Background Information
Respect is an Earned Thing
Lynnita's study of Korean War veterans and the Korean War began in 1996. That year, as museum director and
exhibit coordinator, she designed a four-month exhibit in the Douglas County Museum (700 S. Main St., Tuscola,
Illinois) about the Korean War. The exhibit was titled, "The Korean War: Cold, Bloody, and Forgotten." In order
to understand the war that had happened in her lifetime, but that Lynnita knew nothing about at the time, she
began to interview Korean War veterans and Gold Star family members. During the exhibit months, she interviewed
more than 100 Korean War veterans and Gold Star family members in full-length taped interviews. Even though the
exhibit ended in December of 1996, Lynnita continued the interview process with veterans. Her interest in the
Korean War continued to grow with each interview.
In 1997, Lynnita created the concept of a national museum about the Korean War. She wrote the original
proposal for the "Korean War Veterans National Museum and Library," an Illinois-based organization which formed
in late 1997. Over the next three years, she devoted thousands of hours and hundreds of dollars of her own
personal funds to that organization's founding efforts. She was the author, compiler, and typist of the majority
of the text on that organization's website, providing material to Kevin Zimmerman, the website's then webmaster.
Lynnita authored the organization's newsletters for two years. She was a delegate to Korea for the museum group
in 1998. In Korea, she and other museum representatives met with Korean Marines, ROK Veterans Association
officials, and other dignitaries to discuss the museum project, and to seek funding for it Lynnita served
on that organization's site selection committee, wrote its formal case for support, was its registered agent,
served as its principal public speaker, and supervised publicity, mass mailings, and fund-raising efforts. She
was elected as the organization's first National Secretary, serving from fall of 1997 through July of 1999. In
that capacity, she kept meeting minutes, handled all correspondence, continued to add information to the
website, responded to written and telephone queries, wrote grant proposals, coordinated preparations for board
meetings, provided refreshments and food for meetings and luncheons, and much, much more. At no time did Lynnita
ever receive a salary, or request or receive money for working on behalf of the Korean War Museum or Korean War
veterans.
In the summer of 1999, Lynnita had a major disagreement with the board president and trustees of the Korean
War Veterans National Museum and Library. The disagreement was over what Lynnita perceived to be general board
mismanagement. Lynnita was also upset over unprofessional comments that the board president had made about
the organization that found their way to a front page story in the Chicago Tribune newspaper. The
disagreement was also over the unethical erasure of tape-recorded, unapproved board minutes, and the arbitrary
withholding of board minutes from selected trustees. A museum administrator with over ten years experience in
that capacity, Lynnita's opinion of what was (and particularly what was not) ethical conduct on the part of
officers and board members of a public trust greatly differed from that of the board president and certain
trustees who condoned his behavior. This disagreement culminated in a non-advertised meeting held in July of
1999, during which the board of trustees, under the encouragement of Board President Robert Kenney of Decatur,
Illinois, removed Lynnita as the elected national secretary. Assisting Kenney in this action was an attorney
from Champaign County, Illinois. Coincidentally, the attorney was the sister of a part-time Korean War Museum
paid employee. That part-time employee then immediately took over as appointed national secretary of the
Korean War Museum, and began to receive thousands of dollars in salary money once Lynnita's removal had been
orchestrated. Her last known annual salary (2005) for doing the work that Lynnita did for free for
veterans was $29,187.
No oral or written advance notice stating the purpose or the location of the kangaroo court-style removal
meeting was given either to Lynnita or to the membership at large that had elected her to office. Neither did
she receive documents that gave any post-meeting explanation for her removal. The board president subsequently
placed a false advertisement in Graybeards, the national magazine of the Korean War Veterans Association
(KWVA), in which he stated that Lynnita had resigned from the board to "write a book". Vincent Krepps,
magazine editor, knew that Kenney's statement was false, but he published it anyway. Krepps then wrote a
letter to Lynnita dated November 29, 1999. In it, he stated his reasons for allowing Kenney's false
statement to be published. "My own opinion on this is that the less said the better," he said.
"Writing a book is a super goal also." Writing a book might be a "super goal" in Krepps' opinion, but it
was definitely not the reason Lynnita resigned from the KW Museum board. Lynnita resigned because she
perceived the conduct of the board president to be unethical, and she felt that the conduct of his minions on
the board was unethical as well. She also disapproved of the group's management practices. One board
member complained that Lynnita "did not have enough respect for the man wearing the stripes." However,
Lynnita is a person who firmly believes that receiving respect is not someone's "due" merely because he or she
happens to hold a title. Rather, she believes that respect is something that must be earned.
Although Lynnita was removed in true kangaroo court fashion as the elected national secretary of the Korean
War Veterans National Museum and Library (without the knowledge of those who had elected her), Kenney told her
that she could remain on the board of trustees, but just not as an elected official. Lynnita, who had been on
the committee to write the organization's constitution, knew that there was no provision in it to accommodate
such an illegal ex-officio board position. In keeping with the public trust that was placed in her when Korean
War veterans elected her to office, Lynnita resigned as a museum trustee in August of 1999. Her resignation
letter protested the general mismanagement of the Korean War Veterans National Museum and Library and the lack
of proper ethical standards, among other things.
Lynnita remains non-supportive of the Korean War Veterans National Museum and Library for all of the above
reasons and many more. The organization has hopped from one temporary location to another since the 1999
kangaroo court. It has expended thousands upon thousands of veteran-donated dollars on staff salaries
rather than on an actual museum for Korean War veterans. For years its website claimed that
"groundbreaking" on a multi-million dollar facility in Tuscola had taken place, yet no museum facility was ever
constructed there. The organization moved out of Tuscola to another location in another town, now plans to
move yet again, and continues to seek irreversible gifts of money and artifacts from Korean War veterans,
promising them a "national museum". Although the better part of a decade has passed since the kangaroo
court, most of the same people who railroaded Lynnita out are still in control of that organization.
Unsuspecting veterans continue to send the group hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet there is still no museum
for Korean War veterans.
Lynnita holds the group's leaders in the very highest contempt, and personally believes that should they ever
actually succeed in opening the doors of a museum, those doors will soon close again from mismanagement.
The group's track record as a charitable organization is extremely poor, and Lynnita continues to be very
concerned about Korean War veterans who receive solicitation letters from them, particularly if those veterans
are not fully aware of the organization's past and present history. (In 2008, a lawsuit was filed in federal
court against the Korean War Museum by a professional fund-raising company, alleging non-payment of a bill in
excess of $280,000.00.)
In 2007, Lynnita was approached by a representative of the so-called Korean War Museum. He asked her to
participate in some of their activities in an advisory capacity. It shouldn't be too hard for KWE readers
to figure out what Lynnita's swift response to that request was.
KWE is Established
Firmly believing in the preservation of Korean War veterans' memoirs, Lynnita then became an independent
interviewer, traveling throughout the United States at her own expense to document Korean War memoirs of
veterans, their wives, and Gold Star family members. In addition to conducting the interviews, Lynnita was (and
is) a frequent guest speaker on the subject of Korean War veterans. Her presentations are based on the memoirs
of the Korean War veterans and Gold Star family members she has interviewed.
In October of 2000, Lynnita established the Korean War Educator Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation in
the State of Illinois. When she became the CEO of the new foundation/public trust, her independent work ceased.
All of her Korean War work is now conducted under the auspices of the Korean War Educator Foundation, a
federally-tax exempt non-profit. She continues to receive no salary for her work on behalf of Korean War
veterans. Further information about the Foundation can be found elsewhere on this website.
In Hot Water Again
Lynnita is opinionated about the Korean War, and is an advocate for the rights of Korean War veterans and
veterans in general. Her outspoken opinions not only obviously caused her to be removed as the elected
national secretary of the so-called Korean War Museum, but also caused her to fall out of the graces of the
Harley Coon Administration of the Korean War Veterans Association (KWVA) in 2003 and 2004. The KWVA is the
largest Korean War-related veterans organization in the United States. When Lynnita conducted a public
investigation of the corruption rampant in the Coon Administration, Coon sought revenge. (Coon was the
illegal president of the KWVA after he orchestrated an illegal change of the organization's bylaws to allow for
a third term presidency.) Harley Coon and members of the Executive Council of the KWVA, who were Harley Coon's
friends and appointees, began a campaign to block financial support of the Korean War Educator, while
simultaneously using the mail list of the KWVA for a personal smear campaign against Lynnita and the Korean War
Educator.
When Lynnita published documented facts about the corruption of the Coon administration (see
Harley Coon Administration), she was immediately removed from the
membership roster in 2003 by a first-time-used "emergency executive order" issued by Coon and sanctioned
by the Coon-appointed Judge Advocate of the KWVA, Sherman Pratt. (Pratt likened Coon's authority to use an
emergency executive order against Lynnita to that of Abraham Lincoln's right to make executive decisions in
times of war.) For good measure, Lynnita was then removed illegally a second time from the membership
roster in early 2004 by an official vote of the Executive Council of the KWVA at Harley Coon's personal
encouragement. As a result, Lynnita now has the distinction of being the only Associate Member of the
Korean War Veterans Association, Inc., to have been twice kicked out of that organization. No specific
reason for Lynnita's removal was ever given. Her only membership benefit (receipt of the official
newsletter) was discontinued by Coon, but it was reinstated through Year 2007 when the new KWVA president, Lou
Dechert, took office in 2004. A 17-point formal complaint filed by Lynnita Brown against Harley J. Coon
was reviewed by the new administration's Ethics Committee. The complaint was arbitrarily and personally
dismissed by Dechert in 2005 "for the good of the order", even though E&G Committee members and KWVA legal
advisors determined that points Lynnita made in her complaint were valid.
Other than reinstating a membership that should never have been terminated in the first place, no action has
ever been taken to rectify Coon's abuse of power with regards to Lynnita or the Korean War Educator. As
such, Lynnita lost all faith in the Korean War Veterans Association at the national level, particularly in Louis
Dechert, whom she had originally championed and helped get elected as KWVA president. She feels that the
KWVA at the national level is a public trust that cannot be trusted due to its national leaders, and she thinks
that a lot of "dirty pool" is going on at the highest level. Lynnita's disgust with the KWVA leadership
goes back to her unwavering belief that "respect is an earned thing." With the exception of one or two
directors, the national leaders of the KWVA definitely haven't earned her respect.
In September of 2007, Lynnita received notice from the Dechert-appointed Judge Advocate of the Korean War
Veterans Association (appointed to office by Louis Dechert) that she was up for expulsion from the KWVA for the
third time--this time because she posted anti-Dechert Administration comments on a members-only KWVA Ad Hoc
message board on the internet. (A copy of the message Lynnita posted is available upon request.)
According to the Dechert Administration, the charge was that Lynnita purportedly made "defaming, slanderous
accusations and innuendoes against the Korean War Veterans Association, Inc."
The powers that be in the Louis Dechert Administration then designated Lynnita as a "MEMBER NOT IN GOOD
STANDING" of the Korean War Veterans Association, Inc. because of her anti-Dechert stance. This
designation temporarily appeared on the KWVA website in late 2007, but was removed sometime in December 2007.
By posting the "Member Not in Good Standing" designation after Lynnita's name, the Dechert Administration, in
effect, found Lynnita 'guilty as charged' months before a "fair hearing" that was scheduled for January of 2008.
Then, at a specially-called disciplinary meeting conducted by Louis Dechert, his administration officially found
Lynnita guilty of the charges and she was placed on "probation" for one year. No words can adequately
express Lynnita's contempt for Louis Dechert and his cohorts on the Executive Council of the KWVA as a result of
this action.
Personal Information
The daughter of Florin (Buck) and Norma Jean Geery Aldridge, Lynnita Jean Aldridge was born November 1, 1950,
in a house in Schuyler County, Downing, Missouri. She moved with her parents to Tuscola, Illinois, in
1954. From 1967 to 1996, her parents owned and operated Aldridge Jewelry Store in Tuscola. Her father, who was
an antique clock collector, jeweler, and self-taught watch repairman, died in the store of a heart attack in
1988. He was a peacetime veteran, serving 1½ stints in the U.S. Army after World War II and before the Korean
War broke out. Lynnita has three sisters Florenna Sue, Dennarda Kay, and Alonna Gail, all of whom live in East
Central Illinois. Dennarda is one of the directors of the Korean War Educator Foundation, as is Lynnita's
mother, Norma Jean Aldridge Copas. Like Lynnita, neither of them receives money of any kind from the
Korean War Educator.
Lynnita graduated from Tuscola High School in 1968. She received an Associate of Arts degree from Parkland
Community College in Champaign. She then received a bachelor's degree (cum laude) and master's degree in
modern American history from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois in 1986 and 1988, respectively.
She paid her own way through junior college and undergraduate school by working as a waitress and by working as
a detasseling/roguing crew boss for Dekalb Seed Company during the summer. She also mowed lawns, raked leaves,
walked beans, wrote free lance feature stories for area newspapers, was a waitress, did housecleaning jobs,
painted houses, and did other odd jobs to earn her college money and help pay the household bills. At the
same time, she was the foster parent to over three dozen foster children, particularly specializing in the more
troubled children.
Her graduate work at Eastern Illinois University was paid when she was awarded the history department's
highest honor, the EIU Coleman Scholarship. She then transferred to the University of Illinois PHD program
in history, and worked in the university's World Heritage Museum in the college work study program while
attending classes. She was the personal assistant to the museum director, Barbara Bohen. She had
completed all but one course in the PhD program at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois, by March of
1991. At that time, and at the age of 40, she found out that she was four months pregnant with her first and
only child. Due to extended ill health and the birth of her daughter, Lynnita did not complete her PhD.
When she began her work with Korean War veterans, Lynnita was then known as Lynnita Jean Sommer. On Labor
Day, September 3, 2001, Lynnita married Dale Holmes Brown of Waterville, Maine, in Urbana, Illinois. Dale was a
master electrician in Maine and New Hampshire, and a licensed journeyman electrician in the rest of the New
England states until he retired in 1998. He was a C-1-7 combat Marine in Korea in 1951-52. Dale, Lynnita Jean,
and Lynnita's daughter, live in Tuscola, Illinois.
Lynnita is the part-time director of the Douglas County Museum, 700 S. Main Street, Tuscola, IL, having held
that position since 1987. Open three days a week (Mon-Wed), the Douglas County Museum is a small local history
museum that is also a national award-winning facility. Lynnita is one of the three original founders of the
Museum Association of Douglas County, the parent organization that owns the Douglas County Museum. As director,
Lynnita coordinates the daily operation of the museum, including exhibit planning and implementation, public
outreach, financial transactions, and more. The museum's phone number is 217-253-2535. Lynnita's
hours at the museum are Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and she is often there on Wednesday.
In addition to her work at the Douglas County Museum, Lynnita owns and operates "Aldridge's," a collectibles
shop at 131 W. Sale Street in Tuscola. Aldridge's is a retail business (regular hours 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) that sells new and used children's toys, collectibles, and gifts. Lynnita
does some of her Korean War Educator work on the store computer. The store telephone number is 217-253-5171, and
you are always welcome to call her there. Lynnita is also a waitress from time to time. She has done
waitress work on and off since she was 17 years old.
More about Lynnita
Activities and Honors (college/university)
Eastern Illinois University: Phi Alpha Theta, national history honor society; Tassels (Mortarboard) honor
society; Kappa Delta Pi national educational honor society; Livingston C. Lord nominee (highest university
honor); Ardath Louise Fogelsanger history scholarship recipient; Coleman Scholarship recipient (highest
history department honor - paid Master's Degree full tuition and stipend); Social Science Writing Award -
first place, 1985 (Anti-Semitism Under Hitler 1933-1939) and second place 1986 (Minorities in Inter-war
Poland). Parkland Community College: Alpha Omega scholastic honor society; contributor (peer-chosen) to Images
'82, a publication of student writing, art and photography. University of Illinois: College Work Study
Program, World Heritage Museum.
Activities and Honors (non-collegiate) (non-Korean War)
Co-founder, past president, member, and current museum director for the Museum Association of Douglas
County; charter member and past president, Douglas County Genealogical Society; past member, Board of
Directors, Illinois State Genealogical Society.
Collector of Douglas County, Illinois history and memorabilia. Collection includes over 6,000 photographs
of scenes and people in the history of the county. Presenter of slide shows relating to these photographs.
Public speaker and grant writer for the Douglas County Museum. Paper presenter at Illinois History Symposium,
1991. Recipient, 1993 Tuscolian of the Year award for community volunteerism. Guest speaker, national
convention, American Association for State and Local History, 1996, Nashville, TN. Guest speaker, Illinois
History Teacher's Conference, 1999, Charleston, IL. State certified, Food Service Sanitation. Past surrogate
parent, Illinois State Board of Education. Past regular and specialized foster parent (for some 3 dozen
children over a 10 year time span), Catholic Social Service and Department of Children and Family Services in
Illinois. Past co-chair of Tuscola Christmas Bureau. Past 4-H and Girl Scout leader. Organizer of the Tuscola
Community Halloween Party for 15 years. Past secretary of the First Baptist Church, Tuscola. Board
member, Illinois Heritage Association (a museum consultant non-profit agency).
Activities and honors (Korean War-related)
Associate member #A021105 [MEMBER NOT IN GOOD STANDING], Korean War Veterans Association. Independent
researcher (1999-2001), Korean War veterans (all branches), Korean War combat Marines and Navy corpsmen, and
Gold Star family members. Has conducted over 400 interviews with Korean War veterans in 3-9 hour in-person
and/or online sessions (interviews continue). Recipient of plaques of appreciation from the Imjin Chapter of
the Korean War Veterans Association (1997) and the Charles Parlier Chapter of the KWVA (1997). Founder, Korean
War Veterans National Museum and Library (1997) and museum delegate to Korea, September 27-October 4, 1998.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Korean War Educator Foundation. Text editor and assistant webmaster, the
Korean War Educator website.
Guest speaker (topic - Korean War): VFW District 17, Mattoon, IL; Tuscola Kiwanis Club; American Legion,
Mattoon; 84th/62nd Engineer Construction Battalion reunion, Kissimmee, FL; Moultrie County Historical and
Genealogical Society, Sullivan, IL; Retired Mail Carrier's Convention, Effingham, IL; Missouri Korean War
Veterans Association Council, Columbia, MO; national convention, Korean War Veterans Association, Tyson's
Corner, VA; Tuscola Memorial Day service, Tuscola; Nebraska Korean War Veterans Reunion, Grand Island, NE;
Chapter 2, Korean War Veterans Association, Independence, MO; 44th Combat Engineer Construction Battalion
Association reunion, Tuscola; Missouri Korean War Veterans Rendezvous, Lake of the Ozarks, MO; Charles Parlier
Chapter, KWVA, Decatur, IL; Atwood Lions Club, Atwood, IL; Piatt County Historical and Genealogical Society;
Arthur Business & Professional Women's Club, Arthur, IL; H-3-5 Marine reunion, Indianapolis, IN; Missouri
Korean War Veterans Rendezvous, Branson, MO; Tuscola Woman's Club, Tuscola; Coles County Historical Society,
annual banquet, Mattoon, IL; 728th Military Police Battalion reunion, Tuscola; H-3-7 reunion, Branson, MO; USS
Consolation reunion, Bloomington, MN; West Chicago Museum and Library, West Chicago, IL; Champaign, IL
Kiwanis, Club; Champaign AMBUCs; Village of Bartlett, Illinois; and Niles, Illinois Public Library.
Lynnita is a past honorary member of CENLA Chapter 180, KWVA. Because she was receiving an inordinate
amount of unwanted junk e-mail from chapter leader Louis Dechert, she asked to be removed from his personal
e-mail address list. Dechert told Lynnita that the only way that she could avoid receiving his unwanted
mailings was to resign from CENLA Chapter. She did so on October 12, 2005.
Publications (non-Korean War)
Editor, Douglas County Museum newsletter, 1984-present. Past editor, Douglas County Genealogical Society
newsletter. Technical insert in Illinois Heritage Association newsletter. Author, "Illinois Farmers in Revolt:
The Corn Belt Liberty League," Illinois Historical Journal, Vol. 88, No. 4, Winter 1995. Author, "The
Corn Belt Liberty League Takes A Stand Against Government," Illinois History Teacher, Vol. 3, No. 1,
1996. Numerous history features for the Tuscola Journal, Tuscola Review, Newman Independent,
and Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette newspapers. Author of three family genealogy books.
Contact Information
If you have questions, please e-mail Lynnita or call/fax
her at home 217-253-4620 to leave a message. The best time to reach Lynnita by phone is late afternoon or
anytime during the evening. Messages for her can also be left with her mother, Jean Aldridge Copas, at
217-253-4362, or at the Douglas County Museum, Tuscola, at 217-253-2535 (Monday-Wednesday). The number for
Aldridge Gifts is 217-253-5171. Lynnita can usually be found there Thursday through Saturday 10
a.m.-3 p.m.. If she isn't there, generally her mother is, and Jean will be happy to take a message.
If leaving a message at the museum, be sure to state that your call is in regards to the website. Please
leave a telephone number and Lynnita will call you back. Please do try calling her at Aldridge's in the
daytime during store hours or at her home in the evening. Your calls are important and welcome to her.
If Lynnita doesn't call you back within 24 hours, your message did not reach her. |
"In October of
2000, Lynnita established the Korean War Educator Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation in the State of
Illinois."
