I am very sad today, for last night I found out that Art Cook, 36th Engineer passed away. An IMMENSE loss to me and to the world, for he was one hell of a man and a close, close personal friend. I shall share some comments I sent to Carl Furtado this morning, on Art's passing.
...Art's death gave me a real blow last night. I put off the tears until waking this morning. Art and I were very close and we emailed each other often, just like you and I. He was a real mentor and inspiration to me. We talked about all kinds of things including the war, and he also sent encouraging words to keep me going.
I have met many vets along the way, and some are mere acquaintances, some have become very good friends, and on a scale of 1-10, Art was a ten in my book, along with you, Stef, John and a few others. When a "ten" passes away, it is very hard to say goodbye. I shall miss his emails and calls. He always addressed each letter to me with, "Dear M...", and in turn I always signed my letters to him with, "Dear A..."
My condolences to his very dear wife, Dottie. I can't imagine how heavy her heart is.
More later, have to go grab a tissue and have some private time...
This is the time of year when we ask you and all our Charter Members to renew their annual support of The National World War II Museum.
Thanks to generous members like you, exciting things are happening. Construction is under way on the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion, and we recently began driving piles for the foundation of the United States Freedom Pavilion: Land, Sea & Air.
None of this would have been possible without your support!
But there is still much work to do, and we need your help now more than ever as we enter a critical phase in the Museum’s expansion.
We are deep into the design and planning of the next great building in our expansion: the Campaigns Pavilion. This pavilion will present all significant battles of World War II in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Pacific using interactive exhibits and new technologies that will tell the story of the war like never before.
I’m pleased to report we’ve raised about $20 million of our $42 million goal for the Campaigns Pavilion. But we must raise an additional $22 million before we can build this tribute to the heroes who saved the world from tyranny and oppression.
Your continued support is critical to our success.
That’s why I’m hoping you will take a moment today to renew your membership of The National World War II Museum for 2011.
With your support today, we will fulfill our promise to complete the finest World War II Museum anywhere in the world while we still have WWII veterans alive to see it.
I have been busy as all get out lately but it seems that every once in a while something reminds me to come here and spend a little time catching up. Our local newspaper runs a weekly profile on one of our local WW2 veterans and they are all very well done and moving. This one was especially moving since it was very much identical to my Fathers experience as related to me by Joe Medina.
