THE PERFECT READ

On March 29, 1973, the last American combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam and Wisconsin was there in more ways than one. Join the Wisconsin Veterans Museum for their annual Talking Spirits: Forest Hill Cemetery Tours, now celebrating its 25 th year. See, hear, and experience how the Vietnam War changed the lives of thousands of Wisconsinites for decades to come. These tours will feature four vignettes along the tour route, as historical actors portray veterans’ experiences in Vietnam, as well as the policymakers who brought the war to conclusion, and the important mission of bringing our MIA’s home.

CEMETERY SCHOOL TOURS: OCTOBER 2-5 | CANDLELIGHT TOURS: OCTOBER 7 PUBLIC (DAYTIME) TOURS: OCTOBER 8

Want to learn more about the Civil War? The gift shop staff at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, with the assistance of our curators, can help you find the perfect book. From classics like James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom and Shelby Foote’s epic three-volume narrative history to the latest prize winners from The Society for Military History, we will help you find the perfect title.

"But I can just order a Civil War book online," you say. No algorithm or AI has yet been developed that can match the depth of knowledge of our staff when the topic is Wisconsin’s role in the Civil War. A few years ago, research estimated that some 60,000 books about the Civil War have been published, and more are being published all the time. How do you know where to start? If we don’t have the title in stock, we will search high and low, far and wide to find it. Many of the “classics” are now out of print. If you don’t know a regiment from a corps or want to learn more what the 6th regiment did during the 10:00 am hour at Antietam, we want to help.

GEORGE E. MANUEL was born on July 5, 1917 in North Carolina. He was living there when he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939, serving throughout World War II. He rejoined the U.S. Air Force in 1951. Interestingly, the U.S. military segregated African-Americans during World War II, but had desegregated by the time Manuel rejoined in 1951, so he experienced both situations. He remained in the Air Force, serving at Truax Field in Madison for a time, until 1966, when he retired with 20 years of service.

MELVIN ROBERT LAIRD JR. was an American politician, writer, and statesman. He was a U.S. congressman from Wisconsin from 1953 to 1969 before serving as Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973 under President Richard Nixon. Laird was instrumental in forming the administration’s policy of withdrawing U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam War; he coined the expression “Vietnamization,” referring to the process of transferring more responsibility for combat to the South Vietnamese forces.

RICHARD W. FISCHER vanished in Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province when he was part of a Marine ambush team. Military investigators started searching for Fischer’s body in the area where he disappeared in the 1990s. After tips from local residents, they excavated a burial site where they found his remains in 1994. Investigators initially failed to recover a DNA sequence from bone samples to prove it was Fischer. Technology improved over time, and they succeeded in obtaining a sequence in 2007. Fischer’s sister and niece gave DNA samples, which were matched to his DNA. Fischer’s remains were flown back to Wisconsin from a military base in Hawaii where they had been for more than a decade.

CHIA VUE VANG was a native of Laos. Her husband served with the CIA during the Vietnam War, as did six of her sons. Meanwhile, she and her family hid in the jungles of Vietnam to avoid the Communists. When the Communists took over in 1975, Chia and her family fled to Thailand without money, medicine, or food. They eventually made their way to the United States.

We are delighted to announce a new addition to our Foundation Board of Directors! Connie Walker, a retired U.S. Navy Captain will bring a wealth of experience and service to our board.

Since retiring from naval service in 2005, Connie focuses on building sustainable federal and state VA and non-VA partnerships to address cultural competency and access-to-care challenges facing seriously disabled veterans, their caregivers, and families. Her federal and state trainings have included VA transition patient advocates at the National Institute of Mental Health; faculty, administration, and counseling staff in the University of Maryland and University of Wisconsin Systems; crisis intervention training for Maryland and Wisconsin law enforcement and other first responders; and clergy leadership training in central and southcentral Wisconsin.

Her testimonies to the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and the Maryland General Assembly have contributed to the passage of multi-million dollar increases in federal and state funding to expand VA and non-VA mental health and substance abuse programs and rehabilitative services. She is the primary caregiver for her son, Michael, a seriously disabled army veteran of the Iraq War; and a legacy caregiver in the VA’s Caregiver Support Program. Eighteen years of caregiving, and mental health advocacy for her son, other veterans, and members of the community living with serious mental illness, inform Connie’s work on behalf of caregivers and families.

Connie also participated in the I Am Not Invisible traveling exhibit with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. The Museum also has her oral history, which you can listen to on the museum website.

Please join us in welcoming Connie!

Thirty years ago, in June of 1993, Governor Thompson authorized the movement of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum to its current location. The first Gulf War ended two years earlier. Since then, our nation has been involved in wars and conflicts continuously until our withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021. The governor and legislative leadership could not have anticipated the amount of service and sacrifice our state's citizens would have to endure during the 30 years since the museum moved to 30 West Mifflin from the State Capitol. The original space dedicated to the displays can now hold only 3% of the material in our collection. The artifacts now span the Wisconsin contribution to every conflict from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is an internationally recognized repository containing primary sources of our state and nation’s military history. Your donations and support protect the legacy of all those who served from the Civil War to Afghanistan. It is a great honor to be a part of this tradition and to have celebrated our 30th year at 30 West Mifflin on June 6 of this year. As we celebrate the 247th year since the signing of our Declaration of Independence, our Wisconsin Veterans Museum is a reminder of what it has cost to preserve that independence. This museum provides a touch point in vivid detail, not only for our children, but for our citizens and veterans as well, as to what service and sacrifice to a cause bigger than oneself means and entails.

We on the Board are grateful to our donors and supporters as we have begun the effort to build a new Wisconsin Veterans Museum capable of displaying the most important pieces of the collection and personal memoirs of our Wisconsin Veterans.

We look forward to working with the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, the legislative leaders, and you, our donors and patrons, to realize our vision for a new Wisconsin Veterans Museum at 30 West Mifflin capable of displaying our collection to honor the legacy of service and sacrifice Wisconsin citizens have offered in the past and continue to offer today.

In gratitude,

Daniel Checki Foundation Board President

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