Message From Park University President Shane Smeed

Screenings of the documentary “More Than a Medal” have continued over the past months across the nation. The film, which was produced by Lame Deer Films in cooperation with Park University’s George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War, interweaves the efforts of the researchers working against time, untold heroic stories of courage on the battlefields of France, on the seas and in the air, and the experience of modern-day descendants as they maintain cautious hope of recognition.

I appreciate our professional relationships with the following venues that screened the documentary in 2022: National World War I Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, Mo.; First Division Museum at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ill.; Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Chicago, Ill.; National Museum of the United States Army, Fort Belvoir, Va.; U.S. Navy Museum and Memorial, Washington, D.C.; and Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Attendees of the screenings have commented on the depth of staff research and the overall personal narratives of the represented servicemembers and their descendants.

“More Than a Medal” was selected to be shown at the St. Louis International Film Festival and Veterans Film Festival, San Francisco. These selections were not only testaments to the narratives of the servicemembers, their descendants and Robb Centre staff research, but also the acts of valor undertaken by the 214 servicemembers currently under research

I invite interested individuals to visit the Robb Centre’s website at gsr.park.edu for information about future screenings in New York City, Philadelphia and the Kansas City area. Admission to the screenings are free and open to the public.

Finally, Robb Centre Director Dr. Tim Westcott announced in his message in this edition of Valor the departure of Josh Weston. I express my deepest appreciation for Josh’s dedication and service to the Robb Centre and Park University. We are proud to count him as a Park alumnus.

Shane B. Smeed President Park University