Man responsible for vandalism at Veterans Memorial Museum comes forward, gives money for repairs

Volunteers invited to help begin repairs at Chehalis museum at noon Saturday 

By Owen Sexton  / owen@chronline.com 
Posted 1/23/25

On Monday, Jan. 20, at around 3 p.m., an unknown individual trespassed onto the Veterans Memorial Museum’s property in Chehalis and caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to the lawn …

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Man responsible for vandalism at Veterans Memorial Museum comes forward, gives money for repairs

Volunteers invited to help begin repairs at Chehalis museum at noon Saturday 

Posted

On Monday, Jan. 20, at around 3 p.m., an unknown individual trespassed onto the Veterans Memorial Museum’s property in Chehalis and caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to the lawn by driving through and doing donuts in an old Dodge pickup truck.  

The museum posted surveillance footage of the incident on Facebook, along with a plea to the community to help identify the person driving the truck or for the individual to come forward. 

“The Veterans Memorial Museum bought and paid for the land you see here,” the museum wrote. “It's owned by the museum, and its volunteers work long hours to maintain it. It would be nice if this individual could come forward.”

On Thursday, Jan. 23, the individual responsible for the damage came forward. 

He apologized and made a donation to help pay for the repairs, according to Veterans Memorial Museum Executive Director Chip Duncan, who spoke with The Chronicle on Thursday shortly after the individual came forward.  

“He was really apologetic,” Duncan said. “He did not know that it was the museum’s property. The area is normally closed off by a cable which runs across concrete blocks, but the individual claimed he didn’t see the cable."

Though the land the truck tore through isn’t actively used by the museum every day, it serves as both a parking lot and venue for the many community events the museum hosts. 

“I’m guessing it might’ve been down already when he went through there, and he was just having fun but he feels like crap,” Duncan said. “As he put it, he’s ‘a God-fearing man,’ and said it took him a lot of prayer to even have the courage to come in here. But he wanted to make it right. And then he made a very sizable donation to help with repairs. It wasn’t some punk or young kid, and I kind of already knew that. He was just out having fun, and I get it. I’ve done the same thing, but usually there’s a lot more public lands you can do that on.” 

When the museum first purchased the property, approximately $60,000 was spent to level the area and seed it with grass. 

“With the (old) Weyerhaeuser property, it’s compacted gravel underneath all that dirt. The problem is when you do donuts on it, it rips up the roots of the grass and it doesn’t grow back,” Duncan said. “We have to flatten it out and reseed it.” 

As for the individual’s name and the amount he donated, Duncan declined to share that information. He said he was just happy that the man came forward. 



“He came forward and he’s a nice guy … He just did the right thing, which is really rare in today’s society,” Duncan said. “He donated a really significant amount. It’s a really significant amount. I was really kind of blown away. I even told him, ‘You know, I don’t know what you can give.’ So when he told me the amount, I was like, ‘Well, that’s definitely going to cover repair costs.’” 

Following the initial Facebook post on Monday, supporters of the museum and other community members expressed outrage about the vandalism as the photos and video were shared widely on social media. 

“We want to thank everyone for sharing about the damage to museum property,” the museum wrote on Facebook. “There will be a gathering this Saturday at noon to formulate a plan to fix the grounds. If anyone would like to help you are welcome to attend.”

The Veterans Memorial Museum is located at 100 SW Veterans Way in Chehalis and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A nonprofit, the museum is dedicated to preserving the memories and telling the stories of veterans. It also serves as an unofficial USO location where many local veterans meet weekly to socialize with each other. 

Additionally, the museum partners with and hosts Veterans Journey Forward, a veteran-founded nonprofit dedicated to providing resources, help with navigating benefits and peer-counseling for local veterans. 

Since its founding in 2022, over 1,660 veterans and their families have gotten access to free mental healthcare and benefits specialists thanks to Veterans Journey Forward.

For more information, visit https://www.veteransmuseum.org/ or find the museum on Facebook.

To learn more about Veterans Journey Forward, visit https://www.veteransjourneyforward.org/ or follow the organization on its Facebook page.