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The Truman Legacy Lives On: Grandson of U.S. President Harry S. Truman Speaks at ROA’s Centennial Convention and the Sullivan Brothers Museum

Clifton Truman Daniel (above left), grandson of President Harry S. Truman, poses with Maj. Gen. Evan “Curly” Hultman during a recent event at Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.

Clifton Truman Daniel’s presentation at ROA’s Centennial Convention banquet in the fall of 2022 inspired Maj. Gen. Evan “Curly” Hultman to recommend Daniel to visit the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in his hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.

Daniel is the oldest grandson of President Harry S. Truman and his wife, Bess. Truman was the president who signed ROA’s Congressional Charter in June of 1950.

His appearance at ROA’s centennial came about fortuitously, as Daniel was in Washington, D.C. for the installation of his grandfather’s statue in the Capitol Rotunda during the week of ROA’s Centennial Convention.

He even presented ROA’s distinguished Truman Award to past ROA President Judi Davenport and past Dept. of Tenn. President John Davenport — a first for this award to be presented to a couple, and by a Truman family member.

In his keynote address, Daniel spoke about the military life of his grandfather; however in his appearance at Waterloo, he spoke about what it was like growing up with a grandfather in the White House, especially during WWII.

Thanks to the initiative of former ROA President and Executive Director Hultman, the Truman Legacy lives on — especially at our ROA Headquarters on Capitol Hill where we carry out our chartered mission “to support and assist in the development and execution of a military policy for the United States which shall provide adequate National Defense.”

Greene and Hultman were among several sponsors of the event, along with the American Legion Foundation of Iowa; family members of several deceased local World War II veterans; as well as the Robert Hibbs VFW Post in Cedar Falls.
 
Sullivan is the granddaughter of Albert Sullivan, the youngest of the five Sullivan brothers, from Waterloo lost during World War II on the USS Juneau off Guadalcanal. She is a third-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Cedar Falls, and is the official U.S. Navy sponsor of the destroyer “USS The Sullivans (DDG-68).”

 

Pictured in the back row from left to right are David Greene, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Battle of Iwo Jima; Hovey Brom, who served as a forward observer in the 16th Armored Division of Gen. George S. Patton’s U.S. Third Army; and Gen. Hultman. Greene, Brom, and Hultman all played roles in the design, construction, and fundraising for the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. They are pictured with Clifton Truman Daniel and Kelly Sullivan.