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