WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.130 --> 00:00:01.650 [Shannon Ricles] All right, well, hi everyone. 2 00:00:01.650 --> 00:00:03.400 Thank you for joining us today 3 00:00:03.400 --> 00:00:05.530 for The National World War II Memorial - 4 00:00:05.530 --> 00:00:08.070 The Living Room of Washington DC. 5 00:00:08.070 --> 00:00:11.190 It's featuring our guest speaker, Holly Rotondi. 6 00:00:11.190 --> 00:00:12.160 I'm Shannon Ricles, 7 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:13.940 the Education and Outreach Coordinator 8 00:00:13.940 --> 00:00:16.960 for Monitor and Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary, 9 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:18.980 and I'm going to be your host today. 10 00:00:18.980 --> 00:00:21.820 And joining me as my cohost is Mark Losavio, 11 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:23.550 the Media and Outreach Coordinator 12 00:00:23.550 --> 00:00:24.510 also for Monitor 13 00:00:24.510 --> 00:00:26.823 and Mallows Bay national marine sanctuaries. 14 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:29.960 This webinar today is brought to you 15 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:32.630 by NOAA'S Monitor National Marine Sanctuary 16 00:00:33.580 --> 00:00:35.390 in collaboration with the North Carolina 17 00:00:35.390 --> 00:00:37.313 Office of State Archaeology. 18 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:40.610 Partnering since 1975, 19 00:00:40.610 --> 00:00:42.430 NOAA and the State of North Carolina 20 00:00:42.430 --> 00:00:43.950 work to research, honor 21 00:00:43.950 --> 00:00:45.780 and protect the hallmarks 22 00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:47.260 of North Carolina's underwater 23 00:00:47.260 --> 00:00:49.470 cultural heritage, shipwrecks. 24 00:00:49.470 --> 00:00:51.070 These shipwrecks hold information 25 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:53.150 about the ever-changing technologies 26 00:00:53.150 --> 00:00:55.260 and cultural and physical landscapes. 27 00:00:55.260 --> 00:00:58.880 They serve as a uniquely accessible underwater museum 28 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:00.440 and a memorial to generations 29 00:01:00.440 --> 00:01:02.210 of mariners who lived, died, 30 00:01:02.210 --> 00:01:04.050 worked, and fought off our shores. 31 00:01:04.050 --> 00:01:05.520 This is one of the many webinars 32 00:01:05.520 --> 00:01:07.510 we'll be bringing to you in the coming months 33 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:10.120 for the Submerged North Carolina Webinar Series 34 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:11.120 in collaboration with 35 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:13.453 the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. 36 00:01:14.630 --> 00:01:18.050 Now Monitor is just one of 15 national marine sanctuaries 37 00:01:18.050 --> 00:01:19.750 and two marine national monuments 38 00:01:19.750 --> 00:01:22.100 in the National Marine Sanctuary System. 39 00:01:22.100 --> 00:01:25.840 The system encompasses more than 620,000 square miles 40 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:27.530 of marine and Great Lake waters 41 00:01:27.530 --> 00:01:29.690 from Washington State to the Florida Keys 42 00:01:29.690 --> 00:01:32.330 and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. 43 00:01:32.330 --> 00:01:33.660 Now, during the presentation, 44 00:01:33.660 --> 00:01:36.920 all attendees will be in listen only mode. 45 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:38.700 You are welcome to type questions 46 00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:40.840 for the presenter into the question box 47 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:42.490 at the bottom of your control panel 48 00:01:42.490 --> 00:01:44.720 on the right hand side of your screen. 49 00:01:44.720 --> 00:01:46.960 This is the same area you can let us know 50 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:49.640 about any technical issues you may be having, 51 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:51.020 that we can help you with. 52 00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:53.180 We'll be monitoring the incoming questions 53 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:54.050 and technical issues, 54 00:01:54.050 --> 00:01:56.530 and we'll respond just as soon as we can. 55 00:01:56.530 --> 00:01:58.170 We are recording this session 56 00:01:58.170 --> 00:01:59.330 and we'll share the recording 57 00:01:59.330 --> 00:02:00.690 with registered participants 58 00:02:00.690 --> 00:02:03.120 via the webinar archive page, 59 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:04.960 and a URL for this webpage 60 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:08.520 will be provided at the end of the presentation. 61 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:10.550 So today we welcome Holly Rotondi, 62 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:12.320 The Executive Director of the Friends 63 00:02:12.320 --> 00:02:14.280 of The National World War II Memorial 64 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:15.970 to tell us more about the memorial 65 00:02:15.970 --> 00:02:18.020 and how it was created. 66 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:19.723 But first to get us started, 67 00:02:21.830 --> 00:02:24.150 we are going to be showing a video 68 00:02:24.150 --> 00:02:26.343 that is narrated by Tom Hanks, 69 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:29.390 that's gonna walk you through the memorial. 70 00:02:29.390 --> 00:02:30.470 So without further ado, 71 00:02:30.470 --> 00:02:31.850 and this is a little loud, 72 00:02:31.850 --> 00:02:34.140 so, if you have your speakers turned up, 73 00:02:34.140 --> 00:02:36.670 you might want to turn them down. 74 00:02:36.670 --> 00:02:38.450 We can't do anything on the sound, 75 00:02:38.450 --> 00:02:40.083 so just be prepared. 76 00:02:40.083 --> 00:02:42.666 (upbeat music) 77 00:02:51.696 --> 00:02:52.970 [Tom Hanks] Thanks to all of you, 78 00:02:52.970 --> 00:02:55.210 there's an important new memorial on the mall 79 00:02:55.210 --> 00:02:57.070 in Washington DC, 80 00:02:57.070 --> 00:02:59.203 The National World War II Memorial. 81 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:02.800 Designed by Friedrich St. Florian, 82 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:04.260 it creates a special place 83 00:03:04.260 --> 00:03:05.740 to commemorate the sacrifice 84 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:07.983 and celebrate the victory of World War II. 85 00:03:09.470 --> 00:03:10.303 At the same time, 86 00:03:10.303 --> 00:03:13.420 it enhances a space that is already special, 87 00:03:13.420 --> 00:03:14.563 our National Mall. 88 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.343 The Memorial covers more than seven acres, 89 00:03:20.370 --> 00:03:22.823 two-thirds of it, landscaping in water. 90 00:03:26.190 --> 00:03:27.940 It's built with bronze and granite, 91 00:03:28.780 --> 00:03:30.900 some 17,000 pieces of granite 92 00:03:32.060 --> 00:03:34.640 from South Carolina, Georgia, 93 00:03:34.640 --> 00:03:38.193 North Carolina, California, and Brazil. 94 00:03:39.590 --> 00:03:40.880 The memorial commemorates, 95 00:03:40.880 --> 00:03:42.900 the battles of World War II 96 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:44.450 and the people who fought them. 97 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:47.290 But it's much more than a memorial 98 00:03:47.290 --> 00:03:48.743 to hardship and gunfire, 99 00:03:49.810 --> 00:03:51.313 sacrifice and heroism. 100 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:54.770 It's a celebration of the spirit 101 00:03:54.770 --> 00:03:56.570 that brought all Americans together, 102 00:03:57.950 --> 00:03:58.843 black and white, 103 00:03:59.950 --> 00:04:02.303 native American and first-generation immigrant, 104 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:04.943 soldier and factory worker, 105 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:11.093 on the battlefront and on the home front. 106 00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:14.710 They've been called the greatest generation 107 00:04:14.710 --> 00:04:16.230 that ever lived. 108 00:04:16.230 --> 00:04:17.510 And Americans everywhere 109 00:04:17.510 --> 00:04:19.610 have helped create this memorial 110 00:04:19.610 --> 00:04:20.663 to say, thank you. 111 00:04:27.510 --> 00:04:30.170 Come with me and discover the special significance 112 00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:32.070 that's built into the granite and bronze 113 00:04:32.070 --> 00:04:33.740 of this memorial. 114 00:04:33.740 --> 00:04:35.690 We'll enter by the ceremonial walkway 115 00:04:35.690 --> 00:04:37.423 that leads from 17th street. 116 00:04:38.590 --> 00:04:41.930 To your left and right, you'll see flagpoles, 117 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:44.820 the base of each flagpole bears an inscription, 118 00:04:44.820 --> 00:04:47.983 and the seals of the military services and merchant marine. 119 00:04:51.080 --> 00:04:53.660 Inset in the balustrades to your left and right, 120 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:57.490 are 24 sculptured bronze panels by Raymond Kaskey, 121 00:04:57.490 --> 00:05:00.323 whose studio created all the sculpture for the memorial. 122 00:05:02.270 --> 00:05:04.580 The 12 on the north to your right, 123 00:05:04.580 --> 00:05:06.600 depict the Atlantic Front, 124 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:08.903 the 12 on the south, show the Pacific Front. 125 00:05:10.140 --> 00:05:13.750 Most of the panels were inspired by historical photos. 126 00:05:13.750 --> 00:05:15.363 They depict not just battles, 127 00:05:16.550 --> 00:05:18.050 but the all out mobilization 128 00:05:18.050 --> 00:05:19.713 of America's agricultural, 129 00:05:20.700 --> 00:05:24.340 industrial, military 130 00:05:24.340 --> 00:05:25.960 and human resources 131 00:05:25.960 --> 00:05:28.710 that ultimately led to victory. 132 00:05:28.710 --> 00:05:30.680 When you reach the Memorial Plaza, 133 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.750 you'll see a restored and improved Rainbow Pool 134 00:05:33.750 --> 00:05:35.810 with its historic fountains working again 135 00:05:35.810 --> 00:05:37.683 for the first time in decades. 136 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:43.890 Embracing the Plaza are 56 pillars 137 00:05:43.890 --> 00:05:47.010 that represent each of the individual states, 138 00:05:47.010 --> 00:05:49.513 territories and the District of Columbia. 139 00:05:51.220 --> 00:05:53.820 The pillars are joined together by a bronze rope 140 00:05:53.820 --> 00:05:55.850 that symbolizes the bonding of the nation 141 00:05:55.850 --> 00:05:56.800 in a common course. 142 00:06:02.150 --> 00:06:05.260 Two bronze wreaths, one of Oak, and one of wheat, 143 00:06:05.260 --> 00:06:06.790 symbolize America's role 144 00:06:06.790 --> 00:06:08.590 as both the arsenal of democracy 145 00:06:08.590 --> 00:06:10.453 and the bread basket of the world. 146 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:16.400 To the right and left are two memorial pavilions, 147 00:06:16.400 --> 00:06:17.993 each 43 feet high. 148 00:06:19.400 --> 00:06:22.100 The south pavilion commemorates the war in the Pacific 149 00:06:23.130 --> 00:06:25.080 and the north, the war in the Atlantic. 150 00:06:27.430 --> 00:06:29.780 At each pavilion four bronze column 151 00:06:29.780 --> 00:06:31.120 support American Eagles 152 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:33.370 that hold a suspended laurel wreath 153 00:06:33.370 --> 00:06:34.820 to memorialize the victory 154 00:06:34.820 --> 00:06:36.523 of the World War II generation. 155 00:06:38.500 --> 00:06:39.940 On the floor of each pavilion, 156 00:06:39.940 --> 00:06:41.923 is the World War II victory medal. 157 00:06:43.440 --> 00:06:45.270 Beyond the Rainbow Pool, 158 00:06:45.270 --> 00:06:46.833 you'll see the Freedom Wall, 159 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:50.673 here we mark the price of freedom. 160 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:55.470 The field of 4,000 sculpted gold stars 161 00:06:55.470 --> 00:06:58.380 commemorates the more than 400,000 Americans 162 00:06:58.380 --> 00:06:59.593 who gave their lives. 163 00:07:00.900 --> 00:07:03.410 The gold star has its own history. 164 00:07:03.410 --> 00:07:04.590 During the war, 165 00:07:04.590 --> 00:07:05.900 blue stars were displayed 166 00:07:05.900 --> 00:07:09.070 to indicate family members serving in uniform, 167 00:07:09.070 --> 00:07:10.790 the stars changed to gold 168 00:07:10.790 --> 00:07:12.173 when a loved one was lost. 169 00:07:15.750 --> 00:07:17.670 The pillars closest to the Freedom Wall, 170 00:07:17.670 --> 00:07:19.650 occupying places of honor, 171 00:07:19.650 --> 00:07:21.963 represent the original 13 states. 172 00:07:23.900 --> 00:07:25.170 The rest are ranked in the order 173 00:07:25.170 --> 00:07:26.960 in which they achieved statehood 174 00:07:26.960 --> 00:07:28.837 or became part of the United States. 175 00:07:31.650 --> 00:07:34.000 Every element of the World War II Memorial 176 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.200 works to a single purpose, 177 00:07:36.200 --> 00:07:38.210 eloquently expressed in the engraving 178 00:07:38.210 --> 00:07:39.530 of the announcement stone, 179 00:07:39.530 --> 00:07:41.793 we passed at the ceremonial entrance. 180 00:07:44.190 --> 00:07:46.913 Here in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, 181 00:07:48.350 --> 00:07:50.370 one, the 18th century father 182 00:07:50.370 --> 00:07:52.060 and the other, the 19th century 183 00:07:52.060 --> 00:07:53.563 preserver of our nation, 184 00:07:55.030 --> 00:07:57.930 we honor those 20th century Americans, 185 00:07:57.930 --> 00:08:01.170 who took up the struggle during the Second World War 186 00:08:01.170 --> 00:08:02.640 and made the sacrifices 187 00:08:02.640 --> 00:08:04.360 to perpetuate the gift 188 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.483 our forefathers entrusted to us, 189 00:08:08.690 --> 00:08:13.227 a nation conceived in liberty and justice. 190 00:08:13.227 --> 00:08:15.810 (music-America the Beautiful) 191 00:08:27.580 --> 00:08:30.760 [Shannon] All right, that was a wonderful video. 192 00:08:30.760 --> 00:08:32.910 And now I'm going to share the screen 193 00:08:32.910 --> 00:08:36.150 with you, Holly, and Holly will continue on 194 00:08:36.150 --> 00:08:37.520 in giving us a presentation 195 00:08:37.520 --> 00:08:39.023 on this beautiful memorial. 196 00:08:40.880 --> 00:08:42.640 [Holly Rotondi] Great, thank you. 197 00:08:42.640 --> 00:08:43.480 [Shannon] Yep. 198 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:44.750 [Holly] There we go. 199 00:08:44.750 --> 00:08:46.800 Well, thank you so much 200 00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:49.640 to NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary 201 00:08:49.640 --> 00:08:51.330 for allowing me to join you all today. 202 00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:54.890 I'm excited to share my enthusiasm and love 203 00:08:54.890 --> 00:08:56.750 for this very special memorial. 204 00:08:56.750 --> 00:09:00.800 I'm glad you got to have that beautiful introduction. 205 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:03.950 And now I'm just gonna start off by telling you 206 00:09:03.950 --> 00:09:08.050 a little bit about why I titled this presentation, 207 00:09:08.050 --> 00:09:10.030 "The Living Room of Washington DC." 208 00:09:10.030 --> 00:09:12.430 It actually goes back quite a few years, 209 00:09:12.430 --> 00:09:14.010 about 27 years ago, 210 00:09:14.010 --> 00:09:17.290 I did a semester abroad in Rome, Italy, 211 00:09:17.290 --> 00:09:19.190 and I went a couple of days early 212 00:09:19.190 --> 00:09:20.770 and visited with some relatives 213 00:09:20.770 --> 00:09:22.030 who I'd never met before. 214 00:09:22.030 --> 00:09:26.360 But my cousin Sandro took me on a tour of Rome, 215 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:30.280 and he took me to Piazza Navona, 216 00:09:30.280 --> 00:09:31.890 and he said something to me in Italian 217 00:09:31.890 --> 00:09:33.390 and then translated for me. 218 00:09:33.390 --> 00:09:35.970 And he said, "This is the living room of Rome, 219 00:09:35.970 --> 00:09:38.780 this is where life happens in this city." 220 00:09:38.780 --> 00:09:41.480 And you looked around and you saw people painting 221 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:45.040 and couples canoodling and children playing, 222 00:09:45.040 --> 00:09:47.750 and it really was the living room of Rome 223 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:49.660 and where life was happening in Rome. 224 00:09:49.660 --> 00:09:52.200 And so fast forward a decade, 225 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:54.170 and I visited the World War II Memorial 226 00:09:54.170 --> 00:09:55.080 for the first time. 227 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:57.340 And I walked in that ceremonial entrance, 228 00:09:57.340 --> 00:09:59.460 and I stood by the Rainbow Pool, 229 00:10:00.900 --> 00:10:05.210 and I watched kids, running around a little bit, 230 00:10:05.210 --> 00:10:06.270 people hugging, 231 00:10:06.270 --> 00:10:09.120 World War II veterans being welcomed and applauded. 232 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:13.141 And that saying came into my head, 233 00:10:13.141 --> 00:10:15.580 this is the living room of Washington DC 234 00:10:15.580 --> 00:10:16.740 of the National Mall, 235 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:18.200 this is where life happens. 236 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:19.630 And this is the memorial 237 00:10:19.630 --> 00:10:22.690 that celebrates more than any other, 238 00:10:22.690 --> 00:10:27.690 that spirit of America and that we all enjoy 239 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.840 and just represents everything great 240 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:33.650 about this country and the people who live here. 241 00:10:33.650 --> 00:10:36.480 So, it really resonated with me 242 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:37.730 and it's still to this day, 243 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:39.260 every time I visit the memorial, 244 00:10:39.260 --> 00:10:41.200 which is quite frequently, 245 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.540 that is really preeminently 246 00:10:43.540 --> 00:10:45.293 what comes into my mind. 247 00:10:46.610 --> 00:10:49.410 So, I just wanted to explain a little bit about that. 248 00:10:49.410 --> 00:10:51.110 Now, we have lots of resources 249 00:10:51.110 --> 00:10:53.220 that we've shared with you 250 00:10:53.220 --> 00:10:56.640 and separately with several books, our website, 251 00:10:56.640 --> 00:10:58.140 where you can get really the history 252 00:10:58.140 --> 00:11:00.890 of the long 17 year process 253 00:11:00.890 --> 00:11:03.203 to get this memorial built, 254 00:11:03.203 --> 00:11:07.360 it wasn't an easy go, but well worth it. 255 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:09.440 But I'm gonna really just share with you today 256 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:13.850 some stories about a few individuals 257 00:11:13.850 --> 00:11:15.760 that played significant roles 258 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:17.360 in the building of the memorial. 259 00:11:19.290 --> 00:11:23.560 So the first one is Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Ohio. 260 00:11:23.560 --> 00:11:25.440 And we refer to her as the mother 261 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:27.123 of the World War II Memorial 262 00:11:27.123 --> 00:11:29.030 and I'll share with you why. 263 00:11:29.030 --> 00:11:30.750 But Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, 264 00:11:30.750 --> 00:11:35.610 she's the longest serving female member of Congress, 265 00:11:35.610 --> 00:11:38.050 and she's someone who has always been 266 00:11:38.050 --> 00:11:40.720 very in touch with her constituency. 267 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.070 And so back in 1987, 268 00:11:44.070 --> 00:11:48.730 she was at a fish fry visiting with her constituents 269 00:11:48.730 --> 00:11:51.200 in Jerusalem County, Ohio. 270 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:54.110 And she was conversing with just members 271 00:11:54.110 --> 00:11:57.510 of her constituency there that fish fry, 272 00:11:57.510 --> 00:11:59.190 and she heard a booming voice 273 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:00.380 come out of the crowd, 274 00:12:00.380 --> 00:12:01.560 she didn't see who it was, 275 00:12:01.560 --> 00:12:04.400 but she heard this voice yell out, 276 00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:07.980 "Why isn't there a World War II Memorial in Washington DC?" 277 00:12:07.980 --> 00:12:09.480 She said, she thought for a minute 278 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:10.950 and she said, "There is." 279 00:12:10.950 --> 00:12:13.640 And he said, "Oh yeah, where?" 280 00:12:13.640 --> 00:12:16.350 And she said, "The Iwo Jima Memorial." 281 00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:18.140 And he said, "No, that's wrong, 282 00:12:18.140 --> 00:12:20.250 that's the Marine Corps Memorial." 283 00:12:20.250 --> 00:12:21.470 And she thought a little bit 284 00:12:21.470 --> 00:12:22.970 and she said, "Well, there must be," 285 00:12:22.970 --> 00:12:24.860 and he said, "No, there's not." 286 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:26.890 So she later found out that that gentleman 287 00:12:26.890 --> 00:12:29.930 was a World War II veteran named Roger Durbin. 288 00:12:29.930 --> 00:12:31.240 And she met with him and she said, 289 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:32.710 well, I'm gonna go look into this 290 00:12:32.710 --> 00:12:34.600 when I get back to Washington DC. 291 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.010 And she returned to Washington DC, 292 00:12:37.010 --> 00:12:37.860 her office there, 293 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:39.920 she had her staff investigate 294 00:12:39.920 --> 00:12:42.320 and of course they did come to the conclusion, 295 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.280 there is no national monument to World War II 296 00:12:45.280 --> 00:12:47.270 here in our nation's capital. 297 00:12:47.270 --> 00:12:50.970 And so she set about trying to make that happen. 298 00:12:50.970 --> 00:12:55.970 And in 1987, she introduced legislation 299 00:12:56.070 --> 00:13:00.020 to establish a World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, 300 00:13:00.020 --> 00:13:01.750 it didn't pass. 301 00:13:01.750 --> 00:13:02.840 She didn't give up, 302 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:05.360 she introduced more of that similar legislation 303 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:09.043 in 1989, 1991, and 1993. 304 00:13:10.271 --> 00:13:11.733 And in 1993, 305 00:13:11.733 --> 00:13:13.460 that legislation finally passed 306 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:15.240 to establish a World War II Memorial 307 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:17.920 here in our nation's capital. 308 00:13:17.920 --> 00:13:20.750 So, we are so forever grateful 309 00:13:20.750 --> 00:13:23.640 to the Congresswoman for her perseverance 310 00:13:23.640 --> 00:13:25.300 and ensuring that this memorial 311 00:13:25.300 --> 00:13:26.810 would take its proper place 312 00:13:26.810 --> 00:13:29.120 in our nation's capital. 313 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:32.640 She's been a steadfast supporter of the memorial, 314 00:13:32.640 --> 00:13:35.060 our nation's veterans to this day. 315 00:13:35.060 --> 00:13:37.510 She's often seen at the World War II Memorial, 316 00:13:37.510 --> 00:13:39.730 she's a huge advocate of our veterans 317 00:13:39.730 --> 00:13:41.600 and we're eternally grateful 318 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:43.120 for everything she has done 319 00:13:45.004 --> 00:13:47.590 to have this memorial take like part. 320 00:13:47.590 --> 00:13:49.670 And then the second person I'd like to tell you 321 00:13:49.670 --> 00:13:52.310 a little bit about is a gentleman 322 00:13:52.310 --> 00:13:53.820 you've probably never heard of, 323 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:57.750 but his name is Ambassador Franklin Haydn Williams. 324 00:13:57.750 --> 00:13:58.910 And we refer to him 325 00:13:58.910 --> 00:14:02.110 as the father of the World War II Memorial. 326 00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:04.630 Now Hayden's relationship with World War II 327 00:14:04.630 --> 00:14:06.230 goes back to the first days 328 00:14:06.230 --> 00:14:07.490 here in the United States. 329 00:14:07.490 --> 00:14:10.500 He was actually a civilian contractor 330 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:15.000 on Midway Island on December 7th, 1941, 331 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:16.590 when the Japanese attacked, 332 00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:17.780 not just Pearl Harbor, 333 00:14:17.780 --> 00:14:20.050 but Midway, Wake island, Hong Kong, 334 00:14:20.050 --> 00:14:21.983 and a number of other islands as well. 335 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.010 Ambassador Williams and his friends 336 00:14:26.010 --> 00:14:27.800 were playing a game of touch football 337 00:14:27.800 --> 00:14:29.200 when the Japanese attacked 338 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:30.720 and one of his friends was injured 339 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.040 and carried the disability from that injury 340 00:14:33.040 --> 00:14:34.510 for the rest of his life. 341 00:14:34.510 --> 00:14:39.510 So, Hayden was always very conscious 342 00:14:39.540 --> 00:14:40.373 of the importance 343 00:14:40.373 --> 00:14:42.163 of recognizing that generation. 344 00:14:43.412 --> 00:14:44.800 He did enter the service, 345 00:14:44.800 --> 00:14:46.430 he was a naval officer 346 00:14:46.430 --> 00:14:48.870 and his job was repatriating 347 00:14:48.870 --> 00:14:51.163 our POW's at the end of the war. 348 00:14:52.530 --> 00:14:57.130 And eventually was appointed by President Nixon 349 00:14:57.130 --> 00:14:58.920 to be the representative 350 00:14:58.920 --> 00:15:01.830 for the Micronesian Status Negotiations, 351 00:15:01.830 --> 00:15:03.650 with the title of ambassador, 352 00:15:03.650 --> 00:15:06.283 which is why we call him Ambassador Williams. 353 00:15:07.160 --> 00:15:09.970 So, he never forgot that generation 354 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:12.040 and what our nation owe to them. 355 00:15:12.040 --> 00:15:15.330 And when he heard about the legislation 356 00:15:15.330 --> 00:15:16.330 that had been passed 357 00:15:16.330 --> 00:15:18.580 to build a World War II Memorial, 358 00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:19.880 he really felt the need 359 00:15:19.880 --> 00:15:21.660 to be a part of that process. 360 00:15:21.660 --> 00:15:25.520 And so he lobbied for a position 361 00:15:25.520 --> 00:15:28.120 on the American Battle Monuments Commission, 362 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.400 the organization that was charged 363 00:15:30.400 --> 00:15:33.610 with the establishment of this memorial. 364 00:15:33.610 --> 00:15:35.980 And so in 1994, he was appointed 365 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:38.390 to the American Battle Monuments Commission 366 00:15:38.390 --> 00:15:39.480 by President Clinton 367 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:41.870 and then he was also named 368 00:15:41.870 --> 00:15:45.090 as the chair of the committee 369 00:15:45.090 --> 00:15:47.860 that would specifically be in charge 370 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:50.990 of the building of the World War II Memorial. 371 00:15:50.990 --> 00:15:53.320 And he was a steadfast supporter 372 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:55.100 of the memorial advocating 373 00:15:56.210 --> 00:15:59.130 for and defending the recommendations 374 00:15:59.130 --> 00:16:01.280 of the American Battle Monuments Commission 375 00:16:02.180 --> 00:16:05.100 for this memorial in 22 public hearings. 376 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:06.580 It was not an easy process, 377 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:09.810 but he was deeply committed to the memorial 378 00:16:09.810 --> 00:16:11.193 and its establishment. 379 00:16:12.800 --> 00:16:17.800 One of the greatest accomplishments and legacies 380 00:16:19.150 --> 00:16:22.213 of Hayden Williams involvement in this project, 381 00:16:23.065 --> 00:16:25.640 is the location of the World War II Memorial. 382 00:16:25.640 --> 00:16:29.530 Here's a picture of the monumental core 383 00:16:29.530 --> 00:16:32.420 of the National Mall from the Capitol 384 00:16:32.420 --> 00:16:33.640 all the way to the Lincoln 385 00:16:33.640 --> 00:16:35.283 behind the Washington Monument. 386 00:16:37.790 --> 00:16:41.040 But it was not an easy quest 387 00:16:41.040 --> 00:16:43.140 to have the World War II Memorial 388 00:16:43.140 --> 00:16:45.470 take its proper place on the National Mall. 389 00:16:45.470 --> 00:16:48.620 As you can see from the slightly grainy map, 390 00:16:48.620 --> 00:16:49.453 it's an old map, 391 00:16:49.453 --> 00:16:54.270 but the folks who were making the decision 392 00:16:54.270 --> 00:16:56.650 about where this memorial would be, 393 00:16:56.650 --> 00:17:00.270 were really trying to put it somewhere else. 394 00:17:00.270 --> 00:17:02.190 And you can see all the red lines, 395 00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:04.410 these were all the suggestions, 396 00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:06.620 but there is that one red line 397 00:17:06.620 --> 00:17:09.040 pointing to the Rainbow Pool 398 00:17:09.040 --> 00:17:11.300 because when Hayden visited that site, 399 00:17:11.300 --> 00:17:14.040 he knew that that's where it had to be. 400 00:17:14.040 --> 00:17:19.040 You heard Tom Hanks read that beautiful eloquent statement 401 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:21.300 on the ceremonial stone 402 00:17:21.300 --> 00:17:23.590 about the significance of the Lincoln Memorial, 403 00:17:23.590 --> 00:17:25.210 the Washington Monument, 404 00:17:25.210 --> 00:17:28.090 and to have that World War II Memorial 405 00:17:28.090 --> 00:17:31.200 between those two significant memorials 406 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:33.570 was just for him critical 407 00:17:33.570 --> 00:17:36.320 to the showing the significance 408 00:17:36.320 --> 00:17:39.400 of what we were representing with this memorial. 409 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:41.130 So it wasn't an easy quest. 410 00:17:41.130 --> 00:17:45.090 He fought many federal agencies, 411 00:17:45.090 --> 00:17:47.350 but ultimately he succeeded 412 00:17:47.350 --> 00:17:51.010 and they proposed to formally the site 413 00:17:51.010 --> 00:17:53.580 in August '94, as you can see, 414 00:17:53.580 --> 00:17:57.077 and it was eventually approved with conditions 415 00:17:58.610 --> 00:18:00.960 of they had to lower the Rainbow Pool 416 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:02.320 to make sure that that vista 417 00:18:02.320 --> 00:18:03.950 between the Lincoln Memorial 418 00:18:03.950 --> 00:18:06.240 and the Washington Monument 419 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.230 would not be disturbed. 420 00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:09.730 Of course, that's a very important historic vista. 421 00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:14.930 And then again, this is the announcement stone 422 00:18:14.930 --> 00:18:17.730 explaining the significance of that site, 423 00:18:17.730 --> 00:18:21.053 which is critical to the entire design of the memorial. 424 00:18:23.830 --> 00:18:26.280 The third individual I'm gonna tell you about 425 00:18:26.280 --> 00:18:28.227 is Friedrich St. Florian. 426 00:18:28.227 --> 00:18:30.110 And he's the Design Architect 427 00:18:30.110 --> 00:18:33.740 of the World War II Memorial from Rhode Island. 428 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:36.380 This memorial was part of, 429 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:38.930 this design came about through a design competition 430 00:18:40.030 --> 00:18:42.210 and Friedrich was the winning design. 431 00:18:42.210 --> 00:18:44.500 And he was selected in 1997. 432 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:47.730 And for this, I'm gonna read to you 433 00:18:47.730 --> 00:18:49.750 what Ambassador Hayden Williams 434 00:18:49.750 --> 00:18:52.410 wrote about Friedrich St. Florian 435 00:18:52.410 --> 00:18:55.510 on the 10th anniversary of the memorial. 436 00:18:55.510 --> 00:18:57.180 Hayden wrote an essay 437 00:18:57.180 --> 00:18:58.437 about his thoughts on the memorial. 438 00:18:58.437 --> 00:19:00.780 And this is what he said about Friedrich. 439 00:19:00.780 --> 00:19:03.290 "It has been said that the World War II Memorial 440 00:19:03.290 --> 00:19:06.300 in many ways reflects the character of its designer, 441 00:19:06.300 --> 00:19:07.700 Friedrich St. Florian. 442 00:19:07.700 --> 00:19:10.980 He's a quiet man, full of grace and dignity, 443 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:13.330 a man of vision and great talent, 444 00:19:13.330 --> 00:19:15.080 artistic in nature, 445 00:19:15.080 --> 00:19:16.620 a scholarly man, 446 00:19:16.620 --> 00:19:19.330 a student and teacher of architecture, 447 00:19:19.330 --> 00:19:20.950 an Austrian by birth 448 00:19:20.950 --> 00:19:23.470 having witnessed World War II as a boy. 449 00:19:23.470 --> 00:19:27.110 Friedrich is now a long time citizen by choice, 450 00:19:27.110 --> 00:19:29.480 believing strongly in the American cause, 451 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:31.290 he had a deep, emotional commitment 452 00:19:31.290 --> 00:19:33.260 to finding a final design 453 00:19:33.260 --> 00:19:36.330 worthy of the event and its sacrifices. 454 00:19:36.330 --> 00:19:38.960 The commitment was readily apparent to all, 455 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.520 as an entrant in the open design competition, 456 00:19:41.520 --> 00:19:44.110 he became immersed in the history of the war 457 00:19:44.110 --> 00:19:45.513 and the National Mall." 458 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.650 Friedrich and Hayden Williams relationship 459 00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:54.033 really helped this design move forward. 460 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:56.900 And during the 10th anniversary, 461 00:19:56.900 --> 00:19:59.230 I did have the honor of attending a luncheon 462 00:19:59.230 --> 00:20:01.010 with a number of individuals 463 00:20:01.010 --> 00:20:02.320 who took part in the building 464 00:20:02.320 --> 00:20:03.890 of the World War II Memorial. 465 00:20:03.890 --> 00:20:06.310 Friedrich St. Florian was one of them, 466 00:20:06.310 --> 00:20:09.200 and he stood up and he looked at Hayden 467 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.600 and he said, "Hayden, you were my fiercest critic, 468 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:15.230 but you became my mentor 469 00:20:15.230 --> 00:20:16.800 and you became my friend." 470 00:20:16.800 --> 00:20:19.360 And so, during that long process 471 00:20:19.360 --> 00:20:20.840 to build the World War II Memorial, 472 00:20:20.840 --> 00:20:23.210 it really reflects the relationships 473 00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:24.210 that were built between 474 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:26.510 Friedrich St. Florian, the design architect, 475 00:20:26.510 --> 00:20:27.810 and Hayden Williams, 476 00:20:27.810 --> 00:20:32.810 who had a high expectation of this memorial 477 00:20:33.210 --> 00:20:34.230 and what it would be, 478 00:20:34.230 --> 00:20:36.820 and Friedrich met it in every way. 479 00:20:36.820 --> 00:20:38.300 One of the things, 480 00:20:38.300 --> 00:20:40.420 going back to that thing of 481 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:43.150 the living room of Washington DC, 482 00:20:43.150 --> 00:20:45.230 one of the things that has always struck me, 483 00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:47.840 and I don't know if it was done purposefully, to be honest, 484 00:20:47.840 --> 00:20:50.170 but when I visited Rome, 485 00:20:50.170 --> 00:20:52.300 going back to that Rome trip again 486 00:20:52.300 --> 00:20:54.070 and visited the Vatican, 487 00:20:54.070 --> 00:20:56.700 they talked about how the arms of the Vatican 488 00:20:57.620 --> 00:21:00.960 were meant to be welcoming to all visitors. 489 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:05.510 And I feel like when you enter that memorial core, 490 00:21:05.510 --> 00:21:07.780 the open air pillars are like 491 00:21:07.780 --> 00:21:10.920 a welcoming to all visitors to the memorial. 492 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:14.050 And so that sense of that living room, 493 00:21:14.050 --> 00:21:17.123 again, it's just very prominent for me. 494 00:21:18.600 --> 00:21:21.250 And then the last person I wanted to talk about 495 00:21:21.250 --> 00:21:23.970 is someone we all know and admire. 496 00:21:23.970 --> 00:21:25.710 And it's Senator Bob Dole. 497 00:21:25.710 --> 00:21:27.080 And I refer to him here 498 00:21:27.080 --> 00:21:30.010 as the heart of the World War II Memorial. 499 00:21:30.010 --> 00:21:31.250 And he really was, 500 00:21:31.250 --> 00:21:33.510 we all know about his heroic service 501 00:21:33.510 --> 00:21:35.040 during World War II 502 00:21:35.040 --> 00:21:37.190 wounded veteran, his service, 503 00:21:37.190 --> 00:21:40.070 his lifetime of service in the Senate, 504 00:21:40.070 --> 00:21:42.380 advocating for veterans with disabilities 505 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:45.090 and all Americans with disabilities. 506 00:21:45.090 --> 00:21:47.230 But his final mission 507 00:21:47.230 --> 00:21:51.210 became visiting the world war II Memorial as well. 508 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:52.600 But before that, 509 00:21:52.600 --> 00:21:56.173 he was critical to building the World War II Memorial. 510 00:21:57.670 --> 00:22:01.960 In 1997, he was appointed to be the chairman 511 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:04.870 of the Memorial Fundraising Campaign 512 00:22:04.870 --> 00:22:07.990 and he and Fred Smith, the CEO of FedEx, 513 00:22:07.990 --> 00:22:09.730 they led one of the most successful 514 00:22:09.730 --> 00:22:11.760 fundraising campaigns in history, 515 00:22:11.760 --> 00:22:13.430 raising over $200 million 516 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:16.490 to build the World War II Memorial. 517 00:22:16.490 --> 00:22:18.060 But for me, 518 00:22:18.060 --> 00:22:21.320 what his most critical role in that process was, 519 00:22:21.320 --> 00:22:23.170 was defending the memorial. 520 00:22:23.170 --> 00:22:26.130 There were so many critics, lawsuits 521 00:22:26.130 --> 00:22:29.430 trying to stop this memorial from being built. 522 00:22:29.430 --> 00:22:32.480 And there was one group in particular 523 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:33.370 that called themselves 524 00:22:33.370 --> 00:22:36.520 The National Coalition to Save Our Mall. 525 00:22:36.520 --> 00:22:37.650 And they really felt like 526 00:22:37.650 --> 00:22:39.780 there should be no more additions to the mall, 527 00:22:39.780 --> 00:22:42.370 it should all be open green space. 528 00:22:42.370 --> 00:22:44.560 And they really tried to stop 529 00:22:44.560 --> 00:22:46.460 the memorial from being built. 530 00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:49.710 And Bob Dole took an active voice 531 00:22:49.710 --> 00:22:51.450 in countering those arguments. 532 00:22:51.450 --> 00:22:54.450 And I placed here on the PowerPoint you can see, 533 00:22:54.450 --> 00:22:57.420 one of the most common sayings of his was, 534 00:22:57.420 --> 00:23:00.460 "We saved the mall and everything else in America 535 00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:01.650 and around the world." 536 00:23:01.650 --> 00:23:05.170 And he said, "We deserve this spot on the National Mall. 537 00:23:05.170 --> 00:23:08.970 If any generation deserves to be here, we do." 538 00:23:08.970 --> 00:23:13.120 And so, he was finally able to silence the critics, 539 00:23:13.120 --> 00:23:17.960 and we were able to take that place on the mall. 540 00:23:17.960 --> 00:23:19.900 And I just have here some of the pictures. 541 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:22.130 And as I mentioned, he really considered it, 542 00:23:22.130 --> 00:23:25.010 his final mission of his life 543 00:23:25.010 --> 00:23:27.950 to be at the memorial as much as possible, 544 00:23:27.950 --> 00:23:30.860 and to greet as many veterans, 545 00:23:30.860 --> 00:23:32.640 World War II veterans as possible 546 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:35.420 and welcome them to their memorial. 547 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:38.380 And you'll see this gentleman in yellow, 548 00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:39.800 these two gentlemen in yellow, 549 00:23:39.800 --> 00:23:42.380 they are World War II Memorial volunteers. 550 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:45.810 And if you are ever at the memorial and see a volunteer, 551 00:23:45.810 --> 00:23:48.740 you'll hear them welcoming a World War II veteran 552 00:23:48.740 --> 00:23:51.510 to their memorial, welcome to your memorial, 553 00:23:51.510 --> 00:23:55.560 because that is one of the things that for veterans, 554 00:23:55.560 --> 00:23:57.790 it is a place where they know 555 00:23:57.790 --> 00:23:59.090 that they're celebrated 556 00:23:59.090 --> 00:24:00.500 and remembered and honored. 557 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:02.660 And so it's a really special thing 558 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:05.580 to be able to welcome a World War II veteran 559 00:24:05.580 --> 00:24:06.680 to their memorial. 560 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:10.190 But Bob Dole never stopped coming 561 00:24:10.190 --> 00:24:14.570 almost to the end until he became too ill to join us. 562 00:24:14.570 --> 00:24:16.430 But he was there meeting 563 00:24:16.430 --> 00:24:18.330 with as many people as possible 564 00:24:18.330 --> 00:24:22.340 And we are forever grateful for Senator Dole's role 565 00:24:22.340 --> 00:24:23.990 in the building of that memorial. 566 00:24:26.270 --> 00:24:28.620 Just so you can see here, 567 00:24:28.620 --> 00:24:29.740 we had the groundbreaking, 568 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:32.100 you see Hayden Williams in the picture, 569 00:24:32.100 --> 00:24:35.333 Congresswoman Kaptur, President Clinton. 570 00:24:36.370 --> 00:24:39.083 Then here's a picture of when site work began, 571 00:24:39.970 --> 00:24:41.500 you see Friedrich St. Florian 572 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:44.003 and Hayden Williams right here in the picture. 573 00:24:45.070 --> 00:24:47.450 And then finally the World War II Memorial, 574 00:24:47.450 --> 00:24:50.720 17 years after Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur 575 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:53.440 first introduced the legislation. 576 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:54.830 It was open to the public 577 00:24:54.830 --> 00:24:55.940 and then a month later, 578 00:24:55.940 --> 00:24:58.320 it was formally dedicated. 579 00:24:58.320 --> 00:25:01.910 Sadly, Roger Durbin, the World War II veteran, 580 00:25:01.910 --> 00:25:04.420 who spurred the effort to build this memorial 581 00:25:04.420 --> 00:25:07.110 by questioning Congresswoman Kaptur, 582 00:25:07.110 --> 00:25:09.320 he did not live to see 583 00:25:09.320 --> 00:25:11.570 the dedication of the memorial. 584 00:25:11.570 --> 00:25:14.233 Thankfully, his family was in attendance. 585 00:25:17.060 --> 00:25:19.030 So, one of the other great legacies, 586 00:25:19.030 --> 00:25:20.350 I just wanted to mention 587 00:25:20.350 --> 00:25:24.350 of Ambassador Hayden Williams was that, 588 00:25:24.350 --> 00:25:27.060 he really felt like once the memorial was built, 589 00:25:27.060 --> 00:25:29.200 his job still wasn't done. 590 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:32.470 And so he founded my organization 591 00:25:32.470 --> 00:25:33.660 that I work represent, 592 00:25:33.660 --> 00:25:36.120 The Friends of The National World War II Memorial 593 00:25:36.120 --> 00:25:38.840 to be a continuing commemorative 594 00:25:38.840 --> 00:25:40.210 and education extension 595 00:25:40.210 --> 00:25:42.480 to the World War II Memorial. 596 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.050 And so our mission is teaching the lessons of yesterday 597 00:25:45.050 --> 00:25:46.970 to unite the generations of tomorrow. 598 00:25:46.970 --> 00:25:48.520 And we try to accomplish this 599 00:25:48.520 --> 00:25:50.080 through our commemorative programs 600 00:25:50.080 --> 00:25:50.913 at the World War II Memorial 601 00:25:50.913 --> 00:25:54.660 and we have a variety of educational programs as well. 602 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:58.320 We're actually also working, Congress passed 603 00:25:58.320 --> 00:26:01.090 and President Obama signed legislation 604 00:26:01.090 --> 00:26:04.070 authorizing the addition of a new element 605 00:26:04.070 --> 00:26:07.000 to the World War II Memorial, FDR's D-Day prayer. 606 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:10.570 And so, but they said no federal funds may be used. 607 00:26:10.570 --> 00:26:12.200 So the Park Service asked us 608 00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:14.050 if we would take on that effort. 609 00:26:14.050 --> 00:26:17.960 And that is something that we expect to be dedicated 610 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:20.533 in the summer of 2022, this summer. 611 00:26:22.280 --> 00:26:24.340 I did wanna make one last note 612 00:26:24.340 --> 00:26:26.420 before I hand it over to you 613 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:28.120 for any questions you might have. 614 00:26:28.120 --> 00:26:31.330 But this gentleman you see in the picture saluting, 615 00:26:31.330 --> 00:26:34.693 that's a Brigadier General, Charles McGee, 616 00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:38.650 he's Tuskegee Airmen, he was 100, 617 00:26:38.650 --> 00:26:41.580 he just passed away on Sunday at 102. 618 00:26:41.580 --> 00:26:43.900 He was a great friend of our organization. 619 00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:44.900 We have an award, 620 00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:48.200 an annual unity award named for him, 621 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:51.080 and he just passed away. 622 00:26:51.080 --> 00:26:52.650 So we're mourning his passing, 623 00:26:52.650 --> 00:26:54.680 but grateful for his service, 624 00:26:54.680 --> 00:26:57.770 his life, very special person. 625 00:26:57.770 --> 00:26:59.320 If you wanna Google, 626 00:26:59.320 --> 00:27:01.020 you'll see all the news and accolades 627 00:27:01.020 --> 00:27:03.170 he's been receiving in the past several days, 628 00:27:03.170 --> 00:27:05.550 but I just wanted to acknowledge that 629 00:27:05.550 --> 00:27:08.650 and let his family know 630 00:27:08.650 --> 00:27:10.890 that we are thinking of them 631 00:27:10.890 --> 00:27:12.660 during this difficult time. 632 00:27:12.660 --> 00:27:15.570 But I thank you for taking time 633 00:27:15.570 --> 00:27:16.970 to listen to me this morning. 634 00:27:16.970 --> 00:27:18.370 If you have any questions, 635 00:27:18.370 --> 00:27:19.913 I'm happy to take them now. 636 00:27:22.330 --> 00:27:24.920 [Shannon] All right, well, thank you, Holly. 637 00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:28.693 We're going to change it back over to me. 638 00:27:32.790 --> 00:27:35.500 And I'll turn my camera back on. 639 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:37.900 All right, well, that was a great presentation, 640 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:40.480 lots of great information in there. 641 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:42.000 Thank you so much for that. 642 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:43.700 Now, if you haven't downloaded 643 00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:45.680 Holly's bio in the chat box, 644 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:46.900 please do so now, 645 00:27:46.900 --> 00:27:49.910 inside that document, 646 00:27:49.910 --> 00:27:51.660 you'll also find some links 647 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:53.710 to some of the information 648 00:27:53.710 --> 00:27:55.180 that Holly has mentioned. 649 00:27:55.180 --> 00:27:57.110 Also, if you have any questions, 650 00:27:57.110 --> 00:28:00.120 please enter them into the chat box 651 00:28:00.120 --> 00:28:01.750 and we'll begin asking them 652 00:28:01.750 --> 00:28:03.970 and letting Holly answer them. 653 00:28:03.970 --> 00:28:05.730 So, my first question, Holly, 654 00:28:05.730 --> 00:28:07.500 that I see in the chat box is, 655 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:09.903 being a daughter of a World War II veteran, 656 00:28:11.300 --> 00:28:13.210 who served in the Aleutians 657 00:28:13.210 --> 00:28:17.140 before being sent to I'm sorry, 658 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:19.083 I gotta pop this out, hold on. 659 00:28:20.130 --> 00:28:22.560 Okay, being a daughter of a World War II veteran 660 00:28:22.560 --> 00:28:23.690 who served in the Aleutians 661 00:28:23.690 --> 00:28:25.070 before being sent to Europe, 662 00:28:25.070 --> 00:28:27.300 it was a dangerous place, but not much known. 663 00:28:27.300 --> 00:28:29.240 Is there a plaque about the Aleutians, 664 00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:32.853 Alaska in the World War II Memorial? 665 00:28:34.800 --> 00:28:38.970 [Holly] Well, if you look at the fountains, 666 00:28:38.970 --> 00:28:40.890 you can see them recognized, 667 00:28:40.890 --> 00:28:42.590 there's different areas 668 00:28:42.590 --> 00:28:45.250 where the battles took place 669 00:28:45.250 --> 00:28:48.580 that are outlined in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters, 670 00:28:48.580 --> 00:28:50.303 so you can see that there. 671 00:28:51.300 --> 00:28:52.690 But there's actually also 672 00:28:52.690 --> 00:28:54.470 a National Park Service site 673 00:28:54.470 --> 00:28:56.730 that highlights the history 674 00:28:56.730 --> 00:29:00.270 of the war in the Aleutians as well. 675 00:29:00.270 --> 00:29:02.730 And we did a four year, 676 00:29:02.730 --> 00:29:04.900 75th anniversary commemoration, 677 00:29:04.900 --> 00:29:06.730 where we marked every major battle 678 00:29:06.730 --> 00:29:09.190 in which American troops took part 679 00:29:09.190 --> 00:29:11.940 and those campaigns were part of that 680 00:29:11.940 --> 00:29:13.283 commemoration as well. 681 00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:15.963 [Shannon] Okay, thank you. 682 00:29:17.320 --> 00:29:18.630 Being an educator, 683 00:29:18.630 --> 00:29:20.700 you said that you do educational programs. 684 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:21.830 So I just had a question. 685 00:29:21.830 --> 00:29:24.600 What are your educational programs that you offer? 686 00:29:24.600 --> 00:29:28.310 [Holly] Sure, we have an Annual Summer Teachers Conference. 687 00:29:28.310 --> 00:29:30.210 We bring teachers from all across the country 688 00:29:30.210 --> 00:29:34.060 to Washington DC, each July 689 00:29:34.060 --> 00:29:36.193 for a week long immersive program. 690 00:29:38.338 --> 00:29:39.590 So we'll be having it again. 691 00:29:39.590 --> 00:29:41.170 The last two years has been virtual 692 00:29:41.170 --> 00:29:42.590 but we're actually gonna try to do 693 00:29:42.590 --> 00:29:44.160 semi in-person this year, 694 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:45.433 do kind of a hybrid. 695 00:29:46.750 --> 00:29:47.940 And then we also do 696 00:29:47.940 --> 00:29:51.680 a monthly education virtual conference series. 697 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:53.220 So they're half day conferences, 698 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:54.860 three presentations from about 699 00:29:54.860 --> 00:29:59.400 10:00 to 1:00 PM Eastern time, 700 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:01.210 the third Saturday of each month 701 00:30:01.210 --> 00:30:04.170 from October through March. 702 00:30:04.170 --> 00:30:07.770 So, we do those and they're usually feature, 703 00:30:07.770 --> 00:30:09.150 one presenter is usually 704 00:30:09.150 --> 00:30:11.940 a published author or expert, 705 00:30:11.940 --> 00:30:15.210 some sort of educational expert. 706 00:30:15.210 --> 00:30:19.510 Usually the second is a war orphan of World War II, 707 00:30:19.510 --> 00:30:21.983 telling their story, their mom's story, 708 00:30:23.285 --> 00:30:24.440 their family story. 709 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:25.910 And then the third presenter 710 00:30:25.910 --> 00:30:27.743 is usually a World War II veteran. 711 00:30:29.300 --> 00:30:31.803 [Shannon] Very good, all right. 712 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:39.050 Mark, do you see any questions you want to ask? 713 00:30:39.050 --> 00:30:41.210 [Mark] Yes, I have a question. 714 00:30:41.210 --> 00:30:46.030 You said that you were kind of inspired 715 00:30:47.020 --> 00:30:51.301 by the Rome's living room. 716 00:30:51.301 --> 00:30:54.400 And I was wondering if kind of the reverse, 717 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:57.600 if you've heard any like accolades or comments 718 00:30:57.600 --> 00:30:59.650 by representatives from other nations 719 00:30:59.650 --> 00:31:02.013 on the World War II Memorial. 720 00:31:04.140 --> 00:31:06.883 [Holly] From other nations, that's interesting. 721 00:31:08.790 --> 00:31:10.980 Well, I meet a lot of people 722 00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:13.550 from a lot of different nations at the memorial 723 00:31:13.550 --> 00:31:17.810 and to them, it is significant, 724 00:31:17.810 --> 00:31:22.810 it's interesting during the 75th anniversary, 725 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:25.220 when we were marking every major battle, 726 00:31:25.220 --> 00:31:28.170 we invited the Allied nations 727 00:31:28.170 --> 00:31:29.430 from each of those battles 728 00:31:29.430 --> 00:31:31.300 to take part so the embassies 729 00:31:31.300 --> 00:31:33.810 and that was very important to them, 730 00:31:33.810 --> 00:31:37.433 the Canadian, the Australia, the New Zealand, 731 00:31:38.460 --> 00:31:40.260 the Russian, the Chinese, 732 00:31:40.260 --> 00:31:42.420 like, so all of these Allied nations 733 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:44.040 were coming to the memorial, 734 00:31:44.040 --> 00:31:46.410 especially during that four year period, 735 00:31:46.410 --> 00:31:47.420 quite frequently 736 00:31:47.420 --> 00:31:49.100 to take part in these commemorations 737 00:31:49.100 --> 00:31:50.840 and it was very important for them. 738 00:31:50.840 --> 00:31:52.770 I don't know if they verbalize anything specific 739 00:31:52.770 --> 00:31:54.310 about the memorial itself, 740 00:31:54.310 --> 00:31:56.853 but it was important for them, 741 00:31:57.850 --> 00:32:00.317 their embassies, their nations, 742 00:32:00.317 --> 00:32:02.310 to mark those occasions. 743 00:32:02.310 --> 00:32:04.313 I think it's something where, 744 00:32:06.360 --> 00:32:08.420 there's a lot of division 745 00:32:08.420 --> 00:32:10.400 in the country, in the world, 746 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:11.890 and it's something where, 747 00:32:11.890 --> 00:32:14.170 I think we can all agree 748 00:32:14.170 --> 00:32:16.240 that this was a great moment 749 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:18.220 where the Allies came together 750 00:32:18.220 --> 00:32:21.700 to really defeat authoritarianism, 751 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:23.700 fascism, racism. 752 00:32:23.700 --> 00:32:25.470 And it's something that I think 753 00:32:25.470 --> 00:32:27.500 all of those Allied nations 754 00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:30.080 are proud of and wanna highlight, 755 00:32:30.080 --> 00:32:31.390 and wanna remember. 756 00:32:31.390 --> 00:32:34.260 So, I think it's important for those nations 757 00:32:34.260 --> 00:32:36.403 to have that place here in Washington, DC. 758 00:32:37.380 --> 00:32:38.520 [Mark] Thank you. 759 00:32:38.520 --> 00:32:42.260 [Shannon] Yes, so Scott wrote, he said, 760 00:32:42.260 --> 00:32:43.700 I saw a story recently 761 00:32:43.700 --> 00:32:45.600 that the memorial is starting to show 762 00:32:45.600 --> 00:32:47.230 some signs of aging. 763 00:32:47.230 --> 00:32:48.420 Can you tell me more 764 00:32:48.420 --> 00:32:50.210 and is there other ways 765 00:32:50.210 --> 00:32:52.653 that he or others can help at all? 766 00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:56.073 [Holly] Yeah, so thank you for mentioning that. 767 00:32:56.920 --> 00:33:00.070 So, I'm down at the World War II Memorial a lot. 768 00:33:00.070 --> 00:33:03.360 It's mostly pre pandemic with World War II veterans, 769 00:33:03.360 --> 00:33:04.390 but taking pictures. 770 00:33:04.390 --> 00:33:05.940 And at these commemorations, 771 00:33:05.940 --> 00:33:07.040 I'm always taking pictures 772 00:33:07.040 --> 00:33:08.920 of World War II veterans at their memorial. 773 00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:12.320 And one of my pet peeves is, 774 00:33:12.320 --> 00:33:15.160 I've always cringed a little because there's a, 775 00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:16.910 what almost looks like black tar 776 00:33:16.910 --> 00:33:18.760 on the tops of the pillars and things, 777 00:33:18.760 --> 00:33:20.930 it's actually a calcification, 778 00:33:20.930 --> 00:33:24.233 a bio growth that's been developing on the memorial. 779 00:33:26.530 --> 00:33:29.790 The problem is, it's not easy to clean stone 780 00:33:29.790 --> 00:33:31.970 of a National Memorial that, you know, 781 00:33:31.970 --> 00:33:33.530 there's all sorts of testing and things, 782 00:33:33.530 --> 00:33:36.170 so it's a little bit more complicated. 783 00:33:36.170 --> 00:33:38.800 There's also been a really significant wearing down 784 00:33:38.800 --> 00:33:40.340 of the mortar and the mortar joints 785 00:33:40.340 --> 00:33:41.630 throughout the memorial, 786 00:33:41.630 --> 00:33:43.680 which might seem aesthetic right now, 787 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:46.020 but if over time that's left unaddressed 788 00:33:46.020 --> 00:33:47.800 and those stones start to shift, 789 00:33:47.800 --> 00:33:50.440 it obviously becomes a much more complex problem 790 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:51.690 to resolve down the road. 791 00:33:51.690 --> 00:33:54.560 And then there's also been a major issue 792 00:33:55.770 --> 00:33:57.130 with the lighting system. 793 00:33:57.130 --> 00:33:58.910 I think the National Park Service, 794 00:33:58.910 --> 00:34:01.970 who are the caregivers of the memorial, 795 00:34:01.970 --> 00:34:05.530 and I always wanna make sure I say right out front, 796 00:34:05.530 --> 00:34:06.690 we have a great relationship 797 00:34:06.690 --> 00:34:07.670 with the National Park Service, 798 00:34:07.670 --> 00:34:09.500 they do such a tremendous job 799 00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:12.980 in keeping the memorial operating on a daily basis. 800 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:15.240 But there have just been a number of issues 801 00:34:15.240 --> 00:34:18.220 over the past decade, plus that have popped up, 802 00:34:18.220 --> 00:34:21.380 'Cause they have a $12 billion maintenance backlog. 803 00:34:21.380 --> 00:34:23.990 The Park Service is just overwhelmed, 804 00:34:23.990 --> 00:34:25.070 not just financially, 805 00:34:25.070 --> 00:34:26.790 but with personnel, not having 806 00:34:27.944 --> 00:34:30.890 the personnel that can tackle these things. 807 00:34:30.890 --> 00:34:33.080 And so they informed me 808 00:34:33.080 --> 00:34:34.310 probably eight years ago 809 00:34:34.310 --> 00:34:35.850 that the lighting system was failing 810 00:34:35.850 --> 00:34:36.950 at the World War II Memorial, 811 00:34:36.950 --> 00:34:39.053 and needed to be completely replaced. 812 00:34:40.210 --> 00:34:41.043 And they anticipated, 813 00:34:41.043 --> 00:34:43.160 it would be like a $500,000 project, 814 00:34:43.160 --> 00:34:44.100 but they didn't have the funds 815 00:34:44.100 --> 00:34:45.510 or the personnel to take it on, 816 00:34:45.510 --> 00:34:47.500 and we didn't either. 817 00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:49.520 And so we still have a failing lighting system, 818 00:34:49.520 --> 00:34:51.810 at the memorial for almost a decade. 819 00:34:51.810 --> 00:34:54.270 So, things like this, 820 00:34:54.270 --> 00:34:56.520 we anticipate there are several million dollars 821 00:34:56.520 --> 00:34:57.960 worth of initial projects 822 00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:00.820 that really need to be addressed quickly. 823 00:35:00.820 --> 00:35:03.350 There were cracks that developed in the memorial, 824 00:35:03.350 --> 00:35:05.663 they do have a plan to address those. 825 00:35:09.310 --> 00:35:12.690 We worked with Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur again, 826 00:35:12.690 --> 00:35:14.160 committed to this memorial, 827 00:35:14.160 --> 00:35:16.990 I mean, never wavering. 828 00:35:16.990 --> 00:35:19.981 So she was concerned obviously, 829 00:35:19.981 --> 00:35:22.010 and so she introduced legislation 830 00:35:22.010 --> 00:35:23.330 for a commemorative coin 831 00:35:23.330 --> 00:35:24.830 for the World War II Memorial. 832 00:35:26.970 --> 00:35:29.143 And if it passes, 833 00:35:32.410 --> 00:35:33.470 the sale of the coins, 834 00:35:33.470 --> 00:35:36.340 the proceeds would go to friends, 835 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:37.880 solely for the purpose 836 00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:39.770 of the maintenance of the memorial. 837 00:35:39.770 --> 00:35:43.360 And so we're very hopeful that that will occur. 838 00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:45.110 If anybody feels compelled to, 839 00:35:45.110 --> 00:35:47.550 it's not easy to pass a commemorative coin, 840 00:35:47.550 --> 00:35:48.690 nor should it be, 841 00:35:48.690 --> 00:35:50.080 you have to have a super majority. 842 00:35:50.080 --> 00:35:52.830 So you have to have 290 co-sponsors in the House, 843 00:35:52.830 --> 00:35:54.660 and 67 in the Senate. 844 00:35:54.660 --> 00:35:56.500 We actually have, I think, 845 00:35:56.500 --> 00:35:57.940 almost 300 in the House, 846 00:35:57.940 --> 00:35:59.300 so we've surpassed it 847 00:35:59.300 --> 00:36:00.923 and it will go to committee. 848 00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:05.330 But the Senate, we are at 33, 849 00:36:05.330 --> 00:36:06.540 so we still need, 850 00:36:06.540 --> 00:36:07.940 so if anyone feels compelled 851 00:36:07.940 --> 00:36:10.060 to call their senator and ask them to support, 852 00:36:10.060 --> 00:36:12.230 we would definitely appreciate it. 853 00:36:12.230 --> 00:36:13.610 We're anxious to get 854 00:36:14.670 --> 00:36:18.880 some of these things dealt with at the memorial 855 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:19.720 and make sure. 856 00:36:19.720 --> 00:36:22.140 Especially, we're looking forward to 2026, 857 00:36:22.140 --> 00:36:25.660 which is the 250th anniversary of America. 858 00:36:25.660 --> 00:36:27.040 The Park Service is very busy, 859 00:36:27.040 --> 00:36:29.070 making sure that Washington DC 860 00:36:29.070 --> 00:36:31.330 and all of our sites are in pristine condition, 861 00:36:31.330 --> 00:36:34.440 expecting hopefully, a lot of folks 862 00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:37.000 coming to visit and celebrate 863 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:38.240 the birth of America. 864 00:36:38.240 --> 00:36:40.400 And so we also want the World War II Memorial 865 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:42.420 to look it's best, not just for that, 866 00:36:42.420 --> 00:36:44.070 but for all of our World War II veterans 867 00:36:44.070 --> 00:36:45.420 who are leaving us quickly. 868 00:36:46.520 --> 00:36:47.807 [Shannon] Okay, thank you. 869 00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:50.150 Another question came in. 870 00:36:50.150 --> 00:36:52.280 It says as the number of World War II veterans, 871 00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:53.450 sadly diminishes, 872 00:36:53.450 --> 00:36:55.490 do you find fundraising for your efforts 873 00:36:55.490 --> 00:36:56.623 to be more difficult? 874 00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:03.015 [Holly] No, I think because we have a focus 875 00:37:03.015 --> 00:37:07.430 on preserving their legacy, 876 00:37:07.430 --> 00:37:08.760 preserving their memories, 877 00:37:08.760 --> 00:37:12.960 preserving those stories and our education, 878 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:16.760 we haven't had trouble, but of course, 879 00:37:16.760 --> 00:37:20.683 all non-profits are always looking for support. 880 00:37:21.690 --> 00:37:24.740 But I think we've had some great luck. 881 00:37:24.740 --> 00:37:26.570 We, our education programs, 882 00:37:26.570 --> 00:37:30.070 we've had the founder of Enterprise 883 00:37:30.070 --> 00:37:32.460 was a World War II veteran actually. 884 00:37:32.460 --> 00:37:33.630 And before he passed, 885 00:37:33.630 --> 00:37:35.990 he made a significant contribution and honor, 886 00:37:35.990 --> 00:37:39.143 and his children have continued those contributions. 887 00:37:40.540 --> 00:37:44.390 So, I think World War II 888 00:37:44.390 --> 00:37:46.010 was a special time in this country. 889 00:37:46.010 --> 00:37:48.000 It's a time and those veterans. 890 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:49.860 I think that consciousness of knowing 891 00:37:49.860 --> 00:37:52.120 that they're leaving us so quickly, 892 00:37:52.120 --> 00:37:54.850 just increases the imperativeness 893 00:37:54.850 --> 00:37:56.730 to do what we're doing now. 894 00:37:56.730 --> 00:38:00.960 And so, thankfully we've had some great 895 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:02.770 individuals and organizations 896 00:38:02.770 --> 00:38:04.287 that have wanted to support that effort 897 00:38:04.287 --> 00:38:06.670 and to make sure we don't lose those stories. 898 00:38:07.940 --> 00:38:08.930 [Shannon] Okay, Mark, 899 00:38:08.930 --> 00:38:10.390 do you have any questions left 900 00:38:10.390 --> 00:38:12.570 that you wanna ask? 901 00:38:12.570 --> 00:38:13.403 [Mark] Yes. 902 00:38:14.830 --> 00:38:17.653 I kind of wanted to pose a hypothetical, 903 00:38:18.830 --> 00:38:21.970 but you were saying that it was very important 904 00:38:21.970 --> 00:38:23.290 for the monument 905 00:38:23.290 --> 00:38:26.293 to be in that particular location. 906 00:38:27.160 --> 00:38:29.400 So my question is, 907 00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:31.980 if for whatever reason that was not possible, 908 00:38:31.980 --> 00:38:35.100 what would be the second best location 909 00:38:35.100 --> 00:38:36.193 for the memorial? 910 00:38:39.530 --> 00:38:41.370 [Holly] I honestly, I just don't think 911 00:38:41.370 --> 00:38:44.260 any other site would have been 912 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:46.250 significant enough for that memorial 913 00:38:46.250 --> 00:38:47.840 and that memorial wouldn't exist. 914 00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:51.840 I mean, it exists and it's the way it is 915 00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:53.120 because of the site, 916 00:38:53.120 --> 00:38:55.970 it was designed around the Rainbow Pool. 917 00:38:55.970 --> 00:38:57.050 But I will tell you, 918 00:38:57.050 --> 00:38:59.350 one of the locations they were trying to push, 919 00:38:59.350 --> 00:39:01.610 was I think Freedom Plaza 920 00:39:01.610 --> 00:39:04.480 where the World War I is now. 921 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:07.323 And the other was by the Capitol, 922 00:39:09.050 --> 00:39:09.883 I think where the, 923 00:39:09.883 --> 00:39:11.430 maybe the Visitor Center is now. 924 00:39:11.430 --> 00:39:14.113 So, I mean really off the grid, 925 00:39:15.490 --> 00:39:18.080 just not worthy of the significance 926 00:39:18.080 --> 00:39:23.043 of that conflict and that generation. 927 00:39:24.260 --> 00:39:25.160 [Mark] Thank you 928 00:39:26.500 --> 00:39:29.200 [Shannon] All right, this one is related 929 00:39:29.200 --> 00:39:32.133 to sort of the last one that I asked about. 930 00:39:33.753 --> 00:39:34.910 It says, as this time goes by 931 00:39:34.910 --> 00:39:36.630 with fewer World War II veterans, 932 00:39:36.630 --> 00:39:40.090 do you have any plans in conveying veteran experience 933 00:39:40.090 --> 00:39:42.370 when there are no longer any World War II veterans? 934 00:39:42.370 --> 00:39:43.533 How will you do that? 935 00:39:44.390 --> 00:39:48.250 [Holly] Yeah, so we have been since 2011, 936 00:39:48.250 --> 00:39:49.870 we've actually been capturing 937 00:39:49.870 --> 00:39:52.380 World War II veterans interviews. 938 00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:55.080 A lot of them at the World War II Memorial 939 00:39:55.080 --> 00:39:56.280 in those early days 940 00:39:56.280 --> 00:39:58.193 with the honor flights coming in. 941 00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:02.040 But we're continuing to do that, 942 00:40:02.040 --> 00:40:03.830 to try to tell their stories. 943 00:40:03.830 --> 00:40:06.150 We have a great network of World War II veterans 944 00:40:06.150 --> 00:40:08.060 that we work with 945 00:40:08.060 --> 00:40:11.830 and really just getting them preserved, 946 00:40:11.830 --> 00:40:14.290 in perpetuity, by capturing them on camera 947 00:40:14.290 --> 00:40:16.020 even over the phone, 948 00:40:16.020 --> 00:40:18.180 if they're not able to get on camera. 949 00:40:18.180 --> 00:40:19.650 So, any way we can 950 00:40:19.650 --> 00:40:22.119 of capturing those stories, 951 00:40:22.119 --> 00:40:24.770 we're doing, and we're gonna continue to do that 952 00:40:24.770 --> 00:40:27.473 until the last one is with us. 953 00:40:28.520 --> 00:40:31.810 [Shannon] Okay, well, Mark, I think I'm out of questions, 954 00:40:31.810 --> 00:40:33.760 do you see any more? 955 00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:35.700 [Mark] No, I think we've gotten through 956 00:40:35.700 --> 00:40:37.400 all of them for now. 957 00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:39.300 [Shannon] Okay, very good. 958 00:40:39.300 --> 00:40:43.550 All right, well, thank you Holly once again, 959 00:40:43.550 --> 00:40:47.070 this is, oh, I'm sorry, one more came in. 960 00:40:47.070 --> 00:40:49.220 It says, in memory of World War II veterans, 961 00:40:49.220 --> 00:40:50.860 is there a website or place 962 00:40:50.860 --> 00:40:52.823 where their names are all at? 963 00:40:54.830 --> 00:40:57.420 [Holly] So that's an interesting... 964 00:40:58.689 --> 00:41:00.710 I don't know if the question was about 965 00:41:00.710 --> 00:41:03.153 those who passed, the 400,000. 966 00:41:06.370 --> 00:41:09.160 So, I actually spent 14 years 967 00:41:09.160 --> 00:41:10.923 with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 968 00:41:11.880 --> 00:41:14.530 and we worked quite closely 969 00:41:14.530 --> 00:41:18.110 with the database of the 58,000 plus 970 00:41:18.110 --> 00:41:19.510 who died in Vietnam. 971 00:41:19.510 --> 00:41:21.750 And I worked with the Department of Defense 972 00:41:21.750 --> 00:41:22.940 Office of Casualties 973 00:41:22.940 --> 00:41:25.220 when I was at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund 974 00:41:25.220 --> 00:41:26.243 really closely. 975 00:41:29.100 --> 00:41:30.520 So when I came here, 976 00:41:30.520 --> 00:41:32.770 I've been here almost nine years at the Friends 977 00:41:32.770 --> 00:41:35.180 and I called my contact in DOD. 978 00:41:35.180 --> 00:41:36.270 I said, okay, go ahead, 979 00:41:36.270 --> 00:41:39.629 send me those 400,000 plus names. 980 00:41:39.629 --> 00:41:41.380 He said, Holly, it doesn't exist, 981 00:41:41.380 --> 00:41:42.960 there's no list. 982 00:41:42.960 --> 00:41:45.050 And that was shocking for me. 983 00:41:45.050 --> 00:41:49.360 I thought, wow, I mean, 70 year at that point, 984 00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:51.635 almost seventy years later, 985 00:41:51.635 --> 00:41:54.230 nobody has compiled the list 986 00:41:54.230 --> 00:41:56.560 of our war dead from World War II, 987 00:41:56.560 --> 00:41:58.560 that was kind of shocking. 988 00:41:58.560 --> 00:42:00.990 The American Battle Monuments Commission 989 00:42:00.990 --> 00:42:03.360 does have about 200,000 of them, 990 00:42:03.360 --> 00:42:06.150 the ones that are buried overseas. 991 00:42:06.150 --> 00:42:07.760 So they have, 'cause of course, 992 00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:10.910 those beautiful cemeteries in Normandy 993 00:42:10.910 --> 00:42:13.663 in Meuse-Argonne, in Sicily, 994 00:42:15.570 --> 00:42:18.670 that have become the homes to our war dead, 995 00:42:18.670 --> 00:42:20.040 they have those. 996 00:42:20.040 --> 00:42:22.500 But the ones who were brought home 997 00:42:22.500 --> 00:42:26.920 and were left and brought to their personal, 998 00:42:26.920 --> 00:42:28.310 hometown cemeteries and things, 999 00:42:28.310 --> 00:42:30.793 there's not a calculation of those. 1000 00:42:31.650 --> 00:42:33.790 So, that's something that, 1001 00:42:33.790 --> 00:42:36.670 is always sort of at the forefront of my mind. 1002 00:42:36.670 --> 00:42:38.650 And how can we make sure 1003 00:42:38.650 --> 00:42:40.500 we have that at some point, 1004 00:42:40.500 --> 00:42:42.600 because I think that's so important. 1005 00:42:42.600 --> 00:42:46.633 But there is a database to go back to. 1006 00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:49.780 The American Battle Monuments Commission 1007 00:42:49.780 --> 00:42:51.430 actually set up a sort of 1008 00:42:51.430 --> 00:42:55.340 publicly driven database at WWiimemorial.com. 1009 00:42:58.580 --> 00:43:03.230 So, and they set that up 1010 00:43:03.230 --> 00:43:04.800 when they were doing the fundraising 1011 00:43:04.800 --> 00:43:05.880 for the World War II Memorial, 1012 00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:07.130 it was a fundraising tool, 1013 00:43:07.130 --> 00:43:10.630 but it's become an important historic archive. 1014 00:43:10.630 --> 00:43:11.630 And it's available 1015 00:43:11.630 --> 00:43:13.060 when you go to the World War II Memorial, 1016 00:43:13.060 --> 00:43:16.180 you can use, there's a keypad, a computer terminal, 1017 00:43:16.180 --> 00:43:17.310 and you can go there 1018 00:43:17.310 --> 00:43:19.480 and people can add their loved ones 1019 00:43:19.480 --> 00:43:21.500 or themselves if they were World War II veterans, 1020 00:43:21.500 --> 00:43:23.950 they can add their names to this database. 1021 00:43:23.950 --> 00:43:25.710 Anyone who served in World War II 1022 00:43:25.710 --> 00:43:27.490 can be added to this database. 1023 00:43:27.490 --> 00:43:31.630 So, I think there are like 2 million entries 1024 00:43:31.630 --> 00:43:32.773 in the database. 1025 00:43:34.310 --> 00:43:36.360 And you can access it online 1026 00:43:36.360 --> 00:43:38.360 or at the World War II Memorial directly, 1027 00:43:38.360 --> 00:43:40.493 and people can still add names to it. 1028 00:43:42.060 --> 00:43:43.033 [Shannon] That's awesome. 1029 00:43:44.470 --> 00:43:45.960 We did get one comment that says, 1030 00:43:45.960 --> 00:43:48.649 as a Vietnam vet, thank you for your work. 1031 00:43:48.649 --> 00:43:49.700 [Holly] Thank you. 1032 00:43:49.700 --> 00:43:51.390 [Shannon] Yep, all right. 1033 00:43:51.390 --> 00:43:52.630 Okay, well, thank you, Holly. 1034 00:43:52.630 --> 00:43:55.300 If we did not get to your question, 1035 00:43:55.300 --> 00:43:57.730 hopefully we got to all of them, 1036 00:43:57.730 --> 00:43:59.620 but if we did not, 1037 00:43:59.620 --> 00:44:02.630 you can email or you have any additional ones 1038 00:44:02.630 --> 00:44:04.220 that you would like to propose. 1039 00:44:04.220 --> 00:44:05.770 You can email Holly directly 1040 00:44:05.770 --> 00:44:08.650 to the address that's listed here on the screen, 1041 00:44:08.650 --> 00:44:11.600 and you can also visit the website 1042 00:44:11.600 --> 00:44:13.583 to learn more about the memorial. 1043 00:44:15.060 --> 00:44:17.090 Now a video recording of this presentation 1044 00:44:17.090 --> 00:44:19.920 will be available on the Sanctuaries' Webinar Archives page. 1045 00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:21.750 It's found that that long URL, 1046 00:44:21.750 --> 00:44:22.840 that is listed at the top. 1047 00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:25.480 Don't worry, we'll send that to you in an email. 1048 00:44:25.480 --> 00:44:27.370 In addition, the webinar will be archived 1049 00:44:27.370 --> 00:44:29.560 on our Monitor National Marine Sanctuary's website. 1050 00:44:29.560 --> 00:44:31.680 You can just click on the multimedia section 1051 00:44:31.680 --> 00:44:34.560 in the tool bar to access the webinar box, 1052 00:44:34.560 --> 00:44:36.570 and you will also find future webinars 1053 00:44:36.570 --> 00:44:37.920 in that same section. 1054 00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:39.090 And don't worry, as I said, 1055 00:44:39.090 --> 00:44:41.400 all this is gonna be sent to you in a follow-up email 1056 00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:43.453 once the recording is ready to view. 1057 00:44:44.680 --> 00:44:47.070 We do have some upcoming webinars. 1058 00:44:47.070 --> 00:44:48.240 In February the eighth, 1059 00:44:48.240 --> 00:44:49.920 we have James Charlet 1060 00:44:49.920 --> 00:44:52.860 he's a Historian, Author and Former Site Manager 1061 00:44:52.860 --> 00:44:54.910 of the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station. 1062 00:44:54.910 --> 00:44:56.160 He's gonna tell us the stories 1063 00:44:56.160 --> 00:44:58.680 about the African-American lifesaving crews 1064 00:44:58.680 --> 00:45:00.800 who served in North Carolina. 1065 00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:04.130 On March the eighth, Dr. Sal Mercogliano, 1066 00:45:04.130 --> 00:45:06.040 he's the Associate Professor 1067 00:45:06.040 --> 00:45:07.920 at the History of Campbell University. 1068 00:45:07.920 --> 00:45:09.890 He's a Former Merchant Mariner, 1069 00:45:09.890 --> 00:45:11.120 and an Adjunct Professor 1070 00:45:11.120 --> 00:45:13.240 for the Maritime Industry 1071 00:45:13.240 --> 00:45:15.310 Policy at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. 1072 00:45:15.310 --> 00:45:16.920 He's gonna talk about World War I 1073 00:45:16.920 --> 00:45:18.240 and the German U-boat force 1074 00:45:18.240 --> 00:45:20.230 off the North Carolina coast. 1075 00:45:20.230 --> 00:45:23.260 And then April 12th will be a big one for us 1076 00:45:23.260 --> 00:45:25.700 our own Tane Casserly, and Chris Taylor 1077 00:45:25.700 --> 00:45:27.390 and Avery Paxton, all of NOAA 1078 00:45:27.390 --> 00:45:29.600 and Chris Southerly from the North Carolina, 1079 00:45:29.600 --> 00:45:31.010 Office of State Archaeology 1080 00:45:31.010 --> 00:45:32.780 are gonna be giving an overview 1081 00:45:32.780 --> 00:45:34.610 of our upcoming expedition called 1082 00:45:34.610 --> 00:45:35.890 Valor in the Atlantic 1083 00:45:35.890 --> 00:45:38.390 which will be happening in May. 1084 00:45:38.390 --> 00:45:40.240 You're gonna be able to attend this webinar, 1085 00:45:40.240 --> 00:45:41.410 you're gonna learn more about it 1086 00:45:41.410 --> 00:45:42.630 and learn about 1087 00:45:42.630 --> 00:45:45.930 the Global Foundation of Ocean Exploration 1088 00:45:45.930 --> 00:45:47.510 will be serving and documenting 1089 00:45:47.510 --> 00:45:48.730 the North Carolina shipwrecks, 1090 00:45:48.730 --> 00:45:50.590 and you can learn how to watch it live, 1091 00:45:50.590 --> 00:45:52.243 which is gonna be pretty cool. 1092 00:45:53.720 --> 00:45:55.010 And of course, we always invite you 1093 00:45:55.010 --> 00:45:56.653 to join us on social media. 1094 00:45:58.130 --> 00:45:59.990 And lastly, as you exit the webinar, 1095 00:45:59.990 --> 00:46:01.050 there is a short survey 1096 00:46:01.050 --> 00:46:03.070 for formal and informal educators. 1097 00:46:03.070 --> 00:46:04.200 If you are an educator, 1098 00:46:04.200 --> 00:46:05.540 NOAA would really appreciate it, 1099 00:46:05.540 --> 00:46:07.150 if you would take a minute or two, 1100 00:46:07.150 --> 00:46:08.560 to complete the survey. 1101 00:46:08.560 --> 00:46:10.050 Your answers will help NOAA 1102 00:46:10.050 --> 00:46:12.270 develop future webinars to meet your needs 1103 00:46:12.270 --> 00:46:14.350 and your participation is voluntary 1104 00:46:14.350 --> 00:46:15.660 and your answers will be 1105 00:46:15.660 --> 00:46:17.293 held completely anonymous. 1106 00:46:18.660 --> 00:46:20.420 Once again, we want to thank you Holly, 1107 00:46:20.420 --> 00:46:21.850 for a great presentation 1108 00:46:21.850 --> 00:46:24.090 and thank you all for joining us 1109 00:46:24.090 --> 00:46:26.390 and taking the time out of your day today to be with us, 1110 00:46:26.390 --> 00:46:27.470 have a wonderful day. 1111 00:46:27.470 --> 00:46:30.773 And this concludes the presentation for all, thank you.