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Senator Tom Harkin DT Printing, Graphics, & Direct Mail Document Scanning Index Form High Speed Scanning Date of Request: 12/01/14 Box 27 of 64 Senator or Department: SENATOR HARKIN Instructions: Prepare one form for insertion at the beginning of each record series. Prepare and insert additional forms at points that you would like to index. For example: at the beginning of a new folder, briefing book, topic, project, or date sequence. Record Type*: Speeches Inclusive Month/Year of Records*: 1981-2014 (1) Subject*: Tribute/Memorial Speeches (2) Staffer*: Jim Whitmire rx Maintain (Return to Office) r Destroy (Shred) *REQUIRED INFORMATION 11111111111111111| II|II Senator Tom Harkin Ft. Des Moines Memorial Park and Education Center January 21, 2002 Thank you, Robert [Morris, Exec. Dir. of the Ft. DSM Memorial Park and Education Center] for that kind introduction. And thank you most of all for bringing the Fort Des Moines Memorial Park and Education Center to life. Robert, Steve Kirk, and the entire board have done yeoman's work in this effort and we owe them a great deal of thanks. I want to thank my colleague and friend Leonard Boswell for joining us. As veterans ourselves, we're here to say thank you for honoring the men and women who prepared for their military service at Fort Des Moines. My thanks as well to Mayor Preston Daniels for his support for this effort and for the vision and leadership he provides Des Moines. It's an honor as well to be here with Reverend Ratliff, President Maxwell of Drake and his wife, Madeline, and David Walker of Drake Law School. And let me also thank all of the supervisors, city council members, Ft. Des Moines board members, Chamber members and others who have lent their support to this project. I'm proud of the $8.5 million I've been able to secure over the past three years for the memorial. But we couldn't have come this far without a team effort. We brought together businesses, the federal, state, and local government to build a memorial equal to the African American officers and WACs who trained here at Fort Des Moines. And this memorial and educational center is also going to be an important part of Des Moines economic future. I know it will be an important tourist attraction, not only for the children and grandchildren of Fort Des Moines' veterans, but for all Americans as well. It is particularly fitting that we're here today on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Today, Iowans are coming together as a greater community to honor the memory of the greatest prophet of justice and equality in our national history, one of those rare leaders who lit the world with an example of idealism that will never die. But honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. cannot be just for one day. Honoring his life must be part of our daily lives. We are all commissioned by his memory to an ongoing mission to take down the barriers, to lift up those left out or left behind - in the words of Isaiah preached by Dr. King - "to undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free." The wheel of progress is not a perpetual motion machine. It doesn't turn unless we push it. To keep the dream alive, we must put our shoulder to the wheel, never tiring in the work of true liberty and opportunity for all. This memorial is not just a tribute to courageous military service, but to men and women who served their nation in the face the discrimination and bigotry that Dr. King struggled against. In 1917, 639 African American men became officers of the United States Army here at Fort Des Moines. They chose to serve. But they served a nation that denied them their full rights as citizens. During the Second World War, Fort Des Moines hosted the formation of the first Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, later renamed the Women's Army Corps (WAC). Yet the 72,000 WAC troops from Fort Des Moines who helped pave the way for victory were denied full participation in American life. These men and women made a promise of service to America, but for too long, they were denied the full promise of America. We should honor their service with this memorial, but we must also honor America's promise to their children and their children's children. That living memorial would be the greatest tribute to the service and sacrifice. Those of you here today have put your shoulder to the wheel of progress. Together, with our collective efforts, we will build a proper memorial to the men and women who became the defenders of democracy at Fort Des Moines. But today, and every day after, we must build that living memorial that matches their service and sacrifice to America. Thank you. BRIEFING TO: Tom FROM: Margaret Vernon RE: Fort Des Moines Memorial Park and Education Center (Black Officers and WAACS) DATE: MLK Birthday, Monday, January 21, 2002 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Clayton Hall, Ft. Des Moines, Des Moines Contact: Robert Morris, CEO of Fort Des Moines Memorial Park and Education Center Office, 515-282-8060; Cell, 975-5747 Directions: Corner of Army Post Road and Chaffee Road (which becomes South Union Street north of Army Post Road.) Take Chaffee Road one block south of Army Post Road and turn east into security checkpoint. Go to Clayton Hall. Staff: Margaret Vernon, cell phone, 975-4741 (Also Bill Burton, Chris Fitzgerald, Ellen Huntoon, Pam Ringleb and Dianne Liepa driving.) PURPOSE: 1. To honor Martin Luther King's birthday, as the premiere civil rights leader in our country, and to tie his leadership in the civil rights movement to the historical civil rights events at Ft. Des Moines. These events are the first black officers to be trained in the U.S. occurred during World War I at Ft. Des Moines, and the creation of the WAACS (Womens Army Auxiliary Corps) during World War II at Ft. Des Moines. 2. To mention your leadership in federal funding of $8.5 million from DOD over the last 3 years (FY00, FY01, and FY02.) This funding made it possible for the vision to grow from a statue at Ft. Des Moines to a museum/memorial park/ educational center in the making that will be an important center in the state for people to visit. 3. To recognize importance of this project as a growing public-private entity with the federal government taking leadership, but also help from the state, county, city funds. Private funds are now the target, with some generous donations already in. Warning: Robert Morris has asked for 5 minutes with you. Details about funding process you'll want to refer to Lowell. If Robert tries to get promises of more funding, you may want to repeat what Lowell has told him and that is you expect this to be the last of the federal funds for this particular project. Page 2 Briefing, Fort Des Moines PARTICIPANTS: Because of tight security at the Ft. Des Moines Army Reserve, this will be a fairly small group ofpossibly 30 people. We were asked not to make this a public event. Robert Morris, CEO and Steve Kirke, Chairman of the Board and other board members Speakers include: Robert Morris, m.c. Senator Tom Harkin Rev. Keith Ratliff, president of the Iowa NAACP and local pastor Mayor Preston Daniels Congressman Leonard Boswell Board Chairman Steve Kirke Other known participants: David Maxwell, president of Drake University, and his wife, Madeline; David Walker, head of Drake Law School; Jaquie Easley and husband, Odell McGhee, representatives of Des Moines Convention and Visitor Bureau, South Des Moines Chamber, Clarke Company Limited, Mercy Medical Center, Polk County Supervisors Angela Connolly and Gene Phillips, Norwalk Chamber. AGENDA: 1. Tour of Clayton Hall 2. Speakers (see above) 3. Tour of Chapel for those who have time HISTORY OF FORT DES MOINES AND THIS PROJECT: Fort Des Moines held the first officer candidate class (OCS) open to African-American men in 1917 during the First World War. The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was established in 1942 during World War II. Ft. Des Moines Memorial Park and Educational Center began in late 1997. The mission is to create and maintain a memorial park and international tourist attraction at Fort Des Moines honoring the first Black Officers, and the establishment of the WAACs and to celebrate how through these two historic events, our Armed Forces led greater American society toward racial and gender equality. Funding History (by Lowell Ungar): You have obtained a total of $8.5 million for the memorial in Defense Appropriations bills. You got $2 million in FY00 and an additional $2 million in FY01 for Army Corps of Engineers work to renovate the abandoned site, return it to its original design, bring it up to code, and make it usable in general. For FY02 you obtained a $4.5 million grant to the non-profit group to turn the facility into a museum. We do not expect to obtain any further federal funds. The non-profit group has also raised state and local funds and private donations, and has ambitious fund-raising plans. Page 3 Briefing, Fort Des Moines You also obtained a provision on the Defense Authorization bill this year to transfer the site from the Army to the non-profit group. This will be done after the Army Corps of Engineers finishes its work. Senator Inouye (who earlier served in the same Division in which the Black officers had served) and Senator Stevens (at the request of Colin Powell and of Senator Grassley) have been supportive in including these funds in the appropriations bills.
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