Jan/Feb 2008 - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

on a number system that would detail each expense based on
the new budget set up by the treasurer.
This new coding, proposed budget and ability to produce
financial statements that compare budget to actual will bring
KWVA into the modern world of information reporting and
satisfy IRS requirements. (Previously, a financial statement
consisted of cash balances.)
IRS Audit
Rick Elder of the IRS Exempt Organization section called
Lou and then me to “audit” 2003 tax return. I listened to him
and recorded a long list of items needed for the audit, including
the “IRS file” that the organization was required to keep.
This file should contain the original application for exemption,
the IRS exemption letter, copies of tax returns, IRS correspondence,
etc.
I explained to Rick that I had gone through the 13 boxes of
records that were, perhaps, the only records that existed and
that we did not even have a complete set of bank statements
for 2003 and that no “IRS file” had been maintained or could
be located. Because of the lack of records, I did not want the
IRS to audit 2003, as it would wind up costing the KWVA
thousands in accounting and legal fees and perhaps IRS penalties.
Rick promised to get with his supervisor and get back with
me. He called back and said that they had decided to drop the
audit, but that:
a. The year 2000 tax return had never been filed, and
b. Adequate records must be maintained.
I assured him that we were working to recreate records as
fast as we could and that I would get a copy of the year 2000
tax return signed and filed. Point (a) has been done. Point (b)
is a work-in-progress.
Current work
• Prepared year 2004 IRS Form 990 and filed with IRS
• Prepared IRS Forms 1099-MISC and 1096 for “contract
labor”
• Prepared bookkeeping statements for July 2004 through June
2005.
• Assisted Richard Hare with budget categories.
• Research recordkeeping requirements for KWVA to maintain
tax exempt status
In summary, I am breathing a sigh of relief as I can see the
light at the end of the tunnel. As a practicing CPA for over 36
years, I have never seen a national organization with such
incomplete records. Accounting records have been reconstructed
for years 2001 through 2004 and records for 2005 are
kept in a business like manner. IRS files have been reconstructed
back to 1999 and an IRS correspondence file is currently
under assembly.
The omissions of the past will take time and money to
“fix.” The amount of time and money will both be more than
if the correct procedures were done on a more contemporaneous
basis.
BUSINESS
Airmen, Soldier missing in action
from Korean War are identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
announced that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in
action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being
returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are Col. Douglas H. Hatfield, of Shenandoah, Va., and
Capt. Richard H. Simpson, of Fairhaven, Mich., both U.S. Air
Force. Funeral dates have not been set by the families.
On April 12, 1951, Hatfield and Simpson were two of eleven
crewmembers on a B-29 Superfortress that left Kadena Air Base,
Japan, to bomb targets in the area of Sinuiju, North Korea. Enemy
MiG-15 fighters attacked the B-29, but before it crashed, three
crewmembers were able to bail out. They were captured and two
of them were later released in 1954 to U.S. military control during
Operation Big Switch. The third crewmember died in captivity. He
and the eight remaining crewmembers were not recovered. (See
details of action below.)
In 1993, the North Korean government turned over to the
United Nations Command 31 boxes containing the remains of U.S.
servicemen listed as unaccounted-for from the Korean War. Four
sets of remains from this group were subsequently identified as
crewmembers from the B-29.
In 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(D.P.R.K.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting
Command (JPAC) excavated an infantry fighting position in
Kujang County where they recovered remains which included
those of Hatfield and Simpson.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial
evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA
Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental
comparisons in the identification of the remains recovered in 2000.
KORWALD Loss Incident Summary
Date of Loss: 510412
Tail Number: 44-69682
Aircraft Type: B-29A
Wing or Group: 19th Bmb Wg
Squadron: 93rd Bmb Sq
Circumstances of Loss: Attacked by 15-20 MiGs, No. 2 engine and
then entire wing caught fire, exploded, crashed into mountain, tail gunner
of B-29 6323 observed crash, no parachutes observed
Crewmembers Associated With This Loss
Name Rank Status Comments
AARON, George I 1LT MIA Remains recovered 1994
BERGMANN, Louis H. SGT MIA
BEVANS, Robert W. SGT MIA
BULLOCK, Elmer T. 2LT MIA Remains recovered 1994
ELSMAN, JR., Ralph I SGT KIA
GANT, John K. SSGT RMC RMC Big Switch
HATFIELD, Douglas H. LTCOL MIA 93rd Bmb Sq/CC
JONES, Robert W. MSGT MIA Remains recovered 1994
MILLWARD, George E. SGT RMC RMC Big Switch
SIMPSON, Richard H. CAPT MIA
WILSON, JR., James S. 1LT KIA Remains recovered 1993
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The Graybeards January-February 2008