanity’s stories), Google, and YouTube. #VeteransVoices encourages us all to honor veterans and their sacrifices by listening to their stories. When you download the StoryCorps app, you can interview a veteran in your life to archive their oral history in the Library of Congress. You can also find or share Veteran stories on YouTube or other social channels using #VeteransVoices.

If you or someone you know is a veteran in crisis, please reach out to the Veterans Crisis Line here or call 1-800-273-8255 & press 1. 

The Veterans Crisis Line is a free, confidential resource that’s available to anyone, even if you’re not registered with VA or enrolled in VA health care. The caring, qualified responders at the Veterans Crisis Line are specially trained and experienced in helping veterans of all ages and circumstances.

Huge thanks to all of our project partners, many of whom are veterans themselves or are individuals deeply connected to the veteran community. These partners include:

StoryCorps

Thank you to our partners at StoryCorps for working with us to discover & identify these amazing stories, for connecting us to such incredible veterans, and for their dedicated collaboration on the wider #VeteransVoices initiative.

Doodle Story Participants

Thank you to all of our Doodle story participants for your service, your sacrifices, and your willingness to share your story with the nation.

Foreign Fauna

Thank you to our guest animators Alicia & Emory Allen, both of whom have parents who served their entire careers in the military, for bringing amazing creative talent and thoughtfulness to every frame.

Google Veterans Network (VetNet)

Thank you to VetNet, Google’s internal Employee Resource Group (ERG) for military veterans, service members, friends, and family for their support on this project. Specifically, VetNet leads Nick Ralston and James Durago have worked closely with the Doodle team as primary consultants on all content and art for the Doodle.

Special thanks to Nick who also serves as our narrator for the Doodle’s introductory message!

A little more about James and Nick  in their own words:

My name is James Durago, and I joined the Army in 2003 as a senior year in high school and to this day, it's still one of the proudest decisions I've ever made. In the course of my six year service, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting hundreds of the most selfless, brave, and passionate people I've ever met, many of whom I'm lucky to still call “friends” today.

My name is Nick Ralston, I graduated from the US Naval Academy and was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer in 2005. I was inspired to become a communications officer by one of my heroes and rugby coaches, LtCol Kevin Shea, who was killed near Fallujah in 2004. I served with helicopter squadrons, a force reconnaissance company, and did a tour on recruiting duty. I transitioned to the reserves in 2012 and finished up my service in 2018. I had the time of my life in the company of these incredible warriors and friends and I always look forward to the times when our paths cross. Leading Marines will be one of the most important and fun things I will ever do.

When the Doodle team reached out to us to consult on this project, we felt honored and humbled. We also felt really proud to be Googlers because we're using the world's biggest stage to give veteran voices an opportunity to be heard and for people to feel connected with us through our stories.

We hope that through taking the time to watch the Doodle stories or even through engaging in conversations with veterans on their own, people across the nation will walk away with a sense of unity, as we believe our stories have the power to bring us all together.

#VeteransVoices behind-the-scenes moments

Filming with MaCherie

Filming with Roy, Keith, & their spouses Sheronee & Lesli

Filming with Alicia & Emory from Foreign Fauna

Filming with Erich, project Art Director

Filming with Google VetNet creative consultants Nick & James

#VeteransVoices Doodle Team

Doodle Team

Art Director | Erich Nagler

Animation | Foreign Fauna

Art Support | Pedro Vergani, Gerben Steenks, Mattias Breitholtz, Rob Gilliam

Marketing & Partnerships Lead | Perla Campos

Engineering Lead | Jordan Thompson

Engineering Support | Rebecca Thomas, Brian Murray, Jacob Howcroft

UX | Diana Tran, Vishnu Ganti

Producer | Colin Duffy

Business Affairs Lead |  Madeline Belliveau

Music Support | Nick Zammuto

Writing Support | Juliana Appenrodt

Doodle Team Leads | Ryan Germick, Jessica Yu, Brian Kaas

Marketing Support | Carlos Diaz

Doodle Intro Voice Over | Nick Ralston

Google Veterans Network Creative Consultants | James Durago, Nick Ralston

Behind-the-scenes Production & Licensing Partners | Mass Appeal

StoryCorps Team

Founder & President | Dave Isay

CEO | Robin Sparkman

Project & Marketing Lead | Colleen J. Ross

Digital Lead | Dean Haddock

Production Lead | Katie Brook

Producers | Andres Caballero, Michael Garofalo, Kerrie Hillman, Katie Simon, Aisha Turner, Mia Warren

Facilitators | Geraldine Ah-Sue, Natalia Fidelholtz, Dana Glass, Daniel Sitts, Afi Yellow-Duke

Writers | Andrew Goldberg, Sylvie Lubow

Military Voices Initiative Team | Lisa Van Gale, Darwensi Clark, Jill Glaser, Hazel Diaz

Digital Team | Colene McFarlane, Francesco Bordone, Marissa Furman

Web & Engineering Support | Chris Wallace, Jay Moore, David Chandra, Hayley Belanger at 10Up

Operations | Kathrina Proscia, Sharyanne McSwain, Lisa Kim, Alissa Pelc

PR | Blake Zidell & Associates, JavelinDC