The Bugle Fall 2023

FALL 2023

BUGLE

THE

FALL 2023 | VOLUME 30:3

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CONTENTS 7 | FROM THE DIRECTOR 8-9 | EVERY VETERAN IS A STORY 10-11 | FROM THE COLLECTION 12-13 | COLD WAR REMEMBERED 14-15 | FEED OUR NEIGHBORS 16 | FROM THE ARCHIVES 17 | MEET THE STAFF 18-19 | FROM THE ARCHIVES 20-25 | FROM THE FOUNDATION 26 | CALENDAR 27 | THANK YOU DONORS

WVM.1380.I004e Jon E. Smith and Ed [no last name listed], posing with the deck guns on a ship.

Jon E. Smith, a resident of Chicago, Illinois, served with Company A, 5th Amphibious Tractor Battalion, United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. Prior to his service in the Vietnam War, Smith was a professional baseball player. Following his service in Vietnam, Smith returned to Chicago, eventually moving to Madison, Wisconsin.

MUSEUM STAFF DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER L. KOLAKOWSKI | 608.266.1009

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR JENNIFER VAN HAAFTEN | 608.261.6802

THE WISCONSIN VETERANS MUSEUM

OPERATIONS ASSISTANT ELISE MCFARLANE | 608.261.0534

30 WEST MIFFLIN STREET

ORAL HISTORIAN

MADISON, WI 53703

LUKE SPRAGUE | 608.261.0537

CURATOR OF HISTORY KEVIN HAMPTON | 608.261.5409

PROCESSING ARCHIVIST BRITTANY STROBEL | 608.800.6958

COLLECTIONS MANAGER

ON THE CAPITOL SQUARE 608.267.1799 www.wisvetsmuseum.com

MUSEUM HOURS Closed Mondays

ANDREA HOFFMAN | 608.800.6957

Tuesday−Saturday

REFERENCE ARCHIVIST

10:00 AM–5:00PM

RUSS HORTON | 608.267.1790

Sunday (April–September) Noon–5:00 PM

REGISTRAR SARAH KAPELLUSCH | 608.800.6955

CURATOR OF EXHIBITS GREGORY KRUEGER | 608.261.0541

RESEARCH CENTER HOURS By appointment only 608.267.1790

STORE MANAGER GREG LAWSON | 608.261.0535

MARKETING MANAGER JENNIFER STEVENSON | 608.264.6068

EDUCATION SPECIALIST ERIK WRIGHT | 608.264.7663

Join Us Online!

COMMENTS & SUBMISSIONS We welcome your comments and editorial submissions concerning The Bugle. Comments and submissions should be sent to Jennifer Stevenson at Jennifer.Stevenson@dva.wisconsin.gov

FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

FOUNDATION STAFF

PRESIDENT

DIRECTORS AT LARGE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

DAN CHECKI

ALEJANDRO ARANGO-ESCALANTE

VICE PRESIDENT

DAN GREENE

JOANE MATHEWS

TIMOTHY LA SAGE

TREASURER

JOSEPH NAYLOR

JENNIFER CARLSON 608.261.0536 JENNIFER.CARLSON@ WVMFOUNDATION.COM

DAVE HEILIGER

NATHANIEL T. MILSAP, JR.

SECRETARY

JEFF BOUDREAU

WILLIAM HUSTAD

PAUL MCEVILLY

MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS DIRECTOR MOLLY SNOW 608.261.0536 MOLLY.SNOW@ WVMFOUNDATION.COM

CONNIE WALKER

COLLECTION DONORS 5/17/23–8/15/23 A most sincere thank you to all who donated to our collection from May 2023–August 2023.

Thank you for your generosity and support of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

William C. Anderson

Lisa Fauster

Linda Martin

Gary A. Smith

Frank Barborich

Chuck Gates

Gary Mason

Marc Storch

Becky Borgwardt

Joseph Guastella

Gerald E. Mullen

Richard Stransky

Dale Brasser

Bonnie Hamm

Susan O’Connor

Peter Todd

Ronald Bull

Kevin Hampton

Elizabeth Overstad

Diane Wipperfurth

Janice Cis

Christine Helding

Gina Paige

Mark Dalebroux

John Helmenstine

Reuben Roehl

Kim Dama

Phyllis Jones-Morrison Candy Schrank

Roger Davis

Mary Kolar

MUSEUM MISSION The mission of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum is to commemorate, acknowledge, and affirm the role of Wisconsin veterans in America’s military past and present.

Roberta Sladky

The Bugle is published quarterly for our members and friends through the support of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation provides funds for the support of artifact acquisitions, exhibit production, and the development of educational programs.

WVM Mss 1662 (Cannes – Casino , F.D.R. Welcome Committee 2, and Sailor – Kessick & Price Gibraltar) The above photo is from the John Preston “J.P.” Hale Collection. Hale was born in 1930 in Lima Center, Wisconsin.

Hale served with the U.S. Navy from 1950 to 1954 and was on board the USS Midway from 1951-1954, which was his only ship assignment. He traveled around the East Coast, the Arctic Circle, Cuba, and Europe, mainly the Mediterranean. During his service, he met Peg Herman, whom he later married. They had two children. Hale returned to Wisconsin and worked in a home building business in Whitewater. Hale died in 1996.

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FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Greetings! I hope this finds all of you well. It was a great summer; we’re looking forward to an active fall. Our Cemetery Tours mark their 25th year and have become a great tradition in Madison and beyond. This year we’ve picked out some compelling Vietnam-era stories to focus on.

Our extensive online offerings continue to attract audiences from across the state, nation, and world. If you haven’t lately, check out what is available at our website.

The biggest news since our last issue is the Legislature’s approval of $9 million to acquire 30 West Mifflin and start the process to developing a new Wisconsin Veterans Museum. This news is positive in the extreme, ranking beside the decisions to establish the GAR Memorial Hall and move the Veterans Museum to its current location. It also represents an endorsement of the museum’s value to Wisconsin, and its vision for the future.

This approval starts us on an exciting journey into the Wisconsin Veterans Museum’s future. Working with our partners and supporters, we will ensure a vibrant museum for many decades to come.

As I think about all this, I’m incredibly grateful. I’ll repeat a line I used in the last issue: “We have accomplished all we have thanks to all of our supporters over the years, and it makes me optimistic for the future.”

Best wishes to all of you and thank you for your continuing support. See you at the museum soon.

Best,

Chris Kolakowski

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Director

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Arthur MacArthur, Jr., a U.S. Army veteran known for many accomplishments, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prior to rising to the rank of lieutenant general, he was the military governor of the Philippines. MacArthur fought in the Civil War with the 24th Wisconsin Infantry. During the Battle of Missionary Ridge in November 1863, the 24th Wisconsin’s flag bearer fell under heavy fire. Seizing the moment and the flag, the 19-year-old MacArthur rallied his men and led them forward to an eventual Union victory. His bravery in that moment earned him the Medal of Honor and sped him toward his other notable accomplishments. Of note, Arthur MacArthur is the father of Douglas MacArthur who also received the Medal of Honor.

EVERY VETER

Ellen Bowers Healy, a Marion, Wisconsin native, joined the U.S. Marine Corps while attending law school. She served as a judge advocate for 28 years, working as trial counsel in Okinawa and California and, after her promotion to lieutenant colonel, serving at other Marine bases around the world. She was serving at Camp Pendleton, California in 1983 when news broke about the Beirut barracks bombings. She said it was a turning point in her Marine Corps career, a reminder that even in a time of relative peace, Marines served in harm’s way. She described the way that security procedures and more changed, even at stateside bases, following the attack.

By: Russ Horton Reference Archivist

AN IS A STORY

FROM THE COLLECTIONS

By: Andrea Hoffman Collections Manager

“I know there are no words that can express our sorrow and grief over the loss of those splendid young men and the injury to so many others…Likewise, there are no words to properly express our outrage and, I think, the outrage of all Americans at the despicable act, following as it does on the one perpetrated several months ago, in the spring, that took the lives of scores of people at our Embassy in that same city, in Beirut.” – President Ronald Reagan, October 23, 1983

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orty years ago this fall, in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War, suicide bombers destroyed buildings that housed U.S. and French military personnel who were stationed in Beirut as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. The barracks for the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) Battalion Landing Team (1/8) was one of the bomber’s targets. The Marines lost 220 of their own in addition to the 18 sailors and three soldiers who were killed. October 23, 1983 proved to be the deadliest single day for the U. S. Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The continued breakdown of local order led to the withdrawal of their replacements, the 22nd MAU, by February 1984, and yet a contingent of Marines stayed to continue providing security at the U.S. Embassy.

The amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA-4) brought 115 24th MAU replacements for such duty to Beirut during the spring of 1984. For U.S. Navy Boiler Technician David R. Homan, Jr., a petty officer first class from Racine, Wisconsin who had boarded Nassau that January, his April 7, 1984 arrival off the coast of Beirut marked his second time there in two years. Homan was previously in the region during the summer of 1982 on USS Biddle (CG-34), a guided missile cruiser that escorted refugees of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) fleeing to Tunisia. Upon his return, Homan was already well acquainted with the serious tensions across the Middle East at the time.

Beirut wound up being the site of an incident that nearly cost Homan an eye and later earned him a Purple Heart medal. He was on the ship’s deck during a fire fight that erupted onshore. When machine guns suddenly turned and struck his ship, shrapnel hit him in several places and caused him to fall to the deck below. The pain in his back initially distracted him from shards of glass that went in his eye when his glasses shattered, but that was the more severe of his injuries that day. He needed a cornea transplant and three weeks of recovery.

These injuries were far from the only ones Homan would incur during his 22 years of service, with his work in the boiler room proving hard on his body. From the time he enlisted in 1974 until the day he was transferred to the Temporary Disability Retired List in 1991, he developed a heart condition due to repeated heat stroke, suffered permanent nerve damage to his legs and hands, and broke his back twice. These injuries meant Homan did not return to the Middle East again during the Persian Gulf War, but instead spent three months at the end of 10

1990 into early 1991 recovering at Bethesda Naval Hospital. During the same period, the fifteen years of civil war and mass violence he had witnessed firsthand in Lebanon also finally ended.

Homan was honorably discharged in 1995 with the rank of chief petty officer.

He returned to Racine and worked as a boiler plant inspector and volunteered for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary for 17 years.

He said, “It wasn’t the navy, but it was as close as I could find.”

"The unique pieces in Homan's collection remind us of the lesser know yet important events where Wisconsin was there."

(Previous page) Photograph of Homan from the 1984 USS Nassau Navy Cruise Book.

(Top, left) USS Nassau patch (V2010.97.9) (Top, right) Multinational Peacekeeping Force patch (V2010.97.8) (Center, right) Multinational Peacekeeping Force Lebanon commemorative ashtray acquired in Beirut in 1984, cast by a local vendor from brass casings he stated were found after gunfighting. (V2010.97.17) (Bottom, left) USS Nassau Zippo lighter (V2010.66.8), (Bottom, center) Earlier-model coveralls worn by Homan in the boiler room, soon to be replaced by lighter weight Nomex models in the early 1980s (V2010.97.22) (Bottom, right) Unit Identification Mark (V2012.65.2)

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Forty years ago in October 1983, two incidents involving U.S. service members became headlines and were some of the first instances that tested U.S. military resolve after the end of the war in Vietnam ten years earlier. These incidents directly touched Wisconsinites.

Early Sunday morning, October 23, 1983, suicide truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon that served as barracks for U.S. Marines and French service members serving under the peacekeeping Multinational Force (MNF) during the Lebanese Civil War. The bombs killed 241 soldiers, sailors Marines. With 220 Marines killed it was the deadliest one-day toll for the Corps since Iwo Jima.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum collections have oral histories that demonstrate how top of mind the attack on the barracks in Beirut came to be for Wisconsin service members who had connections to others serving in the Mediterranean area.

Debra Wenzel from Appleton, Wisconsin joined the U.S. Army Reserves as a way of “wading in” to service as her oral history recounts. She met her future husband, 12

an active-duty Marine, at the recruiting station. She was attending boot camp in the fall of 1983 when she heard that the Marine barracks were bombed. She was worried her future husband was on shore, as he had been stationed on the USS New Jersey just offshore at the time.

She was reassured by others that he was on the ship and not at the barracks.

Yolanda Medina’s story illustrates that the Beirut bombing touched her life intimately. She and her husband signed up as Marines together. She was an aircraft technician. He was deployed overseas and was stationed off the coast of Lebanon, and in fact his ship was leaving when the attack happened.

Medina says: “So, his LHA [amphibious assault ship] turned back around, went to Beirut. And because of what he did and what he saw in S-1, he … [was involved in the recovery mission of those who were killed]. It affected him severely for the rest of his life. And at the time, you know, you're young, you're just happy he's home, you don't know what he's going through.

But I knew that it was — he was a different person.”

The two sides in Beirut were backed by the U.S. and the Western European countries on the one hand and the other by the Soviet Union.

On October 25, 1983 in another part of the world, the island of Grenada’s Prime

By: Jennifer Van Haaften WVM Assistant Director

(Left) Cuban rucksack picked up by Captain George Hill of the 82nd Airborne while in Grenada, which he then gave to John Scocos when they were roommates together at Fort Irwin, CA in 1985. Scocos was later Secretary of WDVA when he donated it to WVM. (V2006.64.1) (Center) T-shirt graphic, "Native Americans served with pride." (V2001.1.2) (Right) Shoulder sleeve insignia, 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne). (V1999.24.308)

Minister Maurice Bishop was executed during a coup. Answering an appeal from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, Barbados, and Jamaica, the United States and the Regional Security System invaded Grenada. Like Beiruit, Grenada was also a proxy conflict of the Cold War. The Caribbean democracies and the U.S. were worried about the Cuban and Soviet influence in the country of Grenada and the Western Hemisphere in general. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum holds a Cuban rucksack picked up by Captain George Hill of the 82nd Airborne. It ended FALL 2023

up in the hands of Wisconsinite John Scocos who donated it to the museum. It could be considered an illustration of the Cuban influence on the island of Grenada at the time.

These two conflicts were an outgrowth of the diametrically opposed United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War provided the roots for more conflict in the Middle East and the basis for continued hostilities that led to additional U.S. intervention in the Middle East in the 1990s and 2000s.

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Wisconsin Veterans Museum's Holiday Cam We know that many households in our community face food insecurity. This holiday season, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum is offering you the chance to buy help feed your neighbors.

You can purchase a Bucket of Bread and/or an Operation Coffee item that will be collected and delivered to a Madison-area food pantry. We appreciate your consideration, and humbly ask if you would consider helping us help the community for the holidays and beyond.

Starting the Conversation with a Cup In founding Operation Coffee, Wisconsin veteran Sam Floyd (USMC) has truly found his mission. At first, after returning home in 2005 from a tour in Afghanistan, Floyd struggled to adjust to civilian life. Like many veterans navigating their postmilitary careers, he fought a battle for his mental health and at one point, contemplated taking his own life. Because of his experiences overseas, Floyd felt alienated from his friends and loved ones. He knew that to find happiness at home, he had to find and pursue his passion—coffee.

Since Sam had had many impactful conversations over a cup of joe, he decided coffee itself would be his passion. These conversations became the seed for the blossoming idea that would save Floyd’s life, and potentially the lives of other veterans facing post-combat mental health challenges.

Many servicemembers commit suicide, “because they have lost their warrior spirit and hope,” writes Floyd. “A conversation over coffee” can help them start to see that life is indeed worth living and that as veterans, they can take up a new missio to give purpose and meaning to their lives, like the mission of blending coffee did for Sam. 14

30 W. Mifflin St. | Madison, WI 53703 Store.WisVetsMuseum.com

mpaign to

EVERY VETERAN IS A STORY. WISCONSIN WAS THERE.

IT STILL MATTERS.

Hitting Pause on Donations until

Feeding Neighbors with Bucket of Bread Chris Wysong is a career army veteran, and after his time in the military, he returned to La Crosse, WI. He opened Bucket of Bread to continue a love of creating delicious baked goods. In addition to baking, Chris also had a desire to do something that would help make a positive impact in his community and around Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum found Chris through Veteran Shark Tank, and we loved his story and passion. We have been carrying his dry bread kits in our store for almost a year to positive feedback from our customers. We wish to continue to share his products with our patrons and with the community at large.

Like Chris, who has participated in many charity events and fund raising, Bucket of Bread is a fantastic way of combatting food insecurity in our area. Each bucket provides four pounds of bread dough that can be used in a variety of ways, and these are available in Traditional White, Hearty Wheat and Seven Grains. If you go to Chris’ website, bucketofbread.com, you will get a feel for Chris as a person, his passion for baking and how he is continuously working towards making FALL 2023 a difference.

MARCH 2024 We are putting a temporary pause on accepting donations to the museum collection. We will resume accepting donations after the staff completes an accreditation review with the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). The AAM accreditation process involves all staff and receiving accreditation means that the Wisconsin Veterans Museum adheres to the highest of standards and ethics in the museum profession.

We hope you understand the need for this pause and why donating to an accredited museum is important. We expect to resume collecting on March 1, 2024.

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(Top) Thanksgiving menu, Company G,4th Wisconsin Volunteers, November 24, 1898. (Mss2006.617) (Bottom) Louis Heilman served with the 8th U.S. Infantry, Co. K,C, & G during the Occupation of Cuba and the Philippine Insurrection. He enlisted in the army in March 1899 and served until March 1902 as a corporal. He was active in the Spanish American War Veterans and the VFW. WVM Mss 2066 16

"IT'S A CALLING MORE THAN A JOB" THIS IS KEVIN HAMPTON

MEET THE MUSEUM STAFF

CURATOR OF HISTORY

Visitors will not get more then five feet into the museum before they will feel the work of Kevin Hampton, WVM’s Curator of History. He describes his work as a life-long passion. It’s true. Hampton’s affinity for Wisconsin veterans began with an elementary school field trip to WVM. He explains, “I bought a postcard of the Antietam diorama and pinned it to my bulletin board in my room at home. I looked at that postcard every day growing up until I left for college.”

Hampton began volunteering at WVM in 2004 and joined the ranks of paid staff 12 years ago.

His job encompasses studying the history of people, places, and events, interpreting that history, and distilling it into relevant chunks of information visitors will find engaging, both in the galleries and beyond the museum proper.

Hampton approaches his work with the fundamental belief that history is the ”Why” and not the “What” as we are often taught in school.

He says, “To truly understand and learn from history, you must realize that it’s really a matter of understanding people, humanity, and society more than memorizing facts, statistics, and famous names. In most cases, in the stories that we deal with the ‘what’ and ‘how’ are essentially either the resulting consequences of choices made by humans or are outside factors that influence those choices. Regardless, it’s the choice itself that provides the relevancy to an audience no matter how many years removed from the subject.”

To engage visitors, he considers more than presenting artifacts in a case. Curators pay attention to the vibe they want their visitors to feel. The answer to the visitor question of “why should I care” must be self-evident. That “so what” is conveyed broadly through gallery layouts and line of sight and through choice of background colors, fonts, audio tracks, etc.

And yet, Hampton certainly doesn’t want this work to stand out, and explains, “I truly believe that if you remember our names instead of the names of those veterans whose story we tell, we’ve done it wrong. Our goal should always be ensuring that the memory of those service members' stories entrusted to our care are never forgotten.”

Readers should also note that Hampton’s office functions as the staff snack cupboard. His well stocked space ensures he has many peckish visitors. It’s a subtle and much appreciated team-building activity as he fuels staff to accomplish the goal of showing the humanity behind the history.

By: Jennifer Stevenson Marketing Manager

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Mss2022.005.001.I001

Mss2022.005.001.I003

Mss2022.005.001.I006

Mss2022.005.001.I010

Mss2022.005.001.I008

Mss2022.005.001.I007

Mss2022.005.001.I012

FROM THE ARCHIVES By: Brittany Strobel Processing Archivist

Mss2022.005.001.I030

Mss2022.005.001.I034

Mss2022.005.001.I017

Warren G. Stevens, born 1928 in Madison, Wisconsin grew up in Wausau and was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1947 and graduated in 1951. Stevens served aboard the USS Rochester during the Korean War, 1951-1953. Following the Korean War, Stevens received a degree in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and accepted a commission in the navy’s Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) in 1954. Stevens served in Hawaii and Alaska before his first tour of duty in Vietnam in 1967. After his first tour, Stevens lived in England for three years with the U.S. Naval Forces in Europe where he worked on a building project for the 6th Fleet.

In 1971, Stevens served a second tour of duty in Vietnam, working as the Deputy Officer in Charge of Construction. Stevens’ final duty station was the command of the Construction Battalion Center at Davisville, Rhode Island, where he retired from in 1973. He worked as a civil engineer in New York for a time before settling in Wausau, Wisconsin and later Merrill, Wisconsin. He passed away on March 18, 2011.

Captions per slide descriptions: Mss2022.005.001.I001: Christmas, Japan, 1951 Mss2022.005.001.I003: Christmas, 1954 Mss2022.005.001.I006: New Years, 1955-1956 Mss2022.005.001.I007: Either Hawaii or “Can Do” Island Mss2022.005.001.I008 & I010: Alaska, 1958 Mss2022.005.001.I012: Arizona and Pearl Harbor memorials, 1967 Mss2022.005.001.I017,I030,&I034: Antarctica, 1972

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A big thank you to everyone, especially to all our sponsors, for making our 19th Annual WVMF Golf Outing, sponsored by U.S. Vet General Contracting, LLC and WPS Health Solutions, another successful year! Every year we are amazed by the strong support we receive from our golfers and sponsors. This year, we sold out in four weeks with 152 golfers and together through registrations, donations, and sponsorships we were able to raise over $40,000. The funds from the golf outing this year will provide critical financial resources for the museum’s programs. We are so grateful for your support and extend a heartfelt thank you for your participation in our annual fundraiser. Thank you for helping us continue to share our Wisconsin veterans’ stories.

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FOUNDATION

CHECKPOINT: GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN

VETERANS DAY AWARENESS EVENT Keynote Speaker:

MARK VANDROFF Retired U.S. Navy Captain and CEO of Fincantieri Marinette Marine November 4, 2023 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM Paradise North Distillery 101 Bay Beach Road, Suite 5 Green Bay, Wisconsin This event is made possible thanks to the following sponsors: Fincantieri Marinette Marine Paradise North Distillery Hands on Deck *$25/person *includes lunch and speaker FALL 2023

WisVetsMuseum.com/events

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FOUNDATION

WELCOME MOLLY SNOW MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS DIRECTOR

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation is delighted to announce our new Membership & Events Director, Molly Snow! We are thrilled to have Molly on board to manage the Foundation’s events, seek new members and steward our donors. You may have seen Molly giving tours for the museum, helping with museum virtual programs and in-person events, or seen her signage in the store windows. For the last four years, Molly was part of the education team and the last two years on the store team for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

Molly grew up in Cedar Rapids, IA and graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree in History from Northern Michigan University. For graduate school, she went overseas to England and earned her Master of Arts degree in Museum Studies from Newcastle University. Her military connection comes from her father as he served in the Marine Corps and two grandfathers who served in the U.S. Navy.

Feel free to introduce yourself to Molly to welcome her aboard or if you have any questions on your membership. Her email is molly.snow@wvmfoundation.com or call 608-261-0536.

Welcome to the Foundation, Molly!

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FROM THE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT Why? The question I am asked when soliciting donations for the new Wisconsin Veterans Museum is to explain why we should support an investment to fund a new building to house a collection of veterans’ artifacts. In these reports I have tried to offer a picture of the museum and the extraordinary content housed in our displays and storage facility. The foundation members believe the new museum campaign is important as an educational resource to give Wisconsinites and our children an appreciation of the cost we have paid to keep and expand our freedoms.

As we on the Foundation Board attempt to engage our donors, we constantly return to the children.

Let me share with you how this concern reveals itself.

Last month I was invited to tour the storage facility with a donor and his friend. One was one of the last of the WWII veterans still with us. The other was a Vietnam veteran. Both saw combat and both had vivid memories of their time in military service. As the Vietnam vet tried to tell of his experiences during the Tet offensive, he struggled to keep his composure. He was unable, at one point in the fighting, to come to the aid of his brother Marines as they fought and died in the struggle. He told us he thinks about his lost brothers and his experiences from that war every day since it happened. He could not hold back his emotions as he told his story.

One week later I was visiting some friends with two of my nephews. The children were playing the video game “Call of Duty.” I watched as they reenacted battles from the Second World War. Battles that one of our lunch guests had participated in! There was no emotion, no feeling of remorse, no understanding of the sacrifices involved. The scenes, sounds, and horror of the battles were graphically displayed on the screen, but the children playing felt nothing. To them, war was a competitive game. They could have been playing football or hockey with the same detachment.

The differences between the two experiences were profound and telling. We have an obligation to ensure that the sacrifices and scars left on our veterans are understood by the generations that inherit the freedoms we take for granted – freedoms they gave to us. Our members and donors understand the mission of this museum. The legislators who voted to release the funds to buy the building at 30 West Mifflin understand the mission. James Bond, the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, Kathy Blumenfeld, the Secretary of Administration, and our Governor understand.

We on the Veterans Museum Board ask all who read The Bugle to help us spread the answer to the question ‘Why?' Help us realize the vision of a new museum to teach our children about the sacrifices our Wisconsin veterans have made to ensure they have the freedoms they take for granted.

In gratitude,

Daniel Checki Foundation Board President FALL 2023

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Mark Your Calendar NOV

4

TALKING CEME TERY TOURS XXV

Vietnam: 50 Years Later

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FOREST HILL CEMETERY OCTOBER 2-8, 2023

CANDLELIGHT TOURS: OCTOBER 7 PUBLIC (DAYTIME) TOURS: OCTOBER 8

OCT

VIRTUAL DRINK & DRAW

13 7:00–8:00PM

Gather your art supplies, pour yourself a beverage, and bring your artistic energy as we spend the evening together stretching our creative muscles.

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TRIVIA NIGHT 7:00–8:00PM

Join us for our virtual trivia night and test your historical knowledge. Individuals and teams welcome.

MOVIE NIGHT

27 7:00–8:00PM

The Imitation Game (2014) Grab some popcorn and a seat in your favorite chair and join us for a virtual discussion of the selected movie with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum staff.

THE WAR TO END ALL WARS THE MOVIE PREMIER & TALK 1:00–3:00PM Join us for a special Veterans Day event.

Swedish heavy metal band, Sabaton, has launched “History Rocks”, a worldwide museum project. View their movie at the museum, then discuss with museum historians the movie narrative as it compares to the reality of World War I.

SCHOOL TOURS: OCTOBER 2-5

25TH SEASON

Checkpoint: Green Bay Paradise North Distillery | 101 Bay Beach Road, Suite 5 | Green Bay, Wisconsin Keynote: Mark Vandroff, U.S. Navy Captain (Ret.) and CEO of Fincantieri Marinette Marine

WISCONSIN VE TERANS MUSEUM

SPIRITS

CONVOY SPEAKER SERIES 12:00–2:00PM

14 16

24 DEC

TRIVIA NIGHT 7:00–8:00PM

Join us for our virtual trivia night and test your historical knowledge. Individuals and teams welcome.

MESS NIGHT 5:30–8:00PM Please join us for our quarterly dinner series with guest Col.(Ret.) Liam Collins, who will be discussing how Ukraine reformed its military to defend against what was ranked as the second most powerful military in the world.

MOVIE NIGHT 7:00–8:00PM

War Machine (2017)

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TRIVIA NIGHT 7:00–8:00PM

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MOVIE NIGHT 7:00–8:00PM

*For detailed information and registration visit: WisVetsMuseum.com/ events

A Midnight Clear (1992)

THANK YOU DONORS A most sincere thank you to all who donated from June 2023 through end of August 2023. We cannot provide quality programming and award-winning exhibits without your help.

Legacy Society Hand, Tom & Charlene Hall, John “Jack” WPS Health Solutions AARP Dane Arts Flatley, Tim Heiliger, David McEvilly, Paul Southern WI ChapterMOAA, Inc. The Presto Foundation Walker, Connie We Energies Foundation Weingandt, Marjunice Wilkening, Patricia American Legion Post 111 (Phaneuf-Vanasse) Angevine, Jim Behr, Denny & Joan Bieniek, Brian Butler, Craig C.K. Pier Badger Camp 1, SUVCW Devitt, Linda & Patrick Duecker, Robert Eilbes, Paul Finley, Barbara Fleck, Greg Fonger, MAJ Linda & COL Michael George, COL (Ret) Michael Harned, Lewis Heiliger, Dan & Tarah Heiliger, Jr., Donald Krantz, Ronald Lighthouse Ministries, Inc. Luedtke, Leslie Millsap, Nathaniel Mullins, Michael & Karen Nemke, James & Karen RP Adler’s Pub & Grill Seidel, Alice & Lee Strachota, Dennis

Teasdale, Anthony Whittow, Richard & Janet American Legion Post 29 (Kewaunee Post) American Legion Post 248 (GalvinStruckmeyer Post) American Legion Post 257 (Beckett-Kurth Post) American Legion Post 348 (Olson-Grinde Post) American Legion Post 437 (Greening-Buelow Post) American Legion Post 502 (BloecherJohnson Post) American Legion Post 521 (Robert W. Ginther Post) AMVETS Post 51 Weber-Tess Antonuzzo, Christine & Wade Dallagrana BAC District Council of Wisconsin Bachmann, Richard Bartz, COL (Ret) Claudia Baures, Chad Benson, Harry & Peggy Bloom, Wilson Braun, Doris & Richard Bublitz, James Coe, John “Jack” Colbert, Laura Connell, Marilyn & Russel Peloquin Deeken, Michael & Johanna Dekorra Men For Christ Duerr, Jerome Engeler, Jr., James Fay, Dennis Fetterly, MAJ (Ret) Roger Flanagan, David & Maureen

Ford, Peggy & Neil Greene, Dan Gruennert, Jim & Joann Hansen, W. Lee Hanson, Bob Hauda, William Hemmer, Paul Henrich, Gerald & Andrea Hettich, COL Paul Heuer, LT COL (Ret) Martin Holerud, Rose Isensee, Natalie Jaeck, David Janz, James King, Brian & Sarah Knesting, Bernard Knudson, William Knutson, Joyce Kostka, Marvin Kromanaker, Lisa & Alan Lake Wisconsin Lions Club Lemke, Ralph Lindeman, Roy & Dorothy Madsen, Frederic & Linda Martinelli, Thomas McKinney, Betsey McRoberts, Ida Gay Messina, Rosalie Metz, Gundel Miller, Debra & Brian Miller, Kenneth & Margaret Miller, Nancy Naylor, Joseph & Tasha Nelson, Dean Olson, Margaret Ann Otis, Lisa & Robert Miller Parker, James Powers, Brian Race, John & Rita Radosavljevic, Julie Ralston, Richard &

Krista Rasche, Pamela Robbins, William & Chris Rohrbacher, Edward & Marie Satterfield, Robert Schlagheck, Mary Beth & John Marhoefer Seybold, Frederick & Ann Speracino, Denise Spielman, Ronald St. John’s Lutheran School Stauter, Roger Steinhauer, John & Catherine Strobel, Kevin & Vickie Szymoniak, Krzysztof Thompson, Craig Thorson, Thor & Alice Van De Loop, John & Brenda Verbitsky, Barbara & Byron Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin VFW Post 1879 (Edwin Frohmader Post) VFW Post 5716 (Hoeppner-Horn) Vietnam Veterans of America, Chpt. 409 Waity III, Charles Wajnert, Tami & Joe Walker, Ericka Ward Decatur, Mary Ann West, Mary & Thomas Wing, Judith & Robert Wise, Mitchell & Roslyn Woolley, William & Jean Wren, Christopher Zimbric, Gerald & Hazel

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