Our nation's Veterans have given so much for our freedom and ask for basically nothing in return.  Honoring their service and sacrifice is the duty of all and learning from their experiences is a prime way to better understand and honor all that they have done for our nation.

Daily we lose more and more of our nation's veterans, and those stories and histories are not gathered and learned.  Through the USMHC (United States Military Historical Collection), those stories are gathered and preserved and shared with the community through displays of original military items and through written forms published via web based platforms.  The gathering of these stories and the care and preservation of those unique items from our military history has become a more daunting task as the collection and reach has grown.  If a planned effort is not undertaken to create a formal home for this collection and these important stories, many of these items will continue to deteriorate and the mission of USMHC will have to scale back, or discontinue due to the needs required to preserve and care for these important historical items. 

With the Willmar War Memorial Auditorium having an uncertain future, now is the time to work together to create a formal plan to preserve a building built as a tribute for our Nation's Heroes during the Great Depression, by many of those same future Heroes who went on to serve our nation in World War II.  By utilizing this underused building in the City, together we can create a lasting home for the USMHC, a gathering point for the stories, and the preservation of a great asset to the City of Willmar and the Central MN region.