Skip to comments.

Posted on 11/07/2001 6:51:49 AM PST by ppaul

BOTHELL -- It began years ago as a search for a few missing items to complete his father's war uniforms. But now it has turned into a mission to honor all veterans.

Todd Crooks looked around in the mid-1980s for a shirt here, some missing field gear there, to go with the uniforms his father, Cloyce Crooks, wore as a company clerk during World War II.

Now he wants all of King County to see the uniforms worn by his father, who died in 1990, as well as those worn by other veterans from the Civil War to Desert Storm.

Todd Crooks also wants you to see the rifle that a man named Jack Smith held in his hands as he fought for his life during the Civil War. He wants you to see the Purple Heart that soldier Jack Calvin never held in his hands, but earned with the courage in his own heart.

Crooks wants you to see those things so you will appreciate not only the veterans no longer with us, but also those who are still ``all around us -- these gray-haired guys that you see with the VFW pins.''

The guys who, Crooks says, are dying off at the rate of many hundreds per day.

The Seattle Veterans Museum is the place where Crooks, 39, wants you to see those things. It doesn't have a home yet, but Crooks dreams that someday it will.

The museum was granted status as a nonprofit organization last month, and Crooks is searching for volunteers to staff its board and raise the money for a building.

Meanwhile, a room in Crooks' Bothell home is filled with items he has collected over 15 years. Many of the items -- such as a World War I trench knife with brass knuckles -- he ordered through the mail from antique collectors. Others have been given to him by veterans who are afraid the war remnants will end up in a trash heap somewhere.

``I'm doing it to recognize the veterans for giving us our freedom, the millions of them who have died for our country,'' Crooks said. ``To make people realize we live in the freest country in the world.''

For the past 18 months, Crooks used his collection as a kind of traveling museum. He'll load three or four mannequins dressed in uniforms into his Toyota 4-Runner, add some other items -- photographs, letters, the button off the jacket of a Civil War soldier -- and head to the Bothell Riverfest or the city's Fourth of July celebration.

Last Memorial Day, he was at Bellevue's Crossroads Mall and shook the hands of veterans who came to see what all the fuss was about.

``Thank you for your service to the country,'' Crooks told them. ``Some of them haven't heard that in 50 years,'' he said. ``Then they thank me. That's the best part.''

Crooks never fought in a war himself, but he has been fascinated with war memorabilia since he was a boy gazing at his father's uniforms. Four of his great-grandfathers fought in the Civil War, and a great-uncle in World War I.

Ten years ago, Crooks, an aerospace engineer, joined the Navy Reserves. He spends his weekends at Fort Lewis.

He figures it will take a few million dollars to make his dream come true. So far, donations total $28, he joked. That money came from some of his buddies in the Reserves during a ``Dining Out,'' a get-together where reservists are penalized cash for speaking out of turn or having a spot on their dress uniform. The pool usually goes to charity.

``I think they need it,'' Bob LeRoy, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2995 in Bellevue, said of the museum. ``I think everybody should remember the past. The kids aren't being taught much about World War II these days.

``I remember my kids coming up to me and saying, `Did you fight in that war?''' he said, recalling when his children saw images of Vietnam, where LeRoy fought.

The war on terrorism ``is just another example of how (today's soldiers) are out there now, risking their lives for our country,'' Crooks said. ``It's their time; it's their turn.''

Although much of Crooks' collection comes from unknown soldiers, a growing number of items belonged to local veterans.

Calvin's Purple Heart was given to him by one of the soldier's foster children who lives in Seattle. Also given to Crooks was a letter from the Marine Corps written to Calvin's mother on Aug. 21, 1945, informing her that all that was known of her son's death that July 4 in the South Pacific was that he had been shot in the abdomen.

``People have no idea what these veterans went through,'' Crooks said. ``Unless you're a veteran yourself.''

Mark Baker can be reached at mark.baker@eastsidejournal.com or 425-453-4248.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The fledgling Seattle Veterans Museum is seeking volunteers to help with future displays and fund-raising events and to serve as board members. If you want to help, call 425-821-0489.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.