More About the
Founder of the NWMP
The National War Museum Project (NWMP) was founded in 2020 by a private citizen, Kitt Rodkey, who was inspired by his personal family history, extensive travel and knowledge of U.S. military history. He believes that there is a crucial gap to be filled in America’s military museum “community.”
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Mr. Rodkey’s vision is of a national museum that coherently integrates all six branches of America’s Armed Forces, and embraces all conflicts, domestic and international, bringing forgotten ones into focus; and highlights the important roles which our home front and allies played in many of them.
He suggests that this broad approach has the potential for gaining new audiences, while aligning with the “call to action” of every U.S. military museum- ensuring the remembrance of our veterans’ past sacrifices and contributions, while enhancing appreciation of today’s servicemen and servicewomen.
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During World War II, many of Mr. Rodkey’s family members served in the U.S. Armed Forces, including his father, an Army communications sergeant who was deployed to the Pacific Theater in 1944. A close uncle, also a World War II veteran, served as an Army infantryman in Europe. His wife Sarah’s father was grievously wounded while on Iwo Jima. Going back even further in time, Mr. Rodkey has ancestors who served in the Civil War, as well as the American Revolution.
Mr. Rodkey’s longstanding interest in U.S. military history motivated him to serve as a national volunteer and registered Field Representative of the American Battle Monuments Commission’s National World War II Memorial Campaign. Between 1999-2003, he was the Chairman of the Loudoun County, Virginia, Community Action Council. He led the local campaign to raise awareness of, and generate financial donations for, the Memorial.
At the September 21, 2000, National Capital Planning Commission Meeting, Mr. Rodkey spoke on behalf of the Memorial. After his remarks, Mr. Rodkey was deeply honored to meet Senator Bob Dole, Campaign National Chairman, and a World War II Veteran.
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The National World War II Memorial was dedicated May 29, 2004. Mr. Rodkey has enrolled all of his and his wife’s World War II family members in the World War II Memorial Registry of Remembrances.
He says another personal highlight was shaking hands with Lt. Col. Richard Cole, a Doolittle Raider. This was during a program of the Doolittle Raider’s 71st and final anniversary reunion, at the Air Force Armament Museum (Eglin AFN, Florida). The location was where the Raiders trained for their historic mission.
In 2000, Mr. Rodkey co-founded the World War II Veterans Parade Task Force, in Washington, DC. After going to the parade that commemorated the opening of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, LA (now the National World War II Museum), he was inspired to do something similar in Washington, DC. Mr. Rodkey helped organize a coalition of like-minded organizations. This led to the “A Parade Salute to World War II Veterans” on Memorial Day, May 31, 2004. The event coincided with dedication of the World War II Memorial. The next year the parade became The National Memorial Day Parade on Constitution Avenue. Today, the Parade is annual “rolling military history,” honoring those who proudly wear and have worn the uniform, their families, and many others.
Mr. Rodkey offers insights for taking up the challenge of the National War Museum Project. “Museums have always been a place to bring people together,” he says. “New technologies are making museums more relevant than ever.” The National War Museum will be a new and important gateway to America’s history.
Mr. Rodkey and his wife Sarah are avid travelers. They have visited a wide range of military museums in the U.S., including: the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Museum of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Army’s Women’s, Quartermaster, and Transportation Museums, the Virginia War Museum, International Spy Museum, American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, Ritchie History Museum, National Veterans Memorial and Museum, World War II American Experience Museum, American Heritage Museum, Forts Monroe and Ticonderoga, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Battleships New Jersey and Wisconsin, and the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey.
Internationally, the Rodkeys have been to the Imperial War Museum, London; England; the Armed Forces Museum in Oslo, Norway; the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Canada; the Victory Museum and the Central Museum of Armed Forces, both in Moscow, the Russian Federation; the Resistance Museum, Bordeaux, France, Nuremberg Trials Museum, Germany; and the Resistance Museum, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The high point of their travels, however, has always been visiting American World War I and World War II cemeteries and memorials in Europe. “To walk among the crosses of white marble, in those immaculately cared for fields, is very moving,” says Mr. Rodkey. To date, they have visited seven cemeteries.
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A fan of classic films, in the “war movie” genre Mr. Rodkey lists American Sniper (Iraq War); Bridge on the River Kwai, Action in the North Atlantic, The Caine Mutiny, and Saving Private Ryan (World War II);The Best Years of Our Lives (post-World War II); We Were Soldiers (Vietnam War); Pork Chop Hill (Korean War); Paths of Glory and War Horse (World War I); and The Red Badge of Courage (Civil War) as among his favorites. He also likes films produced by Ken Burns, and John Huston’s World War II documentaries. Authors Stephen Ambrose and Rick Atkinson (American) and Jonathan Trigg (British) are two military historians whom he especially enjoys reading.
A long-time resident of Sterling, Virginia, Mr. Rodkey is a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the Society for Military History, the Friends of the National World War II Memorial, and the National Archives Foundation.
Mr. Rodkey has an MBA in Marketing from Rutgers University, and a BA in Journalism from Michigan State University. In 2024, he retired after a long career in the federal government, working at agency headquarters in Washington, DC.
