I want to remind all of our members that September 18, 2010 will arrive shortly and that date is POW/MIA Recognition Day. We must remember all those who are still unaccounted for and pray for the day when they might be looked for in North Korea. Many of us have buddies who are still missing, 60 years after the Korean War begun, and many families have never learned what happened to their loved ones. So place this date on your calendar or in your mind and be sure to remember all POW/MIA's.

I want to "thank" all who ran for a position in this last election for we continue to need people to fill committees and work to keep a viable group for all the membership. If you have a desire to work on a committee or you have some expertise such as a lawyer or you are VA Approved as a Veterans Service Officer and would like to help us serve Korean War Veterans, let me know.

I also would like to "thank" all of you who voted for me for a second term as President and I also thank those who did not vote for me for at least voting. I have hopes of doing some additional work on solving a problem with the consideration of the Internal Revenue Service on the definition of a Korean War Veteran to also include those who served after January 31, 1955 in Korea. Most of us realize the war is not really over and a threat still exists for South Korea from North Korea. It is still necessary for the United States to maintain Armed Forces on the peninsular and that Force has maintained a peace that we won for South Korea during the Korean War. Many say we did not win the war that it was a draw, but a look at what the South Koreans have done after the war should convince anyone that South Korea now has the Forces available to withstand an attack and the desire to maintain its freedom. Plus at this time, they have the Military might and equipment unlike the 1950 ROK Military.

When you receive this edition of The Graybeards the 2010 KWVA Membership Meeting will have occurred and I am sure it will have been successful. Many venues have been scheduled just recently as everyone wants to take a part in the 60th Commemorative of the start of the Korean War. Many will have shown their respects by making sure those who attend are given many thanks for saving their country from communism and the security of our nation as well. We will have had a Ceremony at our Korean War Monument and at the Tomb of the Unknown and also the Bench in Washington, DC. These are proud moments for many of our members as they realize how important our government believes we are and as they see the many dignitaries at the receptions and those Embassy personnel from UN Nations that also fought with us and on our flanks. I also know that many will be impressed with the visit to the Marine Museum where we will be especially honored for our service.

I hope all of our members received their Korean Presidents Letter of Appreciation that was sent out by our Association to all our paid up Members. If you did not receive one you may visit our Website and fill out a form and e-mail it to the Embassy in Washington, DC and they will send you one.

I visited Korea on the revisit program and spoke at a number of events which included the unveiling of a new statue of General Walton H Walker at the 8th US Army Headquarters at Yongsan Main Post that was made possible by the ROK-US Alliance Friendship Society and a number of the large Companies in Korea. I attended a pass in review of the 8th Army Military personnel, and I also reviewed the Troops of the 2nd ROK Army Command Group, with General Lee the Commanding General in the Taegu area. I represented the UN Countries of Netherland, Luxemburg, Greece. Ethiopia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States at the Welcoming Banquet and gave a short speech of gratitude to the host Prime Minister H. E. Chung Un-Chan, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs the Honorable Kim Yang and KVA Chairman General (Ret) Park Se-Hawn and other Korean Government officials. Two other speeches where given during this visit also. I also met many of our KWVA members who attended this revisit trip, including Medal of Honor recipients' Hiroshi H. Miyamura and Rodolfo P. Hernandez. It was indeed an honor to represent the United States Veterans at the major 60th Commemorative Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium where the President of Korea gave a speech and then honored those veteran representatives, from each UN Nation visiting that day, with a large plaque while seated on the main stage. Every veteran in attendance at this ceremony also received a smaller version of the plaque.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

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

The July 24 through July 27, 2010 Annual Association Membership Meeting plans are in this issue. I suggest that if you are flying in for the meeting you make reservations now to come in at the Reagan National Airport. It is very close to the hotel we will be using. The hotel does have a shuttle. It runs every 30 minutes to and from the airport starting at 5 a.m. and ending at midnight. I also am happy to tell you that Congressman Sam Johnson, a Korean and Vietnam War veteran, will be our Keynote Speaker at the banquet. Both the reception and the banquet are being sponsored by the Korean Ambassador and his staff. He will also make a short presentation during the banquet.

The ceremonies we have set up in the afternoon on July 27 at the National Cemetery will be the first time that the KWVA, Inc. will be allowed to present a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown on our Special Korean War Recognition Day.

We have invited the nations that participated in the Korean War and that have an embassy located in Washington, D.C. to attend. Thus, we all can honor those who never made it home, but gave their lives to make liberty and freedom available for all the nations that furnished help during the Korean War, as well as maintaining freedom for South Korea. There will also be a wreath presented at our monument following the ceremony. The wreath laying will take place next to our Korean War Memorial during the morning.

I will be attending the National Memorial Day Ceremony to represent the Korean War Veterans Association, Inc. and will place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown along with Ceremonies Chairman Tom McHugh and the Chapter 299 Color Guard. We will then place a wreath at the Korean War Memorial.

It is quite an honor to be able to do this as well as to show the many visitors that veterans honor their fallen buddies as often as possible so they are not forgotten. I know that many chapters and at-large members take part in Memorial Day ceremonies in their communities. I hope you have the opportunity to take part in a ceremony. I know that many chapters, and those members who do not have a chapter nearby, participate. I “Thank You” for doing so.

I am somewhat disappointed in the fact that Congress has not yet supplied any funding for the 60th Commemoration Committee. We have, of course, not been forgotten by the Korean government. It has increased the revisit program—and I understand it will be providing funds and sponsor a group called the “Little Angels” to tour the United States during 2010. I had hoped that we would have them in the Washington, D.C. area during our meeting time. Evidently, scheduling did not allow this to happen. They will, however, be in the Washington, D.C. area in June and put on a show for Korean War veterans in the area.

This issue of The Graybeards presents those candidates who are running for elected positions that become vacant in June. I ask each member to study the candidates‘ resumes for the office they wish to fill, and to vote for the ones who have either given time and effort to help the KWVA or have a plan to do so.

I look forward to seeing a lot more members voting this year than the normal 2% during the past few elections. Each vote is important, and each member, as a veteran, has fought to maintain the freedom to vote in many countries, but many have neglected to vote in the Korean War Veterans Association elections.

We know that our Annual Membership Meeting, in conjunction with The Gathering, which has been held every year at this same time, will be very successful and many veterans and their wives and guests will attend. A lot of work has been put forward to make this a very meaningful and cost efficient time for a unique group of veterans to get together. I know you will meet many individuals and VIPs who will also be attending.

Sign up and get your flights early, and join in the celebration of our returning from a victorious war which started some 60 years and one month ago.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

Dear Members and Friends:

The new year has begun, and I hope everyone will have a very good 2010 year. Many times we are unsure of what our future will be, but I find that somehow we are always able to make our future either dismal or very good by how we approach it. I ask all our members to be very positive during this new year and participate in your communities.

We, as veterans, understand that most of us are very fortunate to still be able to do productive things, and I hope each one of you takes advantage of the opportunity to return to Korea to witness just what your service did for the Korean people. There will be no better time than this year to receive help with the financial cost for a return trip. The Korean Government will be subsidizing some of the flight cost to Korea, as well as your hotel accommodations, and most of your meal costs while in Korea. This is a once in a lifetime offer. More information is in this issue.

The 2010 Annual Association Membership Meeting plans are taking shape. The next edition of The Graybeards will have the complete daily agenda, hotel information, and costs. Look for our Save–a–Date advertisement in this issue for the dates you should set aside to attend our 60th Commemoration Meeting. Make this your goal to come to a great meeting.

Our plans include many Korean War and Service veterans who are not members of our Association. You will have the opportunity to meet many VIP’s who will be invited from the embassies of all our fellow UN nations that participated with us in the war, as well as others not yet known. We will also honor those who never made it home, since they gave their lives to further our liberty and freedom.

I also remind you that our website will have updates about the Revisit Program being offered, as well as new information about the Annual Association Membership Meeting in July. Those of you who are computer users should check our website www.kwva.org every couple weeks. Those who do not have computers should either have your grandchildren check for them or go to their local libraries and get help in checking out our website to update themselves.

Look for the March-April issue of The Graybeards for profiles of candidates for election for KWVA President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President and four (4) Directors. Their resumes and the reasons they wish to receive your votes will be in that issue. Voting will be concluded and the results available on the website before the May-June The Graybeards is published and mailed out.

Again, it is the Board of Directors’ wish that the membership breaks the average vote count of 3,000 plus voters. It is your opportunity to control those on the Board, rather than just writing letters or sending e-mail that you do not like the operation of the Board. Many members do not vote because they think their vote does not count. That is not true, since everyone‘s vote is recorded by an outside entity.

I informed you of a possible request from Korea for the KWVA to select some of our members’ grandchildren to travel to Korea this year and be hosted during their stay. The membership has responded with 16 requests thus far. My latest information is the Korean government is inviting 50 from the USA. The requirements are: they must be grandchildren of Korean War veterans, they must be attending college, and they must speak English.

Twenty-five will go July 1 - July 7, 2010, for 6 nights and 7 days. A second group of 25 will go July 22 - July 28, 2010, for 6 nights and 7 days. The Korean government will furnish hotel accommodations, meals and sightseeing while in Korea. The dates are set, so you need to respond by March 30th as soon as you get this information. Remember, the grandchild will need a passport. A drawing ticket is in this issue. We will notify you of any change once it is received. The website will also have a drawing ticket for download.

The 2010 revisit program is waiting for your registration, so fill one out now or lose out when they are filled. Schedules are April 26-May 1; May 10-15, 24-29; June 5-10, 22- 27; September 1-6, 11-16; September 27- October 2; October 13-18, 15-20. The first ones who apply are the first who are accepted. An application is available in this issue as well as other information and quotas.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

Veterans, Members, and Friends...

The Board of Directors and I hope that you had a very good Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. Also we wish you a Happy New Year. The 2009 year is completed now and we begin our year where the 60th Anniversary of the start of the Korean War will be foremost in our minds as we remember the struggles we endured and look back on our time where we were required to engage in a war against communism and the threat to the United States of a loss of a country that our Armed Forces had liberated during World War II.

The 2009 Annual Association Membership Meeting was concluded and our updated Bylaws were approved by the general membership. A tear out copy of those Bylaws is included in this edition of our magazine for all to see and follow. Also included are the minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting held on October 25, 2009. The minutes for the General Membership Meeting held on October 26, 2009 will be in the January-February edition. We also begin a fresh new year with our required 501(c)19 Veterans Organization having been declared proper by the Internal Revenue Service and our Incorporation within the New York State also represented properly. Both of these were found to be neglected since 2004 for the Corporation and 2007 for the IRS Deductibility requirement. It took a great amount of time and an IRS Audit the last half of 2008 and most of 2009 to finally solve all these problems. The Association played a role in the Korean War Recognition Act which was passed by congress and signed into law on July 27. 2009. You can read about this Law on our website. Your President and Ceremonies Chairman, Tom McHugh as well as Chapter 142 in Maryland and Chapter 299 in Massachusetts Color Guards have participated in Veterans Day and Memorial Day Ceremonies in Washington, DC so we are responding as a Veterans Service Organization as expected.

A Call for Elections for President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President and four Directors is included in this issue. I hope many of you will decide to run for office.

Since this will also be the start of a new year and especially the 60th Anniversary of the beginning of the war in Korea you should make plans to attend some of the events at our 2010 Annual Association Membership Meeting which will be held in Washington, D.C. The Board of Directors and those Korean War Veterans in the Maryland Area, who have had a "Gathering" for many years, have joined forces so that the Annual Association Membership and Board Meetings will be held in conjunction with their plans. This will allow us to have a great attendance and we have already selected a group to arrange for this great meeting and arrange for the hotel and venues so we can celebrate in 2010 while we are still young at heart. I request that all of you, who might wish to attend, would send me an e-mail or letter with an idea of what you would like to visit once you are in the Washington, DC area. There are many things that might be of interest and I would welcome the thoughts of all. Tentative dates are July 24 - 28, 2010 and of course we will try to get a couple of days before and after so you can explore the Capitol area on your own with the same lower negotiated hotel price. Normally there is always a program on July 27th at the Korean War Monument and also the Bench near the Amphitheater in the National Cemetery.

I informed you of a possible request from Korea next year for the KWVA to select some of our member's grandchildren to travel to Korea to be hosted during their stay. You will find a sign-up sheet in this issue for you to copy and send in for a drawing should we be invited to make arrangements. This same  sign-up sheet will also be available on our website. Remember you must have a passport for that grandchild before sending in the sign-up sheet. So do it very early at the beginning of the year. We also have additional numbers for our Members who are eligible for the Korean revisit programs. You should also make a decision to apply for one of the revisit tours early.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

I know this is early since you will be receiving this edition of our magazine the early part of November however, it will be too late if not presented now. The Board of Directors and I hope that you have a very good Veterans Day and are able to attend or participate in a Memorial event in remembrance of those buddies that are no longer with us. We also send you Happy Holidays wishes.

The Annual Association Membership Meeting will be concluded and our Bylaws will have been updated as well as the Standard Procedure Manual in October. Copies of the recently changed Bylaws, and the Standard Procedure Manual will be placed on our website in November, and the Minutes of the Board of Directors and Association Membership Meeting will be presented in the November - December Magazine.

A Call for Elections for President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President and four Directors is in this issue and will also appear in the November - December Magazine. You are invited to submit your desire to run for any of these offices. You should check the Standard Procedure Manual or the November - December Magazine for any change in the Call and any requirements that were changed at the October Membership Meeting for placing your name on the ballot. I hope many of you will decide to run for office.

Since this will also be the start of a new year and especially the 60th Anniversary of the beginning of the war in Korea you should make plans to attend some of the events at our 2010 Annual Association Membership Meeting which will be held in Washington, D.C. Plans are being made now for events in both Korea and in the United States. No firm plans have yet appeared for me to report other than I know plans are being studied and coordinated by the 60th Commemorative Groups in place in Korea and the United States. Many other countries that had Armed Forces involved are also in the planning stages. We are sure that our number of members will be increased for our revisit program during the 2010 time period. The revisit program will also be better because many events will be increased in Korea so they can fully honor the veterans who will be invited to attend these scheduled events during their revisit trip.

I inform you of a possible request from Korea next year for the KWVA to select some of our member's grandchildren to travel to Korea to be hosted during their stay. With a huge membership, with many members having two or more grandchildren, the only way we can be fair in our selection is to have a drawing and select only one grandchild per member. The grandchild will require a passport so if you think you would like to have yours entered in a drawing I suggest you arrange for that grandchild to get a passport now. If the offer does not come through or the grandchild is not picked during the drawing, the passport will still be necessary should they ever decide to leave the country. You must have a passport to get back into the United States now when you take a cruise or fly on vacation to another country, so it will not be a waste of money or time for a passport to be obtained now. The Canadians sent 20 grandchildren this year, who ranged from 16 to 22 years old. They enjoyed the trip and had a very good time meeting others on the trip. I suspect if we are not ready to make a selection and the grandchildren have to suddenly obtain a passport, there will be many disappointed grandchildren and members who will be sorry they did not prepare for this. Many times we are informed at the last minute that some type of requirement to honor our membership has suddenly come to light, and we do not have time to react and still be fair to all our members.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

Veterans, Members and Friends...

A reminder that October 24, 2009 will start our three day Annual Membership Meeting at the Westin Hotel in Irving, TX. The Membership will look at some Bylaw changes to ratify and other required business will be brought up. If you stay an extra day to visit the area attractions we will visit the new Cowboy Stadium that was recently constructed at the cost of 1.2 Billion Dollars. Instead of having to stay an extra day between meeting times which forces an extra day cost, because of the pinch on dollars for most families and the losses many have had on their retirement funds, the committee decided to leave the decision up to the membership to either stay an extra day to sight see or leave for home.

I also am happy to report to the membership that our audit by the IRS has resulted in our being cleared of any problems and we have also been restored to deductibility status after having been dropped by the IRS for no known reason nor had they informed us that we no longer met the requirement as a deductible 501(c)19 Veterans Organization. That is all a moot point at this time since we also were restored to a deductable status during the audit. It did take almost seven months to resolve that problem.

I also wish to remind all of our members that the Korean War Revisit Program continues and those who had returned some 10 years ago are now eligible to go again. I made the trip back with the June 21, 2009 group and it was a very good experience. I was made an Honorary Member of the Korean Veterans Association of Korea and also took part in the Ceremonies the Korean's have when they commemorate the beginning of the Korean War on 6/25/1950. That also allowed me to represent the United States Armed Forces in honoring those, from all the Nations who came to the aid of Korea, and who died and are buried in the Korean National Cemetery. That indeed was an honor for me to do so. I also was able to "Thank" the Korean Veterans and their families for their abilities to take the freedom gained and became a great nation, which has repaid all their fellow UN Veterans many times over. They have done so with their continuing gratitude even to this date. I also had the opportunity to meet His Excellency Lee, Myung-Bak the President of the Republic of Korea and his lovely wife.

For those who voted in our last election, you have elected some very capable Directors. I look forward to their service as representatives of you the membership. Also you need to know that two of our previously elected Directors have had to resign for health problems and I wish to publicly say we will miss the services of Leo D. Agnew and Thomas S. Edwards and I hope that their health does not deteriorate any further. Director Agnew had two (2) years and Director Edwards had one (1) year left on their three (3) year terms. Both will be replaced per the Bylaws and Standard Procedure Manual and approved by the Board of Directors at the July 25, 2009 called Board meeting. You should see who were selected to replace both Directors in this copy of The Graybeards in the listing of Officers on the inside cover page.

60th Commemorative Committees in all nations are now planning and coordinating what will be done for this 60th Commemoration of the War Beginning and Armistice Signing. Plans by both the 60th Commemorative Committees in the United States and Korea will be in ongoing., so we have started our plans early on the KWVA, Inc. Annual Membership Meeting for 2010 in Washington, D.C., and our Revisit Program Staff is also looking at plans in Korea so we might take part in both committee plans as more information becomes available.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

Members, Veterans and Friends...

President Obama signed into Public Law the Korean War Veterans Recognition Act passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate at 6:00 pm on July 27, 2009.

The flag will now be flown at half-mast on each July 27th in remembrance of those veterans who sacrificed their lives in the Korean War. This act was begun by a Korean American young lady named Hannah Kim and was pushed through the congress when she, with her many Korean American friends, walked the halls of congress and the many veterans who wrote their representatives to vote for the act. The KWVA, Inc. was very active in this process and we Thank especially the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Charles B. Rangel and Congressman Sam Johnson both Korean War Veterans as well as the other Korean War Veterans Association Members.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

I want to remind all of our membership that July 4th, 2009 is coming and many Chapters will be entering into parades to celebrate our freedoms and to remind citizens of the role veterans have played to safeguard those freedoms. I have read many books that tell of the hardships our founding Fathers went through to win our freedom on July 4, 1776 and then throughout history we Americans have had to battle those who wish to subject their wills and beliefs on the world and take away freedom. We have always fought for justice and you and I must continue to remind our citizens that Freedom is not Free.

I see that many of our chapters have been very active in our "Tell America Project" in schools and their communities. Very few American History books, used in the school systems today, mention much about World Wars I & II and have only a short paragraph about the Korean War. In our case I believe that many of us forgot the war and got on with our lives because when we returned home we found that many Americans did not even realize there was a war going on against the spread of communism. Most were tired of listening about war and some problems in a far off place that would never affect their lives. World War II had ended and they were ready for peace. Even as Armed Forces we wondered what we were doing in this far off place shedding blood for a country that for years had been slaves of other nations and was now in a civil war between the North and South that would never affect America. I still remember my first encounter with some of my hometown buddies when I returned home who asked, where have you been? When I said Korea their first question was, how come? When I said I believe I was in a war their statement was we didn't know there was a war. I returned to school, got married, found a job, had kids and got on with my life just as most of you did. I soon realized that no one really cared what I had done in Korea so I never brought it up again.

I began to wonder after 40 years where all those guys I served with were and what had happened to them. I decided to look for them. I found over 165 of them and started to have reunions and ran in to a couple of guys who had joined KWVA in various states and told me they were working to raise funds for a Monument and I ought to join and do something. I joined National and donated funds and then started to read books about the Korean War.

After the Cold War ended and our Korean War Monument was dedicated, we as Korean War Veterans started to become aware that our stopping the advancement of communism into South Korea and on into the Southeast Asian area were instrumental in the start of communism's downfall. So now we can be very proud of our accomplishments. South Korea has prospered with the freedom we fought and won for them. We need to stop using the words "The Forgotten War" and proclaim it as a victorious war during our 60th Commemorative years of 2010 - 2013 to make sure that everyone knows the Korean War was important and that it helped safeguard America against the further spread of communism. A 60th Commemorative Committee is now formed and working to get Congressional funding. You will hear more about this once a funding bill has been submitted. Be prepared to write your congressional representatives to approve funding and then participate in this commemorative period.

The Director's election will be completed by the time you receive this message in The Graybeards, and I "Thank You" for voting. I also send my "Thanks to all Veterans" who participated in Memorial Day activities. We should always remember our fellow veterans who are no longer with us, since we know first hand that their sacrifices were noble.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

I have heard nothing but good reports on Korea Veterans being added to the front cover to show who The Graybeards magazine is about. Many of those who wrote expressed the thought that they were in Korea in 1951 mid year and later and were not considered to have graybeards and thought this was a very proper addition.

I can report to you that an audit was made by the Internal Revenue Service on January 24, 2009 The main reason we were audited was a third party reported that we conducted a lottery. Our CPA and I spent five hours with the agent and supplied answers to all his questions on our 2006 990 Form. I had hoped we could report something in this edition however, our latest inquiry to the agent finds that he has approximately a month of further work to complete his report.

I do have the following report on some of the things that I had placed on my priority list as Items (1) & (2) to do if elected as President, while (3) & (4) were added from hold over business. (1) The Board of Directors has agreed to place a six month moratorium on any new complaints to the Ethics and Grievance Committee until better guidelines in the Standard Procedure Manual can be approved by the Board. (2) They have also agreed that a Quarterly Financial Report may be placed on the website for download or to be looked at by the membership. (3) A decision was made to not supply the 60th Commemorative Committee with any seed money for their operation at this time. (4) There will also be a Board Meeting in conjunction with the Gathering in July 2009. All of these items were completed with a Business without a Meeting according to the Bylaws. The minutes of this meeting are included in this edition with one other motion included and the vote counts for all business done.

Our Annual Association Membership Meeting is still in work however its dates are mentioned elsewhere in the March/April Graybeards in a block form since we are still looking at many hotels. The dates of the meeting will allow you to set aside a time and also to make flight reservation to the DFW Airport in time to get cheaper rates. The hotel and registration information will be in the May/June edition of The Graybeards.

There are a great many things going on with the KWVA Chapters and again I want to compliment those Chapters who are supplying information and reports on their community involvement to our Korea Veterans magazine. It is always sad when we hear about the loss of a member and I want to remind you that if you know of a member who has passed on to please be sure and let the Membership Administrator know. We need to place the names in our "Last Call" section and to also include them in our Memorial Service at the Annual Association Membership Meeting. I have received information on the death of Mollie H. Snyder a 99 Year old Gold Star Mother who was a KWVA member since 1995. Her son was Walter H. Snyder, Jr. and he was killed in December 1950. She was President of the Gold Star Mothers in 1999 and attended our meeting in Washington, D.C. in 2003. Her death was on February 8, 2009.

I hope everyone takes the opportunity to read each and every resume that also appears in this edition and then votes in the Directors Election. I do expect all, who have decided to place their hat in the ring, did so to make the entire membership their chief reason for running and to do what is necessary to make their decisions the right one for the KWVA, Inc. and not for their personnel agenda. The leadership of the KWVA, Inc. is in your hands. It only requires a little time to take your ballot to the post office and purchase a stamp and drop your ballot in the mail.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

I wish all Korean War Veterans Association, Inc. members a Happy New Year! We indeed need one that straightens out our economic worries and puts us back on track, where we have some control of our finances, and for most of us our 401K and IRA's that have seen a downturn in their worth.

I know that when you read this message you will have noticed the cover of our magazine. I have received some messages that say it is about time that we let people know that we are Korea Veterans. At the same time I have also received messages which say why in the world did you allow this change. So I believe some explanation is necessary as to why the Board of Directors decided to change the name. First the name has not been changed. It has had a statement added that says this magazine is about and for the Korea Veteran. And to our many members who remember why it was called The Graybeards, it is still called The Graybeards. I think this was a very good compromise that was decided by the Board of Directors, to let everyone who comes across this magazine to understand that it is about and for all Korea Veterans. It should also be noted that the Board of Directors made the decision on the wording and also the size of the print. The vote to make a change was unanimous, with no objection by the eleven voting members available at the October 24, 2008 Board Meeting in Norfolk, Virginia. They were not only asked and given a picture of the actual cover, but it was a unanimous decision by the entire Board of Directors as to what the cover wording would look like for each edition.

You will find in this edition a Fund Raiser which only asks the Life Members, who no longer or never were required to pay dues, for their help by donating funds for an edition of The Graybeards. Each edition cost around $30,000. Those Life Members who have been members for only six years now are being furnished a free magazine six times a year. If you look at the fact that we have nearly seven thousand (7,000) Life and POW Members who do not pay dues, yet receive an edition, you can see what kind of financial problem we face each year. Yes! It may be said if we had placed the Life Membership in a fund and drawn interest we would not have this problem. You are right, but that should have been done at the start many years ago. Seven thousand (7,000) members at $150 each would have been $1,050,000 times an average of 2.5% and would net us $26,250/year not quite one edition. No one did the math and now we suffer from inflation and the cost of mailing and publishing is higher than back in the good old days. The saying still stands that hindsight is always better than foresight. We, as a Board of Directors, figured that out too late and changed the rate for Life Membership a couple of years ago. I want to "Thank" the Fund Raising Committee for making this attempt to raise one edition funds. I believe a fully paid Annual Membership Meeting is a great prize. A second Fund Raiser for the entire membership will still be held this year.

The minutes of the Board of Directors and Membership Meeting were in your 2008 November - December The Graybeards magazine. They will also appear on the website, approximately a month after any meeting, as well as in The Graybeards magazine. This will give many who are interested in the actions taken by the Board of Directors and the Membership, not to have to wait for results almost two months after the meetings when they appear in The Graybeards.

I also want to remind you that a call for elections of four (4) Directors will occur this June. I ask that all who are interested in running for these positions, to remember that they are not positions that are for prestige, but require much of your time and ability to make decisions which are not always popular, but necessary for the Good of the Order.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

Veterans, Members, and Friends...

The Annual Membership Meeting in Norfolk, Virginia was held and I wish to thank all the members who made this meeting a success. There were many who helped put this event on and, of course, without them it would not have succeeded. Those who handled the Hospitality Room did an excellent job, the tours were good, and the opening ceremony at the General McArthur Museum was a great way to kick off the meeting. It was good to have the Korean Community involved and the opening ceremony speaker, Reverend So, from the 25,000 member Korean Presbyterian Church in Seoul gave a very good presentation. I congratulate Warren Wiedhahn and those on his committee for their dedication to satisfy those in attendance. The Banquet was well attended and again Ambassador Lee came through with his presentation as our Honored Guest Speaker. Korean American boys and girls gave a rousing drum concert and adult Korean women danced to the drums, and they were very entertaining. We had many of the Ambassador's Staff with us and we thank him for also hosting the reception before the Banquet.

The Board of Directors along with the membership approved a change of venue for our next Annual Membership Meeting when the decision was made to hold it in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2009 rather than in San Diego, CA. Regrettably it was discovered there were not enough members in that area to setup and hold a meeting. The Committee will have to work hard to make our 2009 meeting as good, if not better, than this past meeting. The Board and the Membership also approved the holding of the 2010 Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, DC, since that will be the start of the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War. Plans are now in work by a National Committee formed to make this happen. This Committee will be similar to the 50th Commemorative Committee in its operation. The 2011 Annual Membership Meeting was then approved to be held in the Boston, Massachusetts area.

Your Second Vice President Robert Banker represented the KWVA in my place at the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) in Washington, DC on October 16 to update all Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) on NCA operations and issues. Martin J. Goge, a member from Maryland Chapter #142, represented the KWVA at the final meeting of the Veterans Day National Ceremony Committee on October 30 in my place. As your President I represented our Korean War Veterans Association during the Veterans Affairs Veterans Day National Ceremony hosted by the Military Chaplains Association with a breakfast, Memorial presentation of a wreath by Vice President Richard B. Cheney, who was also the Guest Speaker and this was followed by a reception in the afternoon. I was honored to be able to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with other KWVA members from Chapter #142 and Ceremonies Chairman Thomas McHugh following the Memorial Service. At the same time your First Vice President Jim Ferris represented the KWVA in Delaware with Vice President-Elect Joseph Biden, the current Senator from Delaware. I do hope that everyone took time to take part in Veterans Day activities in their community and to remember those who gave their all to maintain our freedom.

It is amazing how much of a challenge the writing of the President Message is since it must be made ahead of time. I should have mentioned in the September/October Magazine Edition something about the upcoming holidays and my wish that they be joyful for all. I know that you were able to give thanks for living in a free country and being able to celebrate with your family on Thanksgiving Day. Finally I hope you took the opportunity to worship God for the fulfillment of his great plans for you and that you took the opportunity to pray for a better New Year to come. Happy Holidays to all.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

The National Board of Directors, the Officers, and the Staff, wish for all members, and all Americans, the best of everything this Thanksgiving, 2008.

May all of you—and those dear to you—have a great and peaceful Thanksgiving; let's pray especially for our fighting men and women in harms way and for our veterans everywhere, remembering to be thankful that we live in the greatest nation in the world.

May God bless you, bless our troops engaging the enemy, and bless the United States of America.

Below you can read the annual Thanksgiving Day proclamation from President Bush.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

Your new administration, after 81 days in operation, can report that we have become a Foreign Corporation in Texas, Virginia and Illinois, and have updated our agents in each of these three states where we have operations. In addition, we have been cleared in Illinois to conduct our fund raiser. This fund raiser, which began on August 20th, will be used to help us fund our Charter and The Graybeards publication, and accumulate emergency repair funds for our National Korean War Monument in Washington, DC.

As President, I have met many dignitaries, both American and Korean. Since we received our Charter; we participated as a recognized Association in the Veterans Affairs Veterans Day Committee for this event in Washington, DC on November 11th. We will have completed our first Annual Membership Meeting in Norfolk, VA by the time you receive this report.

I have been notified that many members did not receive their magazine until the middle of September, even though this edition was placed in the mail on August 20, 2008. This means that it has taken some 25 days for it to reach some of our members. This is a problem which this administration will undertake to correct.

I receive many e-mails and letters asking me what the National Organization does for a Chapter/Department or member. I find that question to be easy to answer for a Chapter or Department.

A Chapter or Department would not exist had there not been a National Organization to bring Korean War veterans together to form Chapters and also later Departments. Those Chapters or Departments asking me that question should recognize that they would have a hard time finding Korean War veterans in their areas to form a group without the database of the National Organization.

It is now easy with the National Database to form a Chapter to meet together, to accomplish the great things they do together, such as building monuments and teaching about the Korean War in schools and at other community associations and clubs.

Chapters would not have been able to volunteer together at the VA as a group to help those veterans who need assistance. All of these things mentioned honor your buddies who did not return as you did. They also help you show your pride in what you accomplished in the name of freedom for a people who were in desperate need of a champion.

Those great monuments and highways named in honor of your service to your country would probably not exist without the Chapters and Departments which worked to have them named. Without Chapters, many Korean veterans would not receive information at meetings on what to do or who to contact when ill or in need of help.

For the At-Large Member, the answer is not quite as easy, except to say that there probably would not be a National Monument to the Korean War veterans if there had not been a National Organization formed to raise money and contact those with the power to make it so. There would be no inclusive magazine dedicated to the Korean War and Korean Service veteran.

Korean Americans and the Korean War Veterans of Korea would not be able to find you to show you their appreciation, or offer trips to return to Korea, if National did not exist to find and give them our members‘ names.

I do not like to use words of others, but in this case I must. “Ask not what National can do for you; ask what you can do to make the National Organization a more recognizable entity, to keep my place in history in front of the American people and as a contact point for South Koreans to show their appreciation.”

So, I believe that the National Organization is necessary and does a lot for Chapters, Departments and the At-Large Korean War veteran.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US

My first remarks are to those who voted in this last election. I appreciate those who voted for me and their confidence that I have the capability to continue the good policies that were set during the last four years of the previous administration. I also appreciate those of you who voted for others. That, of course, is the way democracy operates.

I hope to show you that even though the candidates who some of you supported were not elected, you might become convinced that those who were are dedicated to work for the betterment of the KWVA. I will work to improve upon the successes of the past administration and to revamp those policies that have not been accepted by the membership.

Transition from one administration to another may seem like an easy task, but without the cooperation of the past administration, often times it is a long and tedious job. In this case, Past President Dechert and his staff have been very helpful, including with the change in the Membership Office staff and relocation and the sudden passage of our request to be chartered by Congress.

The financial changeover was made during the first few days after June 25. Thus, we were able to maintain dues deposits and bill paying with no interruption. In fact, dues are now direct deposited after being received at the Membership Office in Charleston, IL. We no longer have to mail checks to be deposited by the Treasurer in another state.

I have requested that each Director, both newly elected and those carried over, inform me in what capacity they would like to be considered to serve the membership, either as a Committee Chairman or on a Committee.

As I prepare this message, I am still receiving requests for assignments. I do not want to fill the positions with individuals who are not interested in improving the operation, but with those who are dedicated to doing so. Therefore, I have decided not to rush the appointment process, because it is more important to obtain Chairmen who are qualified individuals and are ready to tackle any and all problems as they arise. I will keep those already filling the slots until the Board has approved new individuals.

All elected Officers and Directors have been sworn in by Business without a Meeting and took office on June 25, 2008 per the Bylaws.

Obtaining the Charter has now been accomplished. The process of fulfilling the requirements that come with the Charter must be obtained, and processes to accomplish these requirements placed into effect. This also will be a slow process. Other requirements have also come to light, and solutions need to be found for them.

I ran for this office knowing a few of the problems, and I will say that the major problem was unrest by some of the membership. The main problem has been either the misunderstanding of the processes the Board of Directors works with or of how to communicate between individuals. I will be working to solve this problem.

Let’s start with this: if you hear things that you believe might be true—or untrue—please check with a Board Member you trust and try to solve a possible misunderstanding before sending an email to other members, and especially outsiders. The possibility is that any problem can be solved once the facts are learned and explained.

A problem disseminated by e-mail does not solve the problem; it only causes the problem to become larger by added mistakes in answers or untrue statements. True statements are easy to make if the facts are obtained and the other person really listens.

If people refuse to listen, there is no use in arguing to try to convince them.

The Board of Directors will be voting on all of those Committee Chairmen who I, along with the 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents, request to be approved. I hope that each of our members will give the Board of Directors his or her support, and give us the time to become a team for you.

God bless the KWVA and its purpose for veterans of the Korean War era.

William F. Mac Swain
National President, KWVA/US