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