The National Veterans Freedom Park
Education

Why we built an Education Program about Veterans and Freedom

• Our World War II Veterans are dying at a rate of 1,600 per day
• Our Korean War Veterans will join those statistics within 5 years
• Millions of military service records were destroyed in a 1973 fire and remain unrestored
• Our Vietnam War Veterans' stories remain untold after more than 40 years
• Most school children do not know the veteran's stories of their critical involvement in the nation's wars and conflicts
• A recent poll discovered that over 40% of today's graduating high school seniors believe that World War II was a war fought by the Russians against the allied powers of Germany and the United States!
• A majority of high school U.S. History students do not know that both the U.S. Coast Guard and the Merchant Marines fought and died in our wars
• A majority of adults and school children do not know that the Merchant Marine service has a higher per capita casualty rate than any of the U.S. military branches for our country's entire history
• Most U.S. History college professors and High School teachers are "not comfortable" talking about the veteran's selfless sacrifice for our nation

If these statistics do not bother you, then here is one more. When the topic of Freedom is discussed, most adults and school children, to include college professors and graduate students in U.S. History, cannot explain why veterans have a special definition of freedom.