[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 62 (Thursday, April 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                WEST KENTUCKY VETERAN AND PATRIOT MUSUEM

 Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, stories of the past and the 
memorabilia and photos that often accompany them serve many important 
purposes in our culture. They can entertain us and provoke laughter and 
joy. They can reinforce the values that were important to our parents 
and grandparents. And they can teach difficult or even painful lessons 
from our history. The West Kentucky Veteran and Patriot Museum, now 
celebrating its 10th year, is a place where such stories can be 
discovered.
  Founded by Sandy Hart, whose husband, Ray, served in the U.S. Marine 
Corps and then went on to serve others as a pastor and foreign 
missionary, the museum houses an eclectic collection of personal 
objects, records, photographs, and narrative stories curated by Sandy 
and displayed in a red brick building in tiny Wickliffe, KY, which is 
located on the Mississippi River in far west Kentucky. While most of 
the donated materials are from servicemembers and their families in the 
Purchase Region of the Commonwealth, the visitors--the men and women 
you are likely to encounter when you stop by--are from all 50 States 
and beyond. Sandy loves to sit and talk to them and hear their stories, 
memories that are often stirred up as they wander through the displays 
in the museum.
  The vision for the West Kentucky Veteran and Patriot Museum was born 
when Sandy and others in the community helped organize a convoy of over 
a dozen buses and 800 people to visit the World War II Memorial here in 
our Nation's Capital. This outpouring of interest compelled Sandy to 
create a place that honored our veterans year-round--and not just those 
who served in the Second World War.
  I have visited with Sandy at the museum and watched her at work. She 
is tireless in her devotion to our veterans and in capturing and 
memorializing their stories so that we can learn from, laugh with, and 
be thankful for our men and women in uniform throughout our 
history.

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