June 21, 2010
This Friday, June 25th marks the 60th Anniversary of the start of the Korean War – the war we call the “forgotten victory.” South Korea, America and our UN Allies did not want or seek that war, but responded to a call from the United Nations to defend a member nation from the naked aggression of North Korea. American Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen answered the call, and reported for duty in a country many had never heard of before.
This summer will be filled with commemorative events; ceremonies, dinners and in some cases, celebrations, all to honor and remember those who fought and served in Korea. The men and women of the Korean War National Museum join others in these salutes and celebrations, hoping that companies, corporations and donors will help us with our efforts to create a world-class museum to honor those who served bravely.
We have a finite window to honor, remember and celebrate those who served in the Korean War, those who helped give South Korea and the brave Korean people a chance for peace, prosperity and freedom, all so apparent in South Korea today. We congratulate the people of South Korea for making the most of this amazing gift so many, from so many countries gave – the chance for peace and freedom. We hope you will join us in our mission and journey to build a world-class museum to honor, remember, celebrate and preserve the stories, heritage and contributions of so many brave men and women, now, in their lifetime.
I regret not having posted information sooner, but we've been very busy here at the Korean War National Museum, getting things back on track and making progress to accomplishing our mission.
Since I last posted, we've had many exciting developments. We hired Ms Chris Hansley as our part-time office manager. In addition to helping with veteran outreach, Chris is working to get our files in order and to help structure the KWNM for future success and better organization.
Nicolaas Kitsch joined the team as the new managing curator of the Denis J. Healy Freedom Center in Springfield, IL. Nick comes to us with military experience and a great and growing understanding of managing a collection and helping it grow. Nick replaces Connor Homann, who left for other opportunities, with our gratitude for a job well done.
While we are adding these great people to our team, we also have faced some challenges. A heavy, sudden storm dumped 5 inches of rain in Springfield in 90 minutes, late on the afternoon of on Wednesday, May 26. Quick response by Connor Homann, volunteers and his family saved the collection stored in the basement from permanent damage, and the collection was quickly moved to higher (and drier) ground.
We are continuing to grow and prepare for new and better things. We have been working on some exciting and dynamic plans for our future, and hope to be able to share this news shortly. In the meantime, we hope you will visit the Denis J. Healy Freedom Center, explore our website and consider joining or supporting our organization. We need volunteers around the country to help tell people about our mission, find great donations of artifacts, photographs and heritage, and to help us raise awareness and funds to accomplish our mission. We need your help – please join our effort to get our mission accomplished.
Sincerely,
Ryan
Ryan Yantis
Lt. Col., US Army (retired)
Executive Director
Korean War National Museum
47 West Division Street, Box 1950
Chicago IL 60610
execdirector@kwnm.org
847-571-7171
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