Lakewood, Colo. – Following the Memorial Day holiday, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) released a Veterans History Project interview with Michael Knight, a local Veteran and student at Colorado School of Mines. Knight served in the U.S. Marine Corps from November 2005 to April 2011.


Knight enlisted after graduating high school and attended boot camp in San Diego, California in November 2005. From there he attended a basic combat training course followed by a specialized school for electronics repair in Pensacola, Florida. After training, he worked on a Marines’ electronic warfare jet in Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was then transferred to a different position where he tested and trained fellow Marines in water survival skills. In 2010, he extended his contract by six months in order to deploy with the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Knight officially separated from the U.S. Marines in April 2011 with the rank of Sergeant and went on to continue his education in San Diego and Santa Barbara. In 2017, he moved to Colorado where he’s currently in his fifth year at the Colorado School of Mines pursuing his Ph.D. in material science. At the School of Mines, Knight has been active in formalizing the Mines Veterans Alliance, a subchapter of Student Veterans of America, in order to help school administrators better assist students in utilizing Veterans benefits and resources. He’s also an advocate for getting more Veterans employed in the STEM field and into the national laboratory system.

“I believe highlighting and preserving our Veterans’ stories is one of the many ways to recognize their service and sacrifice for our country. Every story collected from a Veteran is a unique and significant piece of history, and I want to thank Michael for his service to our country and for taking the time to share his story,” said Perlmutter. “I also want to thank Chase for his work to highlight Michael’s story. The Veterans History Project is an important initiative and an invaluable learning experience for interns.”

In recent years, Perlmutter’s office has extended the opportunity to interview a local Veteran and capture their story as part of the Veterans History Project to interns in the district office. During the spring semester, intern Chase Cromwell chose to pursue the Veterans History Project as part of his internship. Cromwell got connected with Knight as a fellow student at the Colorado School of Mines and interviewed Knight via Zoom on March 23, 2021.

The interview with Knight is the latest in a series of interviews with local Colorado Veteran facilitated by Perlmutter’s congressional office, including two interviews conducted by congressional interns. In previous years, Perlmutter’s office has collaborated with local community colleges and a high school to produce four Veterans History Project films: The Wars We Fought (2007), The Greatest Generation: Operation Detachment (2011), Women Warriors: A Vision of Valor (2014) and MEDIC! (2016). The full documentaries are available for viewing here.

The Veterans History Project (VHP) is a congressionally chartered project, which is part of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center. Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 as a way to collect, preserve and make accessible personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Perlmutter’s office submits all documentaries to the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center where they become a permanent part of the Library’s Veterans History Project showcase. 

If you or someone you know would like to share a Veterans’ story, please contact Perlmutter’s office at (303) 274-7944.

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