TIMELINE | CASE HISTORY | SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

 " In July 1985, Mr. Miller and Capt Olson met, and Mr. Miller’s offer to assist Capt Olson further was accepted and appreciated. At this time, Capt Olson had asked the NAVSPECWARCRU: “for many items, e.g., wetsuit, parachute(s), jungle fatigues, web gear, etc., to outfit mannequins, but to no avail,” (Letter-Meeting, 1985) but with Mr. Miller’s offer to help Capt Olson was: “now optimistic that we will have a professional weapons display.” (Letter-Meeting, 1985) Capt Olson asked Mr. Miller to: “formulate a plan to put together a representative family of weapons that accurately depicts the UDT/SEAL from World War II through Vietnam ”

-  BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

Letter from Capt Olson to Mr. Miller, July 29th, 1985

" On November 10th, 1985, the “U.D.T.-SEAL Museum” (Invitation, 1985) officially opened, and Mr. Miller’s property was displayed. Despite tagging all 38 items he had sent to the museum, and all he had done to assist ahead of the opening, there was no association of Mr. Miller to his loaned property on display or recognition of Mr. Miller’s contributions. Even though Mr. Miller had not received any written acknowledgment that the museum had documented his loaned property correctly, Mr. Miller carried on because he trusted Capt Olson and felt confident with the oral agreement. Mr. Miller considered Capt Olson a friend, and as a fellow teammate living by the: “Navy SEAL standards of excellence…to demonstrate uncompromising integrity”, (Museum, Preserving The Legacy, 2021) why wouldn’t he? "

-  BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

Invitation to the dedication of the U.D.T-SEAL Museum, November 10th, 1985

" Almost four months after the opening of the Museum and nearly a year since Mr. Miller had tagged, crated, and shipped, items from his personal collection for use at the Museum’s opening day he received confirmation of his loaned items in the form of a receipt, “February 24, 1986…The enclosed Receipt for Loan form reflects the approximate date that you made the loan to the UDT-SEAL Museum Association, Inc.” (Receipt-Letter, 1986) The “Receipt for Loans” listed 37 items, many misspelled and poorly defined, for example, “Colt AR-15, SPl semi-auto, Ser. SP---- & SP----” (Receipt, 1986, p. 2). Those two firearms are all original Armalite “Greenie” parts except for the lower receivers listed on the document, implying that by this time the tags with the item descriptions Mr. Miller had sent along to establish provenance were no longer attached. ”

-  BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

Receipt for Loans

" Continuing with the same Motion: “Miller then left the donated items at the Museum for thirty years and is now attempting to sue for money damages arising therefrom”, again, the items were always a loan. In a letter from Richard D. Ward, President UDT-SEAL Museum Association dated: "12 May 1985" (*note, the envelope is dated 12 May 1986), he writes on UDT-SEAL Museum Association Inc., letterhead: “Dear Fred, In grateful appreciation for your significant contribution of weapons to the UDT-SEAL Museum Association, you have been forwarded under separate cover a “UDT-SEAL Commemorative Fighting Knife” made by the American Historical Foundation. Your unselfish efforts in support of the Museum are well recognized and greatly appreciated. I don’t know if you can realize it, but without the loan of your personal collection, the Museum would be virtually devoid of weapons. Again, on behalf of the Association, I thank you for your support. I hope that this knife will serve as a small token of appreciation for your very big effort toward making the museum a reality. cc: file” (Letter-Ward, 1985*) "

-   BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

Letter from Richard D. Ward, President UDT-SEAL Museum Assoc. Inc.

" While Mr. Miller was confident with the oral agreement between him and Capt Olson, Mr. Miller was concerned that the Museum would believe they had a contract and felt it was necessary to comply accordingly. "
" June 10th, 1989, approximately four-and-a-half-years after Mr. Miller first shipped his loaned items, and again on April 2nd, 1990 (Letter-Request, Mr. Miller to the Museum to Return Property, 1990), approximately seven months prior to the expiration of the five-year loan term listed on the “Receipt for Loans” (Receipt, 1986, p. 1), Mr. Miller wrote to the museum at least three times and indicated he did not wish to renew the loan, but he would like to arrange for the return of his items. "

-  BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

" While Mr. Miller was confident with the oral agreement between him and Capt Olson, Mr. Miller was concerned that the Museum would believe they had a contract and felt it was necessary to comply accordingly "
" June 10th, 1989, approximately four-and-a-half-years after Mr. Miller first shipped his loaned items, and again on April 2nd, 1990 (Letter-Request, Mr. Miller to the Museum to Return Property, 1990), approximately seven months prior to the expiration of the five-year loan term listed on the “Receipt for Loans” (Receipt, 1986, p. 1), Mr. Miller wrote to the museum at least three times and indicated he did not wish to renew the loan, but he would like to arrange for the return of his items. "

-  BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

" ...over the last 30 years all attempts by Mr. Miller to try and resolve the issue were done discretely, and directly, with the Museum staff and board members. "

" Capt Olson, ever faithful to Mr. Miller, would introduce Mr. Miller to anyone he thought would be able to help get his loaned property returned to him by the Museum. Often, those conversations would begin warm and friendly and end with some expressed willingness to help Mr. Miller, but upon follow up, all discussion on the matter would stop cold. For example, after yet another attempt to speak with someone at the Museum about the return of his property, November 7th, 2016, Dave Watts, a former SEAL and currently the Vice Chairman of California Board, (Museum, 2021) wrote to Mr. Miller by email, “I would very much appreciate it if you could mail or email me copies of the documentation you have with the Museum about the collection stored and on displayed there. They are important items in the Museum’s collection, and the only documentation the staff has been able to find indicates that it was a donation not a loan. But I will personally review what you can send me and work hard to find a good resolution of this issue. I hope to hear back from you.” (Email, 2016) Mr. Miller responded to Mr. Watts’ email by sending hard copies of the requested documentation to Mr. Watts and several people on the board of directors-care of the museum for review. Mr. Miller received no further communication from Mr. Watts, or anyone else. "

-   BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

" They are important items in the Museum’s collection... "

-Email from Dave Watts, currently the Vice Chairman of California Board (Museum, 2021) 

to Mr. Miller

The National Navy UDT SEAL Museum did not hold proper title to the Chris Kyle Legend Series 1911 TRP Operator, Serial Number 1/1000, when they raffled it on November 4th, 2017:

https://tinyurl.com/Guns-America-NRA-Auction-2016

Fred, is the SEAL museum a good one. Or do guns disappear? I am thinking of donating the Chris Kyle Springfield commemorative Serial #1. 

-Friend, October 17, 2016

The museum is a fine thing and getting better all the time. As far as I know nothing disappears. I have several items there on display. I am going down to Fort Pierce the November 4th for the annual muster and could take it there for you and get a receipt for it.

-Mr. Miller, October 18, 2016

I would have to get the form needed by the IRS for a deduction. Do they know what that is? 

-Friend, October 18, 2016

I believe that you can get it from the internet print it out and send it to me with the gun and I will take it there and have it signed. If I call the museum there will not be anyone around who will know. I will call Rick Kaiser now to see if he knows or has the deduction form. Give me a few minutes.

-Mr. Miller, October 18, 2016

They need to be a 501(c)(3). Can you check on this? 

-Friend, October 18, 2016

I am in Fort Pierce at the yearly Muster. I need for you to call and email a man named Rolf, deputy director of the museum. Tell him you had no intentions of donating the pistol as a raffle piece. It was sent to the museum to honor Chris. It’s up for raffle tomorrow. Call ASAP Rolf ###. Also email Rolf, @... Also send a email and call Rick Kaiser the man we sent the gun to. You donated in honor of Chris. Not for auction. 

-Mr. Miller, November 3, 2017

Call me. 

-Mr. Miller, November 4th, 2017

I’m in California. I called Rolf and explained that the gun was for the collection. He said that the gun was in the raffle and he couldn’t guarantee that it could be removed. I don’t know what to do at this point. I don’t have Kaiser’s phone or email with me. Let me know what happens. Thanks. 

-Friend, November 3, 2017

I am so sorry about this I had no idea that this would happen. It happened to me also. They made a little trouble about it today and my name is mud over it. The people running the museum have no affinity for guns of any type. Everything is a weapon. I am sorry. I did not write everything out for you in detail before I sent the gun. The Museum did not send to you an agreement to sign, did they? You never had a chance to dictate the terms and conditions, did you? I will call you when I get home and we should talk. I understand this has happened many times in the past. I will call you. 

-Mr. Miller, November 4, 2017

" The Museum continues its unwillingness to follow industry best practices, or established museum practices, and by doing so erodes the public trust by taking advantage of their patrons to this day. “For a museum, the IRS considers additions to the collections as a related use, but fund-raising (even when funds will be used to purchase objects for the collections) does not fall into this category. It is not wrong for a museum to accept donations of objects for an auction or for immediate exchange, but such transfers should be carried out in a forthright manner. Donors should be apprised of the intended use, the method of recording the gift should be distinct from an accession, and acknowledgments should be phrased accordingly. Without tax incentives and generous donors, museums could not flourish. A lack of candor on the part of museums in the handling of donations could jeopardize either or both of these benefits.” (Malaro & DeAngelis, 2012, p. 60)

In October 2016, a long-time friend of Mr. Miller reached out by email to ask about the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum: “Fred, is the SEAL Museum a good one. Or do guns disappear? I am thinking of donating the Chris Kyle Springfield Commemorative Serial #1.” (Email-2016) Springfield Armory had partnered with the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation to create 1000, 1911 TRP Pistol’s, just like the one Chris Kyle used in Fallujah as part of the Chris Kyle Legend Series. Mr. Miller’s friend had the winning bid for Serial No. 1/1000 during a live bidding session at the NRA Annual Meetings in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, May 21st, 2016; (Slowik, 2016) and he was interested to donate the pistol as a restricted gift, meaning he was interested to donate the pistol with conditions, those being that the pistol would be displayed at the Museum and remain part of the Museum’s permanent collection. Mr. Miller, forever loyal to the legacy of the UDT-SEAL, vouched for the Museum and its credibility, “the museum is a fine thing and getting better all the time. As far as I know nothing disappears. I have several items there on display. I am going down to Fort Pierce…November 4 for the annual muster and could take it there for you and get a receipt for it”. (Email-Miller, 2016) 

Mr. Miller’s friend then shipped the pistol to Mr. Miller, along with a note: “It is an honor to donate Springfield Armory Chris Kyle Commemorative Serial Number 1 to The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum. More than a physical object this gun embodies the sacrifice and heroic service of Seals for our country. May god always bless the warriors in The Teams and our great Nation. With deepest respect, [Name], 10-21-2016.” (2016) Mr. Miller received the pistol and shipped it to the Museum. Here, the delegation of authority to accept the object becomes unclear. Per Museum best practices, the Museum would have exercised their collection management policy and accession process ahead of the pistol arriving at the Museum, but now that the pistol was on site it was even more important to: “question provenance; take advantage of art-loss registers to be sure the proposed acquisition is not listed as missing; make reasonable efforts to probe for indications of trouble (the level of efforts should be commensurate with the value of the material); keep records of all steps taken in the acquisition process, and publicize the acquisition of all objects of significance,” (Malaro & DeAngelis, 2012, pp. 80-81) at the very least contact the owner, but that is not what happened. 

Mr. Miller arrived at the Muster to find the pistol had been put into the raffle. November 3, 2017: “I am in Ft. Pierce at the yearly muster. I [need] for you to call and email a man named Rolf, deputy director of the museum. Tell him you had no intentions of donating the pistol as a raffle piece. It was sent to the museum to honor Chris. It [is] up for raffle tomorrow. Call asap. Rolf (###)… Also email Rolf @ …Also send a email and call Kaiser the man we sent the gun to. You donated in honor of Chris. Not for auction. Fred” (Miller, 2017) The two men tried to remedy the situation, clarify, and set right the purpose of the restricted gift, but to no avail: “I’m in California. I called Rolf and explained that the gun was for the collection. He said that the gun was in the raffle, and he couldn’t guarantee that it could be removed.” (Email - 2017) Later, Mr. Miller asked Kaiser why he put the Chris Kyle pistol into the raffle, and Kaiser told him that: “it didn’t fit our criteria”, and, “we needed new windows for the museum”. If the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum only intended to raffle it off as a fundraiser, then it was to be returned to the owner. “The museum has a responsibility to inform the donor if it does not intend to use the offered property for a related use, so that the donor is not misled as to tax consequences…the integrity of the individual empowered to accept the object and the museum’s integrity are at stake.” (Malaro & DeAngelis, 2012, p. 408)

Lastly, Mr. Miller was the transferee not the owner: “When a museum acquires an object, therefore, attention should be given to the “completeness” of title. The museum should understand exactly what right it is acquiring and whether there is proper documentation of these rights” (Malaro &  DeAngelis, 2012, p. 64), the Museum did no such thing when accepting the Chris Kyle pistol, and thirty-two years prior Capt Olson foresaw how critical it was to honor the public trust in this way, “The Admiral’s Sister Beth, who had married Prescott Bush, brother of former President Bush, made it clear that they would not donate the Admiral’s memorabilia to the Museum, but they would loan it to a privately controlled organization for display in the Museum…Their concerns were well-founded, as most government museums have a reputation for often storing donated artifacts for future barter and many times selling them for profit.” (Captain Norm Olson (SEAL), 2021) Is it possible the reason why the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum has been so adamantly opposed to returning Mr. Miller’s property all these years is  because some of the items no longer exist in the museum’s collection? Have items from Mr. Miller’s personal property been sold, stolen, or raffled? "

-  BETRAYED OVER 30 YEARS

Photographs of the Chris Kyle Springfield Commemorative Serial #1 pistol, and the owner's heartfelt note.

Emails between Mr. Miller and his friend who intended to donate the Chris Kyle Springfield Commemorative Serial #1 as a restricted gift, but the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum raffled it without the owner’s knowledge.