Famous connections and military supporters have helped the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation reach an important fundraising goal needed to break ground on a memorial next year.
Ross Perot, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Gary Sinise and numerous other donors have helped propel the nonprofit past its goal to raise $5 million within the year. The organization ultimately expects to raise $98 million.
Board member Rudi Gresham, a former adviser to the department of Veterans Affairs during the Bush administration, said the organization has already selected two firms to design the South Carolina museum, Stars and Stripes reported Tuesday.
“Getting to the point where you’re in a conceptual design phase is a very important milestone, and starting today the architectural design firms will be actually getting to work on what this museum will look like,” Robert Wilburn, the foundation’s founding president and CEO, told Stars and Stripes.
Although 3,487 men and one woman have received the nation’s highest military honor since its inception during the Civil War, there is not currently one place where all their war stories are consolidated.
“The National Medal of Honor Museum will be that Home of America’s Heroes, ensuring that the courage, integrity, patriotism, leadership and sacrifice they displayed in battle continue to inspire new generations of Americans,” the organization says on its website.
Mr. Wilburn said the foundation would like to build the memorial as soon as possible, so that World War II and the Korean War veterans might get a chance to visit.
“Most of these guys never get the chance to tell their stories. And that’s what needs to be done,” he added, Stars and Stripes reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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