By Presidential Proclamation today has been designated Vietnam Veterans Day. After serving their country most Vietnam Veterans returned home to receptions that were less than they deserved. On behalf of the KEZW and te Breakfast Club...Welcome Home. You can see the proclamation at HERE.
Thank you for your support of Valentines for Veterans
Thank you again for being the world's best listeners and your continued support of Valentines for Veterans. It makes a huge difference in the lives of our Veterans. We wanted to share the thanks we received from the Department of Veterans Affairs with you. Click here to view.
Armed Forces Day Concert
Sunday, May 20 at 2pm
Aurora Central High School Auditorium
Preshow lecture will begin at 1:15pm
Free to the pulic - ticket required
Join the 101st Army Band of the Colorado Army National Guard for a special tribute concert to our nation’s finest: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. The entire family will enjoy this concert of popular and patriotic music. Veterans encouraged!
Co-sponsored by the 101st Army Band of the Colorado Army National Guard, the Aurora History Museum, and the Aurora Public Library. Free tickets are available on a first come basis. Please pick up your free ticket at one of these locations starting on May 1st 2012:
Sunday, June 24 at 1:00pm
Aurora History Museum
Film: Homefront 1967
This black and white one-hour documentary film produced by the National Educational Elevision Network in 1967 tells the story of a representative American community (Charlottesville, VA) during the Vietnam War. The film includes interviews with high school and college students and teachers; local citizens; business, community, and church leaders; and members of the National Guard and Army Reserve.
Film Series
Sunday, July 29 at 1:00pm
Aurora History Museum
Film: Regret to Inform (still very tentative – still need permission from the production company)
In 1968, on her 24th birthday, Barbara Sonneborn received word that her husband, Jeff, had been killed in Vietnam while trying to rescue his wounded radio operator during a mortar attack. "We regret to inform you..." began the telegram that arrived. Twenty years later, Sonneborn, a photographer and visual artist, set out on a search for the truth about war and its legacy. The result is a moving examination of the impact of war over time, eloquently chronicled in her debut documentary Regret to Inform. The film follows Sonneborn's journey to Khe Sahn, where Jeff was killed, and weaves together the stories of widows from both sides of the American-Vietnam war. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
April 3 - July 29
Aurora History Museum, 15051 E. Alameda Pkwy.
This national traveling exhibit discusses the soldier’s experience during the Vietnam War. It is called Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam and presents the stories, through graffiti left on a troopship’s bunk canvases, of young American soldiers and Marines going to Vietnam during the 1960s. Their stories reflect the attitudes and events during a turbulent decade of our nation’s history—the 1960’s.
The exhibit was developed by the Vietnam Graffiti Project (VGP), a non-profit organization formed in 1997 to help preserve artifacts of military significance, in particular historic canvas bunks on troop ships, by removing them from the ships and placing them in museums throughout the country. A large number of canvases and other historic artifacts were salvaged by volunteers from the General Nelson M. Walker when it was destined to be scrapped in 2005. Those artifacts are now part of a traveling exhibit, which presents the stories of the soldiers and Marines who went to Southeast Asia by troopship. The exhibit is a way to honor their military service.
The exhibit features an eight-person berthing unit removed from the Walker, as well as approximately 15 graffiti-inscribed canvases as wall hangings, and personal items left behind by the troops, such as candy bar wrappers, empty cigarette packages, magazines, books from the ship’s library, personal photos, and liquor bottles. Every bunk canvas has at least one story to tell, especially since some of the artwork and slogans capture the era’s politics, military pride, humor and anti-war sentiments. The exhibit also includes an introductory video, podcast, and additional personal stories of some of the soldiers featured in the exhibit.
May 22 - August 19
Aurora History Museum, 15051 E. Alameda Pkwy.
Discover the ins and outs of Lowry and Buckley Air Force Base: the history, the people and their impact on the Aurora community in this illustrated exhibition.
Sunday, August 26 at 1:00pm
Aurora History Museum
Film: The Way We Get By (PBS – Point of View Series)
On call 24 hours a day for the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting over 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. The opening scenes of The Way We Get By make clear why the troop greeters are surefire morale boosters for a war-burdened nation. Regardless of their personal views about the wars' politics, the greeters, some of them veterans, turn out at all hours of the day and night to show their respect for the soldiers' willingness to make sacrifices for the nation. The Emmy-nominated film, The Way We Get By, is an intimate look at three of these greeters as they confront.
The people of the state of Colorado suffered among the greatest number of losses in the Vietnam War, sacrificing 623 service-men and women in combat. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's (VVMF) mission to honor these heroes continues with the National Call for Photos, a movement to collect photos of the more than 58,000 service-members inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) in Washington, D.C. When collected, all photos will be displayed for generations to come at The Education Center at The Wall, a place on our National Mall where our military heroes' stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
With the groundbreaking planned for November 2012, The Education Center at The Wall is a mult-million doallar, state-of-the-art visitor's center and learning facility to be built on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans and the Lincoln Memorials. Visitors will better understand the profound impact the Vietnam War had on their friends and family members, their home towns, and the Nation.
VVMF urges the citizens of Colorado to assist the National Call for Photos by submitting photographs of fall service-members and generously supporting the Education Center, ensuring that the sacrifices of our military heroes are never forgotten. For more information, visit www.buildthecenter.org.
August 21 - November 10
Aurora History Museum, 15051 E. Alameda Pkwy.
During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps trained young African-American men as pilots in Tuskegee, Alabama. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Approximately 450 men were sent to Europe for combat where they earned over 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Learn about the history of this important group of men in this short-term panel exhibition.
Folds of Honor is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a mission to empower deserving military families with educational support and opportunities. FHF provides post-secondary educational scholarships to the spouses and children of service members disabled or killed as a result of their military service to our great nation. Our unique scholarships can be applied to schooling now or held by Folds of Honor on behalf of young children until needed at the time of enrollment.
The Folds of Honor Foundation was founded in 2007 by Major Dan Rooney, an F-16 pilot, golf course owner, PGA Professional and USGA member. A Major in the Air National Guard and a decorated military aviator, Rooney has served three combat tours in Iraq. After returning from his second tour, Major Rooney witnessed a profound situation that drove him to create the Folds of Honor Foundation.
Click here for more information about Folds of Honor.
Studio 1430 Pearl Harbor Special
KEZW is proud to present "Remembering Pearl Harbor" on the 70th anniversary of the December 7th, 1941 attack. This two-hour exclusive produced jointly by KEZW-AM 1430 and Dennis Spragg of the Glenn Miller Archives at the University of Colorado features a timeline of events beginning with a peaceful evening of December 6th, the eve of the attack, the chaos and sacrifice of December 7th and the call to war on December 8th. All of this plays out with the use of actual broadcast bulletins, news announcements, and other audio clips that take you there as it happened. This is our way of honoring the men and women whose lives would be changed forever on December 7th.
Folds of Honor is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a mission to empower deserving military families with educational support and opportunities. FHF provides post-secondary educational scholarships to the spouses and children of service members disabled or killed as a result of their military service to our great nation. Our unique scholarships can be applied to schooling now or held by Folds of Honor on behalf of young children until needed at the time of enrollment.