Adding to Legion memorial database becomes group Scout project.
The number of listings on The American Legion’s online memorial database currently stands at 3,853. It debuted in late 2016 as a way to document and photograph for posterity local military and veteran memorials and monuments in the Legion Family’s communities – and a Legion Family community can be anywhere in the world.
That was proven once again in late February, when the Marshall Islands were added to the list of “countries” represented besides the United States. And not just one memorial, but 15, at the same time. The Kwajalein War Memorial Project was the brainchild of Shannon Paulsen, an Army veteran and member of Richard B. Anderson Memorial Post 44 on Kwajalein Atoll, also home to an Army garrison. The post is part of the Department of Hawaii, but around 2,400 miles from Honolulu. The garrison is home to military and civilians alike, and their families.
Last summer, Paulsen says, she was approached by parents looking for Scout projects for their children to take on: “I was hunting for ideas and ended up on the American Legion website and saw the war memorial page. I thought it was such a great idea for the Legion to provide such a resource to veterans and their families, and the project was a perfect fit for the Scouts and the Legion, especially since we live on a national battlefield.”
Kwajalein Atoll was a strategic center and site of a major conflict during World War II, and the Army has maintained a presence there ever since, including the Kwajalein Archaeology Department; the local archaeologist provided their record via Excel file. Between meetings in December and February, Girl Scout Troop 158 and Scouting America Troop 314 members fanned out in teams to catalog and photograph the memorials around them. These range from the WWII Operation Flintlock Memorial, to the Navy Nurses Memorial commemorating those killed in an airplane crash in 1950, to Tinker's Grave for “a Japanese canine survivor befriended by U.S. troops” who lived until 1962. Two volunteers from the fire department, Lee Pennington (Army veteran) and Chris Robinson, took the opportunity to refurbish plaques around the island for before-and-after photos.
When all the information had been gathered, Paulsen cleared it with the garrison public affairs officer and security specialist; “the project also taught the Scouts that since we are on a military base, they must receive approval … prior to posting photos and information,” she says. Then they all uploaded it to the Legion site during the final meeting. Participation helped the Scouts toward two merit badges, Citizenship in the Community and Digital Technology.
In all, Paulsen calls the project – and the database – “a great teaching skill to show how it ties into good citizenship, patriotism and honoring those who served.”
- FODPAL