Michael Yandell, 32, and his wife, Amy Yandell, 42, talked to StoryCorps about Michael's experience of being exposed to sarin gas while deployed in Iraq in 2004. Todd Burandt for StoryCorps hide caption

Calvin Burns, 35, and his daughter Stepheni Bellamy, 15, talk about their experiences with racism during a StoryCorps interview in Denver. Courtesy of the Burns Family hide caption

Lucinda Roy (left) and Jane Vance were both teachers at Virginia Tech when a student went on a shooting rampage on campus in 2007. Vance still teaches there and remembers how her students responded during their first class back after the shooting. Erica Yoon/Courtesy of StoryCorps hide caption

Annie Johnson and her daughters Fatuma Abdullahi, 14, and Maryan Osman, 15. Fatuma and Maryan were refugees from Somalia's civil war, but found a family and new life with the Johnsons. StoryCorps hide caption

Manuel Cuevas (left) is known for turning Johnny Cash into "the Man in Black." Photo courtesy of Morelia Cuevas hide caption

Isabel Kouyoumjian in 2010. Courtesy of the Nucho family. hide caption

This St. Patrick's Day the people of Yonkers, N.Y., will be thinking of Jess Buzzutto. He died in 2012, but was known as "The Leprechaun of Yonkers." StoryCorps hide caption

Toni Henson, 53, and her son, Camaran, 23, at StoryCorps in Atlanta. StoryCorps hide caption

Chris López told her son Gabe, who's transgender, that she will always have his back. StoryCorps hide caption

Michael B. Ryan, 19, a sophomore at Ashland University, and his father, Michael J. Ryan, 45, a judge in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Division in Ohio. StoryCorps hide caption

Roy Ebihara (far left) with his siblings, Mary, Kathy and Bill, on Easter 1941 in Clovis, N.M. In 2014, Roy and his family received a formal public apology from the mayor of Clovis for the mistreatment they endured there. Courtesy of Roy Ebihara hide caption

Claudia and Bill on their wedding day, July 12, 1975. Courtesy of the Dewane family hide caption

Philip, 43, (right) and his nephew Andy, 28, at StoryCorps in Minneapolis in December. Philip got his nickname from the American soldiers he was assigned to in Iraq because he loved Philip Morris cigarettes. Andy is also a nickname. StoryCorps hide caption

Ed Roy, 63, and Mary Johnson-Roy, 64, were married in 2015. Both had sons die. "I'm grateful to have someone there that has experienced the same thing I have," Mary tells Ed at StoryCorps in Minneapolis. Courtesy of Brian Mogren hide caption

John Marboe is a Lutheran pastor in St. Paul, Minn., and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, but says he keeps hauling trash because it's important. Courtesy of John Marboe hide caption