Waterloo is to be the home of a proposed 27,000-square foot Iowa Veterans’ Museum. Plans for the $11 million project were announced today (Thursday) by Chuck Larson Junior, a state legislator and Army Reservist who’s heading the fundraising campaign. “Iowa has a rich history of service to our country during time of war,” Larson says. “Dating from the time of the Civil War through Operation Desert Storm, Iowa sent more men and women into battle than other state in the country, yet we don’t have a museum that’s dedicated to Iowa’s veterans.” He says the museum will be dedicated to telling the story of the role Iowans have played, right up to the current Operation Iraqi Freedom. Larson says it’s appropriate that the museum will be built in the hometown of the five Sullivan brothers who died together while serving in World War II. It’s planned as an addition to the existing Grout Museum of History and Science in Waterloo. Larson says the Grout Museum’s worked long and hard to develop the expansion. Larson says $6 million has been raised so far, from state and federal government sources. The remaining $5 million that’s needed will come from private donations.
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