[Cider Jim]

A two-day conference at Liberty University with more than 30 speakers will kick off this week’s local commemoration of the 65th anniversary of D-Day.

The conference, “Overlord Echoes: The D-Day Journey Then and Now,” runs this Thursday and Friday, and is presented by LU and the National D-Day Memorial Foundation.

“I’m very excited about it,” said David Snead, chairman of the department of history at LU and also a conference co-chair. “We have put together a very unique format where we have some of the leading scholars of the war from across the country and a few international, in addition to panels of veterans.”

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/loc ... nts/16406/

[Sly Fox]

The good news is that the heroes and villains in this war are more clearly defined than the other one for which we tend to hold conferences.

[RagingTireFire]

The good news is that the heroes and villains in this war are more clearly defined than the other one for which we tend to hold conferences.

Huh? Which war we who?

[adam42381]

The good news is that the heroes and villains in this war are more clearly defined than the other one for which we tend to hold conferences.

Huh? Which war we who?

The Civil War...

[Ed Dantes]

The good news is that the heroes and villains in this war are more clearly defined than the other one for which we tend to hold conferences.

Huh? Which war we who?

The Civil War...

Or the War of Aggression against Passive Slaveowners

[RagingTireFire]

The good news is that the heroes and villains in this war are more clearly defined than the other one for which we tend to hold conferences.

Huh? Which war we who?

The Civil War...

Gotcha. Thank you.

[ATrain]

Huh? Which war we who?

The Civil War...

Or the War of Northern Agression and the Federal Government Against States Rights

FTFY

[Kolzilla41]

143 years later and still can't get over it.

[ATrain]

143 years later and still can't get over it.

Lee surrendered, I didn't

[BJWilliams]

I don't give a flying HOOT at this point...why do you have to take all this talk of the Civil War into a discussion on a watershed moment in American history. Many men died that day and I think its cool that they are putting something like this on. Many of the men who survived that day are dying and the WWII soldiers will go from the greatest generation to the forgotten generation if we aren't careful.

[SuperJon]

BJ, they were joking around.

It

was

a

joke.

[LUconn]

The paper had a story the other day that the D-Day memorial only had enough money to last through the summer. The thing is built. How much could it possibly cost to keep a monument like that running? $7/hour for the guy sitting at the gate. $7/hour for a dude to clean at the end of the day. Utility costs. What would happen to it if it closed? Would it just sit there locked up?

[rueful]

the article LUConn is referring too

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090602/ap_ ... orial_woes

Facing the prospect of cutting staff and hours, the memorial's president believes its only hope for long-term survival is to be taken over by the National Park Service or by a college or university.

Could this be something Liberty is considering?

[Rooster Cogburn]

Heard a number today of expenses of 2.7M per year. That is unreal. Congress is trying to get it taken over by the national park service, and the first order woould be to cut costs.

[LUconn]

Heard a number today of expenses of 2.7M per year. That is unreal. Congress is trying to get it taken over by the national park service, and the first order woould be to cut costs.

What the heck could possibly cost that much? Did they borrow all of the money?

[Sly Fox]

So what are the 20 employees averaging $50k annually doing if the volunteers are doing most of the work?

What a mess. It was a nice memorial but nowhere near as nice as NOLA. In fact, the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, TX has much more to it and it has practically no budget whatsoever.

[Ed Dantes]

First, it shouldn't be in Bedford. I understand why it is there, but if you need to attract visitors, you shouldn't put it in the middle of nowhere. I mean, if that memorial was in Washington, you'd probably get more visitors.

But yeah, 2.7 mill is a lot.

[Cider Jim]

Interesting article in today's local fishwrap:

Liberty University mulled ownership of D-Day Memorial
By Christa Desrets

Published: June 3, 2009

Liberty University has considered taking ownership of the financially struggling National D-Day Memorial after being approached by officials from the Bedford landmark, Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said Wednesday.

“I just don’t see where it fits with our educational mission at this time,” Falwell said.

“But their proposal — we’re willing to look at it, and they could convince us otherwise with some creative thinking.

“It’s such an asset to this whole region and the men that died; they deserve that honor and respect. But so far, there’s no concrete plans for Liberty to become the owner.”

Liberty has been involved with the foundation over the past year in planning a two-day conference that begins today commemorating the 65th anniversary of D-Day.

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/loc ... ial/16525/

[LUconn]

Seems pretty pricey, but I would love for us to do it if we could swing it.

[Rooster Cogburn]

WOW! Seems like no logical fit at all. It would be cool, but it could also be a financial drag.

[Ed Dantes]

WOW! Seems like no logical fit at all. It would be cool, but it could also be a financial drag.

Liberty could make it run cheaper, I bet. If I were Liberty, I would take a serious look at it... see where the $2.2 million is going, see how you can trim that (replace employees w/ history majors) and go from there.

[SuperJon]

Liberty could make it run cheaper, I bet. If I were Liberty, I would take a serious look at it... see where the $2.2 million is going, see how you can trim that (replace employees w/ history majors), find a donor, and go from there.

Added a little in there, but yeah.

[rueful]

Hire student workers to be under a staff supervisor. The times I have been there, you only need 3 or 4 workers at a time Tops. And thats just for the entry fee, store, and if you need tour guides.