Monthly Dinner Speaker

Wednesday
July 3rd, 2013

Kyle Plummer
"Heros Remembered: Voices of Korean War Veterans"

No Host Bar Starts: 6:00 p.m.
Dinner Starts at 7:00 p.m.

Cambria teen Kyle Plummer is helping shine light on a long-forgotten story — the Korean War. Plummer, 16, went to Washington, D.C., in May to present his short documentary, “Korea Remembered,” at the GI Film Festival. The five-minute movie was one of five winners of the “Heroes Remembered: Voices of Korean War Veterans” filmmaking contest, which challenged high school students to capture the experiences of American Korean War veterans on video.

Before entering the contest, held in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Defense’s 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee, Plummer said he didn’t know much about the war waged between North Korea, South Korea and their allies between 1950 and 1953. Although his history textbook dedicated two or three chapters to World War II, the writers “only had one paragraph dedicated to the Korean War,” he recalled, confirming that conflict’s reputation as “The Forgotten War.”

Through the American Legion Post No. 432 in Cambria, Plummer reached out to veterans including EWM member Al Schade and their families to share their stories. He interviewed 12 veterans on camera, including retired members of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as Shirley Vega and Delphine Vega Paulsen, the widow and daughter of deceased PFC Delphino Vega. “I really see how much the Korean War has been overlooked and how it has affected the soldiers coming back,” Plummer said. “When these guys came back from the Korean War, they got nothing. It was really sad.” “I’m glad that now they’ll be able to be recognized and have their stories told,” he added.

Plummer edited the footage he shot into three short films featuring music by Cambria composer Jeff Mar. All three — “Korea Remembered,” “Invisible Service” and “Family Pride” — will be posted on the Department of Defense’s website and screen at the GI Film Festival, which ran May 6 through 12. According to Plummer, the toughest creative challenge he faced was finding a narrative thread. Unlike his previous film projects, “there was no script. I had to figure it out on my own,” he said. “It’s like a Rubik’s Cube. There’s an infinite amount of ways you could solve the puzzle of putting it together.”

Plummer and his younger brother, Carlos, have crafted several short films in recent years, including three narrative shorts: 2009’s "Indiana Jones and the Crystals of Eternity," 2010’s “The Magic Hat” and 2012’s “The Second Mission.” The Plummer brothers won "Best Local Film" in the Filmmakers of Tomorrow Showcase at the 2010 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and a first-place jury prize at the 2010 Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Plummer, who currently attends California Virtual Academies, an Internet-aided charter school, said he’s eager to rack up more filmmaking experiences. “What (I’m) doing right now is really beneficial,” he said.

Kyle Plummer and his parents will be our special guests for the July dinner.

Read more about Kyle, here. Special thanks to www.sanluisobispo.com for use of Kyle's story and picture.

View pictures from May dinner click here.

Dinner is open to the public ($17/person) and reservations are required, either on-line HERE or call 805 227-0440.

Museum Docents Make it all Happen!

Estrella Warbirds Museum relies on an outstanding cast of volunteer docents to help run the museum, the gift shop, the automobile display.
It's a great place to make new friends and meet people from all over the world that stop by Paso Robles to visit the museum!
If you would like to volunteers a few hours each month, or week, let us know. We would love to meet you! Stop by the museum or find more information here.

Look What´s New!
While we've been enjoying the nice weather, Charlie Harber has been leading a crew to help restore several Radio Plane target drone vehicles. The first, a Northrop AQM-38 now hangs in the Brooks Building near the missile display.
Congratulations, Charlie, on a job WELL DONE! You can read more here about the AQM-38 and MQM-33.

Looking For Something To Do?
For those of us with time to spare and lack of things to do in our "busy" lives, why not spend a little bit of time each month volunteering by working at the museum as a greeter, a docent, in the gift shop, the automobile display building, or on the grounds in restoration or cleanup. We can always use new hands and you'll be surprised at the number of new friends you will make. Send us a note or come visit us.