On April 12 I joined with other KWVA members at our Washington, DC Korean War Memorial while the Korean
President, escorted by the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, laid a wreath in remembrance of
those who gave their all to help the people of Korea maintain their freedom. The President of the Republic of
Korea made a speech to those assembled at the memorial praising our sacrifice to save his nation. I was also
honored to say a few words to those dignitaries gathered there in response to the Korean President's words of
gratitude.
I stated in my last message that I was disappointed in the fact that Congress has not yet supplied any
funding for the 60th Commemoration Committee. We still have not received any indication that we will have a bill
passed allotting funds. The Korean Government has funded a visit for our members' grandchildren to Korea with a
group of 25 in the later part of June and 25 in the first part of July. We have received a total of 51 veterans
who filled out our drawing ticket to allow their grandchildren to go. We then contacted all of those and some
had decided to not send there grandchildren because of the recent problems encountered with the sudden sinking
of the South Korean Warship and the unrest over this event. We have also met the requirement for filling the
revisits quotas given this year with many revisit dates having to be closed due to the quotas being reached
early.
When you receive this edition of The Graybeards the "Little Angels" will have appeared in Washington, DC as a
response to the 60th Commemorative tour they will be doing in the United States and then will continue to
Norfolk, VA, New York and Atlanta, GA. Our website will have the dates shown so our members in these areas can
look for this event which is to be free for all Korean War Veterans. The Little Angels Website is:
www.kw60project.com/tour.html
By the time this edition of "The Graybeards" has reached all of our members the election results will be
known. I apologize for the initial problem we had with the early ballots being returned to a few of our members
who took the time to vote and did so before April 30. The ballots were returned to them because the Post Office
Box number was wrong and before the Election Committee realized that this problem existed. The Postmaster was
contacted in Tucson, AZ and agreed to accept those ballots and have them placed in the proper box after April
28th. I know many who voted were disappointed that their ballots were returned and some sent their ballots to
the Secretary, Election Committee Chairman, or to me, or called asking what they should do. The ballots that
were mailed to those mentioned above were mailed back with the correct Post Office Box number to the CPA. Those
who called were given the correct P O Box Number. The Postmaster assured us that no ballots were destroyed. The
cost and time to print and send out new ballots with the proper Post Office Box number on them by 1st class
mail, to meet the deadline date was way too expensive. I would like to "Thank the Membership" for allowing me to
represent the KWVA for the past two years and I assure you that this election problem will not happen again no
matter who is elected.
We hope that we see many of you at the Annual Membership Meeting in conjunction with The Gathering, which may
be the only 60th Commemorative function that many veterans will be able to attend this year. We are hoping for a
large turnout and to make this affair very meaningful for a unique group of veterans.
In other news, the KWVA is negotiating with the Republic of Korea to send an Appreciation Letter from the
Korean President thanking our members for their participation in the war effort and keeping the peace intact for
many years following the signing of the Armistice. I also will be spending time in Korea in June meeting with
other Korean Officials and a few of the International Federation of Korean War Veterans Officials.
William F. Mac Swain
KWVA President