Nonprofit behind vets memorial under fire(Disabled Veterans Life Memorial Foundation)

[maddezmom]

Source: Palm Beach Post

By SUSAN R. MILLER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The renderings for a monument to the more than 3 million disabled American veterans are complete.


The 2-acre parcel in the nation's capital where the memorial is to be erected stands ready.


Prominent names stand behind the project, including wealthy Palm Beach County philanthropist Lois Pope, high-profile attorney Bob Montgomery and actor Gary Sinise, who portrayed a double amputee Vietnam veteran in the film Forrest Gump.


But records show that The Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation, the nonprofit organization charged with raising the $65 million to build the monument, is mired in debt.


The memorial foundation, which is Pope's brainchild and is based in Arlington, Va., has more than $2 million in unpaid bills. It is beset by criticism from nonprofit watchdog groups and tied up in an increasingly ugly family squabble.



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