Korean War Veterans Memorial. Photo by Hal Barker
August 17 2023
Status Update
This is our first mass email to all of our mailing list since July 2022.
Update: Where have we been?
Several issues kept popping up last year, all technical stuff with our personal computers and our service provider. This has been resolved.
Vast amounts of our personal time have been consumed with dealing with botched names on the new Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance in DC. That has meant many media interviews and multiple contacts with Congress and the Department of Defense.
There are thousands of errors and omissions in the new Wall, and we’ve been in the national news in major newspapers and on TV. We told DoD about the problems starting in 1996, but we were ignored. We reported the problems again at a National Capital Planning Commission Hearing in 2019 but our plea was rejected at the highest levels, including the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Interior, and White House. Nobody cared.
Congress granted the right to build the Wall to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation in 2016. The Foundation contacted us in 2014 and 2015 and promised in writing to donate to the Korean War Project if we would agree to give them all our Remembrance data. We told them we had years of work to complete the data. No deal. We were not finished and we are not finished yet almost a decade later.
When the Republic of Korea donated the millions for the Wall in about 2018-2019, It was mandated that DoD and the Foundation would officially bypass the Korean War Project and use their old DoD database full or errors and omissions. However, DoD and the Foundation would pull our website data down to identify the errors without our knowledge and dispense with any donation to the Project. They did not have anyone to interpret our data so they failed to fix thousands of errors and omissions in the official records. It appears nobody told the ROK government donors about the obvious problems but they took the money.
After the story made national news, DoD called us in October 2022 and pleaded for help. But it was too late and they wanted us to give them our database. No donation, no funds, no credit.
On March 2, 2023, the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as well as House Committees demanded that DoD explain why this happened and gave them a deadline of March 23, 2023. DoD has not responded and Hearings will be set in about two months. All of this is bi-partisan with no politics involved. Hal will have to go to DC to testify.
Yesterday, a meeting in Washington with Senate staff at Senator Marsha Blackburn’s office outlined the plans for new Congressional legislation that may directly involve Ted and I and the Project. But it doesn’t involve funding. We do not take federal money.
We have to come up with the funding for more years of work and we are now officially broke. The Foundation, using our data they botched, is now a multi-million dollar nonprofit primarily funded by the ROK and led by two retired U.S. Army Generals. No help will come from the Foundation to fix anything.
We now have a Change.org petition online with the story. See link here: Fix The Name Errors and Omissions on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance
Consider signing the petition and sharing with your networks. Ted has been posting on Facebook and Twitter (X). If you use these mediums it is easy to comment and to retweet to expand the coverage.
Twitter: @KoreanWarVets | Facebook: KoreanWarProject
Situation report on viability of our online lifespan:
It is hard to report that our donor base has seriously eroded due to the core donors, our KVETS, having passed on or age and finances prevent further participation.
Another facet has been the above mentioned technical issues that prevented Ted Barker from being able to do proper individual emails or letters. That issue is now fixed. This email will be accompanied by a Pledge Drive USPS mailing to current and lapsed donor/members/sponsors.
Donor/Membership Update: Contributions to maintain our online capability:
We need help immediately. If you are able to donate do let Ted Barker know so that we may plan our next steps. See information below.
Donations are always voluntary but every donation helps to keep this project online. We have lost most of our long-term donors from health, financial situations or death. The project is at a critical juncture once again. If you like our work, please consider helping. Donations are tax deductible to the extent that the IRS allows. We are a nonprofit, 501c3.
You may use our online form or send by Postal Service at the address listed at the bottom of this email. Ted will also accept phone calls for anyone interested in helping to keep us our systems online: (214) 320-0342 after 8am CST through 9:30pm CST.
Thanks for your consideration.
Online donation here (choose yellow Donate button, top left) Donate to the Korean War Project - Here
New fundraising initiative planned:
Advisors have suggested going outside normal channels, our normal mailing lists. So, Hal has been working on a social media program called GoFundMe.
Many of you have seen such campaigns featured on your TV and print media. This will be our first attempt to reach far beyond the Korean War Project audience.
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Ted will be sending an email to everyone when the program is launched. You may share it to your network of friends and family by direct email, posting on social media like Facebook, Next Door, and Twitter(X).
Our USPS address is still the same.
Korean War Project
PO Box 180190
Dallas, TX 75218
Update: "Korean War Project Remembrance 1950 - 1953" a hardback, library quality book of the United States casualties who perished during the Korean War.
Over 480 books have been delivered. We have 80 copies left to sell. Selling these books has been a key element of ensuring that we are able to continue our work. If we can sell these remaining books the income generated will really assist our financial condition. Some people have gifted copies to libraries and/or local military museums.
Link to Announcement: Book Announcement
The book is the culmination of over 30 plus years of intensive work to honor those who perished in the Korean War.
Order your own copy of the book today. One copy is 58.00 US. You can send email or call for information: Email > tbarker@kwp.org or call: (214) 320-0342. The link to the book page information is listed above (blue text).
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If we have missed any message from you to leave our list or pause delivery, this new delivery system will make sure there is no further contact for group email. Regular email, phone, or letters will always be available.
As always, We Remember
Best regards,
Hal Barker, Director
hbarker@kwp.org
(214) 320-0342 | main
Ted Barker, Admin
tbarker@kwp.org
(214) 320-0342
What happens now is best for all of us.
