The Journalist of the Month for March, Cpl. Isaac Ibarra, allowed World War II veterans to tell their stories in video interviews for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Ibarra produced the interviews for III Marine... read more
The Journalist of the Month for March, Cpl. Isaac Ibarra, allowed World War II veterans to tell their stories in video interviews for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Ibarra produced the interviews for III Marine Expeditionary Force/Marine Corps Installations Pacific. <br /> <br />
Two of Ibarra’s video packages that stood out the most were “Jerry Yellin, World War II Veteran Interview” and “Once Enemies, Now Friends.” <br /> <br />
Reaching more than 9 million people, his interview with Jerry Yellin went viral on the DVIDS Facebook page. Facebook users viewed Yellin’s interview 2.6 million times and shared it 55,209 times. It generated 24,363 Facebook likes and 2,280 Facebook comments just on the DVIDS Facebook page. It has an additional 1,153 Facebook comments; 7,800 Facebook likes; and 183,582 views on the DVIDS website. The video continued late into April to draw even more attention every day on both the DVIDS Facebook page and the DVIDS website. <br /> <br />
His interview helped to highlight the testimony of the WWII veteran who flew the final combat mission in WWII. Facebook users comments included such accolades as “Awesome video”; “Wow! How inspiring to hear this 91 year old veteran!”; “This is a must watch!” and simply “Incredible…Wonderful…Accurate.” <br /> <br />
Ibarra’s second stand out video package was a compilation of the interviews with different World War II veterans. The “Once Enemies, Now Friends” video package was viewed 375,952 on the III Marine Expeditionary Force/Marine Corps Installations Pacific facebook page and was shared 4,891 times. It was viewed thousands of more times on the DVIDS website. The individual interviews with the WWII veterans were also viewed thousands of times on the DVIDS website. <br /> <br />
All his interviews with the WWII veterans helped push Ibarra to the top of the list for the number of video views for March. He also ranked high among the other military videographers for the number of video downloads during the Month. <br /> <br />
Highlighting the testimony of veterans from what is commonly referred to as the greatest generation, Ibarra’s video interviews with the WWII veterans definitely made him stand out as the journalist of the month for March. <br /> <br /> show less
