Have you heard about the Grassroots Volunteer Program to support the campaign to build the National Museum of the United States Army? There are plenty of ways to get involved, from hosting fundraising events to simply telling friends and family about the Museum project. 
Grassroots Volunteer Dennis O’Dea has been involved in yet another way. After learning about the Army Museum project, Dennis purchased a Commemorative Brick as an individual’s way to be remembered at the Museum. Being active in the 1st Engineer Combat Battalion Veterans’ Association, he and colleague Tom Jennings brought the idea of battalion sponsorship to their Board of Directors at the reunion in 2014. They created a multi-year pledge drive among all 1st Engineers’ veterans, their families, and their business and fraternal associations to contribute as a unit. Dennis explained, “Our goal is to get the name of the 1st Engineer Combat Battalion on the Veterans Hall Wall so that a veteran or family member who visits the Museum can point to it and say ‘That is my outfit.”
Dennis and his fellow veterans have been calling for support beyond their association to every former member of the battalion, asking for whatever donation is possible. Every dollar helps! They are currently utilizing both “snail-mail” and the internet to reach as many people as possible and are hoping to use social media to contact their more recent veterans.
Dennis explained, “We see the Museum as an opportunity to build something more permanent, for the Army, for us, and for the veterans-to-be that is a symbol of this proud organization with all of its history. The Veterans’ Hall in the National Museum is the perfect place….Why wouldn’t we want to be there!?”
