In Their Own Words veterans museum in Perham to host Memorial Day breakfast fundraiser; seeks Korea and Vietnam veterans for interviews

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The In Their Own Words Museum in Perham will be holding a Memorial Day breakfast fundraiser and presentation by the VFW Post and Auxiliary Post 4020 of Perham.

The museum features the spoken-word stories of Otter Tail County veterans who describe their military experiences through recorded interviews – in their own words.

Shirley Davidson, a volunteer at the museum, said the last World War II veteran passed away last year, so, unfortunately, they won’t be able to collect anymore stories from that era, but they want anyone who served during Korea, or Vietnam to seriously consider signing up for a time to record and preserve their military experience for future generations.

“It’s never, never too late to do an interview,” said Davidson. “Anybody that’s been in Vietnam, sands, Korea, anyplace they’ve been. It doesn’t have to be real personal just tell us what you did. How you coped with it over there. We’ll definitely still do interviews. It’s never too late.”

She also said more than 300 Otter Tail County veterans have recorded their own testimonials for the museum over the last 20 years.

Davidson said the breakfast being planned for Memorial Day morning sounds delicious and the fundraiser itself should also do quite well.

“We have pancakes and sausage and brand new, homemade, raspberry and blueberry syrups that mother nature made,” said Davidson. “And it’s a free will donation so you can give as much, or as little, or whatever you want.”

The event will also include a silent auction and all proceeds will go to support area veterans programs.

“We try to keep all of the money that we do in Otter Tail County,” she said. “We really support the Veterans Home in Fergus Falls and in Fargo, so we try to keep it local just like our guys are local.”

The In Their Own Words Museum is located on the 800 block of West Main Street in downtown Perham and the event begins at 10 a.m. on Memorial Day.