President and CEO Joe Daniels, Board Members Major General Patrick Brady and Lieutenant Colonel Will Swenson Testify before National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, Visit with U.S. Senators to Build Momentum for Creation of Medal of Honor Monument
WASHINGTON, DC — (February 13, 2020) — Representatives of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation (NMOHMF) spent the week with Washington, DC, officials and in the halls of Congress advocating for the creation of a monument in the nation’s capital honoring the service and sacrifice of Medal of Honor recipients.
On Tuesday, February 11th, National Medal of Honor Museum President and CEO Joe Daniels was joined by NMOHMF board members and Medal of Honor recipients Major General Patrick Brady and Lieutenant Colonel Will Swenson in providing testimony before the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, making the case for a monument for all Americans to visit and reflect on the values embodied by the individuals who received the nation’s highest military award.
“The Medal of Honor represents not only these individual acts of selfless valor, but also six core values which go directly to the heart of what it means to be an American and to put others above self,” said Daniels. “Courage, sacrifice, patriotism, citizenship, integrity and commitment are American ideals represented by the Medal of Honor and they are values that unify and inspire all of us.”
Rep. Marc Veasey – the Congressman representing Texas’s 33rd Congressional District, which includes Arlington, TX, where the National Medal of Honor Museum will be located – also offered testimony in support of a national monument during the hearing. Veasey, who introduced supporting legislation in the U.S. House, argued the country should recognize the bravery and selflessness of recipients in a national way because theirs is an “example we can all aspire to.”
Veasey said of Medal of Honor recipients: “It’s my hope that we can make this monument a reality so millions of Americans from across the country and people from around the world can see and honor your courage.”
Major General Brady, who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard Nixon in 1969, insisted before the commission that the monument will inspire Americans because “it’s about the values, not the valor.” Lieutenant Colonel Swenson, who received his award from President Barack Obama in 2013, offered that “we wear this [medal] on behalf of all those we fought with, all those who served.” It was made clear that the monument would be a tribute to all women and men who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, who bravely put country over self.
On Wednesday, February 12th, Daniels, Brady and Swenson met personally with Senator Lamar Alexander (TN), Senator Chuck Grassley (IA), Senator John Barrasso (WY) and Senator John Cornyn (TX) on Capitol Hill to generate support for their mission of building a monument.
To close out a big week in Washington, DC, the NMOHMF delegation were joined by Members of Congress, important stakeholders, Congressional staffers and members of the press for a reception in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Wednesday evening.
