Battle of Normandy Foundation: Uncertainties Surround Its Future
Viability (Letter Report, 11/04/94, GAO/AIMD-95-10).

The Battle of Normandy Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization
formed in 1985 to honor America's World War II veterans and teach future
generations about the war, has sought to build a memorial garden in
Normandy, France.  However, the Foundation has been plagued by serious
managerial and financial problems.  The Foundation recently had to
appoint its fourth president in six months and change the leadership of
its Board of Directors.  Also, the Foundation's liabilities
substantially exceed its assets.  Unless the Foundation obtains enough
funding and achieves management stability, it is uncertain whether it
can pay to run the Memorial Garden and whether other projects will move
forward.  GAO's audit found that the Foundation spent the $3 million it
received in 1993 from the U.S. Treasury for the design and construction
of the memorial garden in Normandy in accordance with the Coins Act.
The total recorded cost of the memorial garden through June 1994 was
$3.6 million; however, about $400,000 was still owed to memorial garden
contractors. Foundation officials concurred with a draft of this report.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-95-10
     TITLE:  Battle of Normandy Foundation: Uncertainties Surround Its 
             Future Viability
      DATE:  11/04/94
   SUBJECT:  Currency and coinage
             Profits
             Funds management
             National historic sites
             Facility construction
             Treasury accounts
             Internal controls
             Financial management
             Overhead costs
             Contract administration
IDENTIFIER:  Armed Forces Memorial Garden (France)
             Normandy Scholar Program
             Wall of Liberty Project (France)
             
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