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Lawmaker puts his money where Korean War memorial will be

Posted November 07, 2007 10:00 pm

John Reynolds

State Rep. Mike Boland on Wednesday donated $1,000 of a recent pay raise to help build the Korean War National Museum in Springfield.

"Most of us go about our business, and we don't think about the sacrifices that have been made by the veterans throughout the ages," said Boland, D-East Moline. "From the Revolutionary War on up. These guys really preserved what we have today."

Wednesday's news conference was in a parking lot at Fifth and Madison streets, across from the parking garage for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. The lot has been chosen as the site of the Korean War National Museum, which is being designed to tell the story of the Korean War.

The project's first phase is estimated to cost between $4 million and $4.5 million, and the plan is to have it finished by the end of 2009. A nationwide fundraising campaign is being conducted.

Boland has pledged to donate his entire 2007 legislative pay raise to different charities.

"My brother, Thomas Boland, served in the Korean War, so it is more than a war I've studied," the lawmaker said. "It was a conflict that touched my immediate family. My contribution today is also a personal tribute to my brother and his service in this battle for freedom, as well as a tribute to the brave individuals he served with in Korea."

Also at Wednesday's press event was Robert Fitts, 77, a Rock Island resident and member of the board of directors of the Korean War National Museum. He was in the Illinois National Guard in the early 1950s and served in Korea in 1952-53.

Fitts' unit was near the 38th parallel, and he said he can still remember what it was like when the temperature plunged to 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

"You improvised as much as you could… When we were working in the motor pool or up on the line, sometimes we would set a 5-gallon can of gasoline on fire so we could warm our hands," Fitts said.

He lost several friends during the war, and he said he hopes the museum will help educate the public on their sacrifice.

"They were young guys, full of energy and life. … I don't want them to be forgotten," Fitts said.

Boland encouraged other people to donate to the Korean War National Museum.

"If people would donate whatever they can - $5, $10 or $50 - it would really help this get off the ground," he said.

Donations can be sent to: Korean War National Museum; P.O. Box 299; Springfield, IL, 62705-0299. Additional information is available at the museum's Web site, www.kwnm.org.

John Reynolds can be reached at (217) 788-1524 or john.reynolds@sj-r.com.

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