The Korean War Veterans Digital Memorial Foundation (“KWV DM”), in collaboration with El Pozo Productions (producers of the documentary film “The Borinqueneers”) and the American Legion of Puerto Rico, will be in Puerto Rico to conduct video interviews of Puerto Ricans veterans who served in the Korean War. The mission of KWV DM is to provide a website with interviews and artifacts collected from Korean War veterans to preserve for the use and education of future generations. Funded by the Republic of Korea, the KWV DM is interested in recording the memories and experiences of these veterans so that people learn about their sacrifices and to pass down the lessons learned from that war. They have already conducted more than 600 in-depth interviews from veterans in the U.S., including many veterans who served in the Colombia Battalion. And have copied more than 6,000 artifacts for the digital museum.
The interviews will take place in San Juan, Caguas, Ponce, Lajas, Aguadilla and Arecibo from February 10-17, 2016. We will also be copying photographs, documents, and memorabilia owned by the veterans to include in the digital museum.
The Korean War Veterans Digital Museum is also interested in expanding the history education of the Korean War in schools and is looking to form partnerships with K-12 public schools and higher education institutions in Puerto Rico. The KWVDM will provide:
Research grants and internship opportunities for students who initiate projects and ideas that utilize information from the KWVDM (visit here for more information: http://www.kwvdm.org/participate.php?p=program).
Grant opportunities for history and social studies teachers to attend their annual Teachers Convention (visit here for more information: http://www.kwvdm.org/youth.php?p=2015teachersconventioninfo).
Working on this project is Mr. Jongwoo Han, President of the KWV DM; Ms. Gisela Rodriguez, Esq., volunteer and daughter of 65th veteran Gilberto Rodríguez Orama, and Noemí Figueroa Soulet, Executive Producer of El Pozo Productions. The KWV DM website is www.kwvdm.org.