Film & Speaker: Our Promise
June 15, 2023 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
| Freewill donation*After the June 15 show hear from Bud Pettigrew—Hastings resident, former marine, and one of just 10 commissioners nationwide on the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Live at the Museum!
Freewill Offering | First come, First seated | Film length: 57 mins
The American Battle Monuments Commission began the commemoration of its centennial anniversary in March of this year with the premiere of the documentary Our Promise: 100 years of the American Battle Monuments Commission at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., co-hosted with the National Archives Foundation. This documentary represents just a fraction of ABMC’s history. The staff and commissioners of the ABMC are honored to steward their memory of fallen soldiers and ensure their sacrifice is never forgotten.
On June 15, the film will be followed by a Q&A with Bud Pettigrew—Hastings resident and one of just 10 commissioners nationwide on the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Bud Pettigrew served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1982-1983, before being medically discharged as a result of a broken neck. He taught History and coached football, wrestling, and track in various Nebraska public schools from 1989 to 2009. Pettigrew holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Social Science Education from Hastings College, Hastings, Neb., and did graduate work in History at Wayne State College.
June 15, 6:30 pm, with speaker (Thursday)
June 17, 1:30 pm (Saturday)
June 18, 1:30 pm (Sunday)
June 21, 10 am (Wednesday)
Our Promise: 100 years of the American Battle Monuments Commission captures moments at ABMC sites and stories from its history. From misty mornings in Normandy to the golden hour in the Philippines, the documentary is a celebration of the care that America gives to its fallen soldiers who have been laid to rest on foreign soil. The film shows the voices of families of the fallen remembered by ABMC, ABMC employees, and Americans visiting sites abroad. Viewers also hear from citizens of other countries who work at the sites and whose ancestors fought alongside Americans—all sharing what it means to be involved in the process of caring for, maintaining, and honoring the legacy of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. (A recording of the event and the documentary can be found on ABMC’s YouTube platform.)
On March 4, 1923, President Warren G. Harding signed into law a bill presented by Congressman Stephen Porter of Pennsylvania, establishing ABMC to build, and later maintain, cemeteries and memorials for fallen service members overseas. Today, ABMC administers, operates, and maintains 26 permanent American burial grounds and 32 separate memorials, monuments, and markers on five continents as they continue to uphold the promise made by the agency’s first chairman, General of the Armies John J. Pershing, that “Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.”
Below is a brief clip from the documentary.