From the Oliver Haessly Collection, his caption reads "Jap surrender party aboard the USS Missouri." Oliver J. Haessly, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin
served as a photographer's mate in the United States Navy during World War II. His scrapbook documents his military service through pictures that he took. The scrapbook also contains photographs he likely recevied from his peers like this one on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. WVM.1023.I117.02
DIRECTORS AT LARGE
ARANGO-ESCALANTE
CONNIE WALKER
WILLIAM HUSTAD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JENNIFER BIENIEK 608.261.0536
JENNIFER.BIENIEK@ WVMFOUNDATION.COM
MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS
DIRECTOR
MOLLY SNOW 608.261.0540
MOLLY.SNOW@ WVMFOUNDATION.COM
A most sincere thank you to all who donated to our collection from February 18 through July14, 2025.
Thank you for your generosity and support of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
Nancy Arms Simon
Mary Barnhill
Ross W. Beales, Jr.
Dennis Behr
Constance Bell
Kevin Burke
Mara Cherkasky
Sharon Cook
Daniel Fix
Cindy Haagensen
MUSEUM MISSION
Sheila Hall Angi Jerney
Jory Keating
Ken Elmer
Henry Kulesza
Katie Kuntz Davis
Mary Lacy
Ervin Leister
Tom Ludka, American Legion Post 27
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.
Mary Kay Macke
Diana McGlynn
Mary McGrath
Marjorie McNown Zwickel
Cynthia Miller
Tim Miller
Stephen Piotrowski
Janet Radtke
Allen J. Sells
Kathryn Steckelberg
Renee Steenweg Laurens C. Vellekoop
Ann and Gary Wade Ziarnik Family
The Bugle is published three times each year 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.
Greetings. My name is Christopher McElgunn, and I am honored to serve as the Deputy Secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. As a proud Navy veteran, I was asked to share a few words with you from my perspective as this issue of The Bugle honors 250 years of the U.S. Navy’s vital role in defending our nation since its founding on October 13, 1775.
Every day I walk into my office, I have essential reminders of my own service and of Wisconsin’s naval history hanging on my office walls. One of those is a wonderful, framed print of the mighty battleship USS Wisconsin BB-64, which greets me each day. While I was not part of her crew during my time in service, it reminds me that our nation’s naval connections have and continue to run deep with the Badger State.
Everyone who has worn a Naval uniform - whether you’re a deck seaman or a four-star admiral lives by a creed - the Sailor’s Creed. It’s a statement of our identity, standards, and values. It perfectly articulates the very essence of who we are and what we believe.
For the past two and a half centuries, millions of brave men and women have served in the ranks of the U.S. Navy, and the stories of many of those who served from Wisconsin are on display at our Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
Our museum is a wonderful place to reflect on the past 250 years of proud service and sacrifices by our Naval service members and veterans and their commitment to protecting our cherished American ideals of democracy, freedom, liberty, opportunity, justice, and equality.
If you have not recently visited our excellent museum in downtown Madison, I encourage you to do so. It provides a unique opportunity to learn more about Wisconsin’s Naval contributions and individual stories of bravery, service, and sacrifice to our nation.
I am very humbled to have played a small part in the great tradition of the U.S. Navy. To all my fellow sailors I thank you for your service and a job well done.
Please join us in wishing the U.S. Navy a Happy 250th Birthday!
Christopher McElgunn Deputy Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Yours in Service,
The surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, Sept. 2, 1945. Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz signs the Instrument of Surrender as United States representative aboard USS Missouri (BB-63). Standing directly behind him are, left to right: General Douglas MacArthur; Admiral William F. Halsey and Rear Admiral Forrest Sherman.
This image is one in a scrapbook created by Oliver J. Haessly of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as a photographer's mate in the United States Navy during World War II. His scrapbook documents his military service through pictures that he took. The scrapbook also contains photographs he likely recevied from his peers like this one on the deck of the USS Missouri. WVM.1023.I118
Dear Friends of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum,
Greetings! I hope you all are enjoying your summer so far. It has been an exciting last few months, as you will see in these pages. There’s a lot of movement on many fronts, including on the future museum project.
The temporary exhibit Traditions has closed, and I must say the response was overwhelmingly positive. Our new D-Day exhibit, put on in partnership with artist Keith Rocco, is open until the end of the year in Madison and looks fantastic. It is scheduled for our King location early next year. Keith is great to work with, and this exhibit brings us full circle, as he did many of the murals in our permanent galleries prior to the opening in this location on June 6, 1993.
As you are probably aware, the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps all turn 250 this year. Last issue emphasized the U.S. Army, whereas this issue focuses on sea service stories in advance of the U.S. Navy’s birthday on October 13 and the Marine Corps’ on November 10. Badgers have done their full duty ashore and afloat, and you’ll be impressed at what we showcase in these pages and in our collection.
The museum continues our extensive program offerings which continue to attract audiences from across the state, nation, and world. These are only possible with the help and support of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation. I encourage everyone to see what is available on our website.
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
Chris Kolakowski
The United States of America is a maritime nation. For 250 years, the U.S. Navy has sailed the globe in defense of freedom. The Continental Congress created the Continental Navy on October 13, 1775. The last U.S. warship was sold in 1785, and until 1794 there was effectively no naval service. The Naval Act of 1794 permanently established the United States Navy; it has existed continuously since that date, carrying the American flag around the world.
Since 1848, Badgers have played their part in the U.S. Navy and still do today. Delafield's William Cushing distinguished himself during the Civil War when he spearheaded a raid which sunk the Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle. Wisconsinites can be found in every major naval operation ever since. The highest ranking five-star officer, Fleet Admiral William Leahy, grew up in Wisconsin and was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy. One of Wisconsin's more prominent contributions are the many ships and boats built in the state. There have been numerous naval ships named for cities and features in Wisconsin. Notably, Wisconsin has had two namesake battleships USS Wisconsin (BB-9) and (BB-64), and will have a submarine USS Wisconsin (SSBN-827) in 2031.
Throughout this issue, you will read the stories of several brave men and women who represented Wisconsin as U.S. Navy sailors. Fair winds and following seas.
Commander William Cushing WVM.1744.I010
The future of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum (WVM) is clarifying in a great and exciting way. The bipartisan budget signed by Governor Evers in early July 2025, includes $6.2 million to hire an Architect of Record and begin detailed design of the new Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Working with the Department of Administration (DOA), we expect to start executing that process in the coming months.
This process starts the next great chapter of WVM’s history. To recap how we got here: the museum was founded April 5, 1901 in the State Capitol Building. As Civil War veterans were the driving force, it was named the G.A.R. Memorial Hall after the Grand Army of the Republic. The museum remained in the Capitol as its mission expanded beyond the Civil War to encompass all veterans of all eras since 1861. To reflect the new mission, the museum’s name became the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
By the later 1980s, it was clear the museum had outgrown its space in the Capitol. With the support of Governor Tommy Thompson and the Legislature, the museum opened in its current location on June 6, 1993. Over the past three decades the museum has grown and added more collections, programs, and stories to capture the service of Wisconsinites more fully. In 2000 a research center opened, which has turned into a world-class operation.
The museum leases its space, with an option to purchase. Starting the previous decade, conversations began about the future museum, as the current space is inadequate for the museum to execute its mission. In 2020, the museum, along with the Wisconsin Department of Administration, commissioned a comprehensive study on WVM’s future. It assessed the facility and requirements for now and over the next decades. The resulting vision, which we are pursuing, was to buy the building and tear it down, replacing it with a new facility.
By: Chris Kolakowski Director
The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters would be co-located with the museum.
Based on this vision, in 2023 the Wisconsin State Legislature voted to exercise the purchase option. This planning money is the next step in the project and keeps our momentum going. It will also firmly define the third phase, which will be resourcing and executing the construction over a period of years. The museum team is working with DOA on transition plans and spaces for the museum in the interim.
The images you see with this article show the various stages of the museum, including a current concept sketch of our possible future. We will be on an exciting journey over the next few years.
While most people associate naval service with the water, Joseph Chvala spent his time with the U.S. Navy in the air. The Tomahawk, Wisconsin native was a student at the Oshkosh State Teachers College, now the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, when he volunteered to serve in the U.S. Navy in November 1941, mere weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Chvala trained as a pilot at stateside naval bases in Illinois and Texas before deploying to the European theater.
He served as a pilot with VPB-110, a navy patrol bombing squadron based out of Dunkeswell, England. Flying a PB4Y-1, which was a version of the B-24 Liberator made specifically for the navy, Chvala and his crew conducted more than 30 patrol missions searching for and destroying German submarines that threatened Allied ships. One of those missions ended with Chvala and his crew walking away from a crash landing. After the war in Europe ended, he finished his active duty at naval bases in California and Washington. He received his honorable discharge in October 1946, almost five years after he joined the navy.
Using the GI Bill, Chvala finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin and continued into law school there, receiving his law degree in 1949. He settled in Madison, where he worked for American Family Insurance, rising to become vice president of operations. After retiring in 1987, he practiced law with a local firm. He passed away in January 2000.
In 2012, his family donated an incredible scrapbook full of photographs, papers including his training notebook, additional loose photos, and a parachute bag to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. These items document the entirety of his navy service and allow our museum to both preserve and share his unique story.
Margaret Williams, a Cambria, Wisconsin native, earned an education degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1932 and was working as a high school teacher in Green Bay when the United States entered World War II. In the summer of 1943, she volunteered for the U.S. Navy as part of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, or WAVES. Williams received training at Great Lakes, Illinois and Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, graduating in December 1943. She first served at the U.S. Naval Frontier Base in Boston, Massachusetts before transferring to Headquarters, Ninth Naval District in Lake Bluff, Illinois. There, her duties included assisting with the V-12 Navy College Training Program that sought to produce a greater number of navy officers during war. She also served as a war bond officer. Williams’ hard work and aptitude saw her rise in rank from ensign to lieutenant. She was honorably discharged in July 1946 but chose to remain active in the naval reserve into the 1950s. Following her service, she returned to teaching in Green Bay, eventually moving to Madison and joining the faculty at East High School. She taught speech and drama and served as the director of countless plays and other performances. Williams had such an impact on her students and fellow teachers that after she retired in 1975, Madison East renamed their auditorium as the Margaret Williams Theater. In 2001, less than a year after she passed away, a family friend donated her navy materials to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. The papers focus on her training, providing a good look at what WAVES learned to prepare for their service during World War II. The photographs track Williams throughout her service from ensign to officer, showing her and fellow WAVES serving stateside. Her uniform pieces help the museum document the U.S. Navy service of women.
By: Russ Horton Reference Archivist
The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is pleased to partner with renowned military artist, Keith Rocco, on the exhibition of his traveling exhibit, D-Day, Omaha Beach. Rocco first collaborated with the museum in 1992, when he was commissioned to paint the murals found in the main galleries of the museum in advance of its 1993 opening. Rocco created the Battle of Antietam mural, depicting the bloody battle fought in western Maryland on September 17, 1862. Pleased with the results, the museum expanded the contract to include murals depicting the Island of Buna and the Battle of the Bulge in other areas of the museum.
The exhibit D-Day, Omaha Beach, designed by Keith Rocco, was created in 2024 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and has traveled the country since. On June 6, 1944, the world witnessed the largest seaborn invasion in history, which laid the foundation for the Allied victory on the Western Front of the European Theater of World War II. In our changing gallery, the exhibit focuses on the beach codenamed Omaha Beach, one of the five French beaches occupied by Germany along the coast of Normandy. German forces had fortified Omaha Beach the heaviest, causing the bloodiest action on D-Day, with approximately 2,400 U.S. troops killed in action, wounded, or missing. The exhibit pays tribute to all the men and women who served during World War II, both on the battlefield and at home.
In addition to the travelling portion of Rocco’s exhibit, museum staff also added items to represent the thousands of Wisconsin veterans involved in this fateful event. Museum staff worked hard to prepare Wisconsin Veterans Museum collections for display. Before pieces can go out on exhibit, collections staff pulled the artifacts from their storage locations, completed condition reports to determine their stability, cleaned and stabilized pieces that required it, and then finally installed the items in display cases within the changing exhibit gallery.
Some of the artifacts to look for in the new exhibit include the garrison cap of Carl F. Hemauer of Stockbridge, Wisconsin. He served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and was captured on D-Day after landing behind enemy lines. He was taken prisoner and held at Stalag 3C for nine months before he escaped.
The museum will also be displaying the boots worn by Martin F. Gutekunst when he landed on Utah Beach June 6, 1944. Utah Beach was adjacent to Omaha Beach in Normandy. Gutenkunst fought with the 2nd Naval Beach Battalion during the D-Day Invasion. He was with the Seabees performing demolition of obstacles on the beach while taking heavy fire.
Also of note are the flag of the United States and U.S. Navy commissioning pennant on exhibit. The flag and pennant flew on D-Day aboard the USS PT 503, which was part of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 34, also known as “MTB RON 34.” These small combatant motorboats participated in the D-Day landing at Normandy and saw additional action off the coast of France. The flag and pennant flew on PT 503 for the entire D-Day battle. Following the battle, Radioman First Class Donald E. Fisher asked the quartermaster to save the commissioning pennant and flag for him once they were replaced, which the quartermaster did. Fisher’s son donated them to the museum in 2013.
Exhibits like D-Day, cover the larger historical events in our world and allow the Wisconsin Veterans Museum to show that Wisconsin was there by sharing the stories of the individuals in the thick of the fighting during these fateful days. We hope museum visitors will get a more intimate sense of what happened on the ground through the eyes of our fellow Wisconsinites who served. We hope you also feel the power of these individual experiences as we have. Museum staff are grateful for the opportunity to share these stories and more alongside Keith Rocco’s work. D-Day will be open to the public through January 3, 2026.
By: Sarah Kapellusch and Jennifer Van Haaften Registrar Assistant Director
Oneof the recent additions to the collection is a challenge coin referred to as the Scubadoor. It was designed by Patrick L. Wade while he was serving with the U.S. Navy in Spain. Patrick was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. In 1987, he followed his older brother, Robert D. Wade, into military service. He was assigned to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 as a navy explosives technician. During his military career, he helped recover debris from the second space shuttle explosion, sometimes using dolphins to assist, and trained with German Navy divers to recover World War II munitions.
After serving in Spain, he was deployed to Iraq. Patrick was killed in action about two months later on July 17, 2001 in Samarra, Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq. After the vehicle he was traveling in survived an initial bomb blast, his crew discovered additional bombs in a culvert under the highway. The team had been taking steps to detonate them safely when they exploded.
Several years earlier, Patrick’s brother Robert also died while on active duty. Robert enlisted in the Air Force Delayed Enlistment Program in March 1976 and entered active duty on June 15. On September 1, 1993 he was working as an NCO crew chief at Kadena Air Base, Japan with the 44th Fighter Squadron, when he was struck
By: Sarah Kapellusch Registrar
in the chest by debris after a taxing helicopter’s rotors accidently struck a pole. He was transferred to Camp Lester Naval Hospital but did not survive.
We are grateful to the Wade Family for sharing these memories with the public.
Between May and August of 1945, guns fell silent across the globe as World War II came to a close. Whether in Europe or the Pacific, the end of the war came as a huge relief to millions of servicemembers fighting and supporting the war efforts, as well as to their families on the homefront. 80 years later, the stories of our Greatest Generation have not been forgotten and remain just as important today as they were in 1945.
Please join the Wisconsin Veterans Museum for our 27th annual Talking Spirits: Forest Hill Cemetery Tours, taking place September 29 October 5 at Forest Hill Cemetery. These 90-minute walking tours will feature four vignettes along the tour route, as historical actors retell some the stories from this unique era of American history. School tours will be held from September 29 October 2. Public candlelit tours will be the evening of October 4 and day-time tours will be October 5.
Annette Mildred Ruth (Schubert) Howards (1923 — 2013) was born in the Bronx, New York. She joined the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in 1944 and was stationed in California throughout WWII. Howards tells the unique story of a Jewish woman serving in the Marines during WWII. Her post-war life in Madison and commitment to social justice was largely influenced by her military experience.
John G. Scocos Sr. (1918 2004) of Fond du Lac, WI, served as a WWII Army Air Corps bombardier flying numerous missions across Europe. Shot down in 1944, he endured life as a POW at Stalag Luft III where he was held for 50 weeks. He tells the story of that experience, including liberation by the 3rd Army. A lifelong VFW, AMVETS, and American Legion member, he left a legacy through his service.
Kurt G. Pechmann (1922 — 2009) was born in Silesia (now Poland) and apprenticed as a stonecutter before being drafted into the German Army during WWII. Captured in 1943, he was brought to POW camps in Wisconsin and Illinois, where he grew to love and admire America. After the war, he immigrated to the United States, where he settled in Madison, founding a granite-cutting business making monuments. Pechmann used his skills to give back, creating memorials to honor U.S. veterans across the state of Wisconsin.
Dr. John Leroy (J. Leroy) Sims (1912 1999) was a distinguished gastroenterologist, WWII veteran, and member of the U.S. Army’s 44th General Hospital, which played a pivotal role during the Pacific campaign. Sims served in the Philippines, where the 44th faced dire circumstances during the Japanese counterattack on Leyte in 1944. In what became known as the Battle of Buffalo Wallow, the hospital staff upheld their commitment to saving lives while navigating life-threatening challenges. WISCONSIN VE TERANS MUSEUM
WhenMadison resident Robert G. Patterson enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1956, he joined a long familial line of U.S. military veterans that stretched back to the 18th century. His ancestors included a great-grandfather and great-great grandfather who served in Wisconsin regiments during the Civil War, and a greatgreat-great grandfather who fought during the Revolutionary War. But it was his uncle, George Edgar Pegg, a fellow Madisonian who served in the U.S. Navy during both World Wars, who influenced Patterson’s specific decision to become a sailor.
Patterson’s uncle enlisted in January 1918 at the age of 18 while living in his hometown of Merrimac, Wisconsin. Pegg completed naval training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois before attending Naval Radio school, then served as a Landsman Electrician (Radio) during World War I. Pegg was discharged in August 1919, and following service, lived and worked in Madison for five years before deciding to reenlist. He continued to serve as a radio operator during the interwar years and spent time in the Aleutian Islands and the Philippines in the 1930s. In November 1940, he boarded the gunboat USS Asheville (PG-21) and sailed to the Philippines. His ship was anchored in Manila Bay when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor the following December.
Radioman 1st Class (RM1c) Pegg was reported missing in action after the USS Asheville was sunk 300 miles south of Java, Indonesia on March 3, 1942. Patterson had just turned four when his mother Ruth, George’s sister, received word of Asheville’s fate in mid-March 1942. The U.S. Navy officially declared Pegg deceased in November 1945.
RTC Company 603 at the U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, IL, 1956. Robert Patterson is second row from the top, left. Mss.2025.021.001
By: Andrea Hoffman Collections Manager
His uncle’s memory influenced Patterson as he grew up. Once high school graduation was behind him, that memory motivated him to join the navy in September 1956. While enlistment meant leaving his lifelong home of Madison, he soon learned he would be taking a bit of home with him – at least in name – when he was assigned to USS Wisconsin (BB-64) after completing recruit training. Yeoman Patterson assisted with what he referred to as the “mothballing process” (pre-inactivation overhaul) ahead of the Iowa-class battleship’s March 1958 decommissioning. He worked in the office of the gunnery section and wound up being one of the last sailors aboard the USS Wisconsin before the vessel was returned to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, its shipyard of origin, to rejoin her sister ship USS Iowa (BB-61) in the so-called “mothball fleet.”
Patterson’s time aboard “Big Wisky” remained a life highlight long after he was discharged in July 1962, so much so Patterson wrote then-Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson asking to be a part of the USS Wisconsin’s recommissioning ceremony in October 1988. “It is hard to picture what she will look like today with all the new things they are going to put into her,” he told the Wisconsin State Journal on July 3 of that year. “Being on the Wisconsin and being from Wisconsin made it even more memorable,” he stated in conclusion. From the Revolutionary War to the Cold War, Pegg and Patterson carried forward a proud tradition of service. Their stories remain a testament to one family’s lasting commitment to their country that spanned nearly three centuries.
1958 Zippo lighter commemorating USS Wisconsin (BB-64). V2025.021.3a-d
This mug belonged to the head of the weapons department ("gun boss") and was kept as a souvenir by Patterson. V2025.021.1
Later in life, Patterson purchased this commemorative modeled after The Lone Sailor statue in Washington, D.C. to honor his uncle. V2025.021.5a,b
By: Russ Horton Reference Archivist
he U.S. Navy has a long, rich history of commemorating significant events in sailors’ lives. An example that is well documented in the archives are line crossing ceremonies. Dating back to the very beginning of the U.S. Navy, which inherited the custom from the British Navy, line crossing ceremonies recognize sailors who cross a significant line of longitude or latitude on the globe for the first time. The rituals themselves were historically shrouded in mystery, often complex, sometimes rough, brutal, and dangerous to the initiates. They have evolved over time but remain a source of controversy.
The most common line crossing ceremony involves the equator. Sailors who have not crossed the line of 0° latitude are known as pollywogs. Upon crossing the equator for the first time, they become known as shellbacks or sons of Neptune. They receive an ornate certificate welcoming them into the court of King Neptune, often providing the date and longitude of their crossing, the ship they sailed on and their destination, and commending the new shellback to all mermaids, sea serpents, whales, and other ocean creatures both real and mythological.
Gordon Foucault, a Milwaukee native, served as a fire controlman operator third class aboard the USS Prince William, an escort cruiser that served in the Pacific theater during World War II. Foucault crossed the equator, and earned this decorative certificate, at left, in October 1943 while aboard the SS Elehu Thomson, a transport ship taking sailors out to the Pacific and their ships.
Another significant geographical line is the international date line at 180° longitude where a Golden Dragon rules supreme. Sailors who cross the international date line for the first time are initiated into its court and receive a certificate with similar language to the shellback certificate.
U.S. Army soldier John Ardelt of Whitewater received the decorative certificate, at left, upon crossing the international dateline aboard a U.S. Navy vessel.
Seabee Raymond Wendling, of Milwaukee served in the Pacific with the 9th Special Construction Battalion and received this membership card as seen below proving his status as a dragonback.
A less common line crossing certificate in the archives belonged to Ronald Kannenberg, a career sailor from Wauwatosa. In October 1957, he crossed the line of 66°33' N, also known as the Arctic Circle. Kannenberg was initiated into the court of Boreas Rex and the Order of the Top of the World. His certificate, at left, references polar bears, walruses, musk oxen, and blue nose mermaids along with other sea creatures.
By: Luke Sprague Oral Historian
October 12, 2025, is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the suicide attack carried out by al-Qaeda in the Yemen port of Aden on the USS Cole (DDG 67) on October 12, 2000. The bombing killed seventeen sailors, including Marc I. Nieto (EN2), of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, injured 39 sailors, and left the vessel severely damaged.
The attack on the USS Cole reverberated across the world. It instantly changed the lives of Wisconsin's sailors. Included here is a sample of those oral history interviews documenting the aftermath of the attack. In her interview with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum [WVM.OH2147], Wisconsin veteran Kelli J. Carroll relates her firsthand experience in the immediate aftermath of the suicide bombing of the USS Cole (DDG 67).
Kelli J. Carroll
CARROLL: We happened to be by the USS Cole when it went down. We were one of the first responders, and--
INTERVIEWER: And what year was this just so I?
CARROLL: Oh God, I can't remember if it was on my first or second deployment that the Cole went down.
INTERVIEWER: That's okay; just tell me about the--you guys were first responders.
CARROLL: We were one of the first ships--because we were close, we were actually anchored out instead of being close, or more. Chaos, chaos. We sent a lot of folks onboard to help with repairing and we were also tasked with, um some flag-draped coffins and that was really then my first experience with--death.
INTERVIEWER: Mm-hmm.
CARROLL: Not pleasant.
INTERVIEWER: Mm-hmm. Can you tell me about--so with that experience from being first responder and your position on a ship, can you, do you remember when you first heard that you were responding and what exactly you heard, how it was phrased to you what was going on?
CARROLL: Well, because we were anchored, like I said, not far out from them, normally you knew something big was going down because the--you would hear certain people's names being called up to the captain's cabin and that was normally a pretty good indication that they weren't just having officer's call when they were calling, you know, the ChEng, chief engineer, and, you know, the ops boss, and stuff like that, you know, you knew that something big. And it just kinda came down after they--our supply officer had us all muster on the mess decks and had put out what had happened and, you know, a lot of the plan of action had been already put in place between our obvious commanding officer and PAC Fleet and whoever was in charge of was normally the carrier that was in charge of the battle group so they already kind of had a plan. This group was going to go in and do this, this group was going to go do that, this group was going to go and do this kind of stuff, and, again, we were mostly in charge of, you know, repairing some damage and because we were a supply ship, and they kept the carrier kind of away from there, honors for coffins.
Thousands of miles away from the immediate scene of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, Wisconsin veteran Constance “Connie” Walker recalls the experience she had with Naval Personnel Command (PERS-6) at the time [WVM.OH2187].
WALKER: It was, I remember when the USS Cole was hit, and that was on my birthday in 2001 [2000]. The day after that, she [the deputy chief of naval personnel] excused herself from that operation in terms of our mission as Casualty Assistance, PERS-6 ran the Casualty Assistance Program for the navy and those soft programs you heard me refer to earlier. So all of that policy development, all the programming, associated with that and casualty assistance, fell under her auspices as the deputy chief of naval personnel.
The day after that happened she decided to go into the hospital for elective surgery on both feet and it hobbled her and she was out of the action with me as a commander in an O-6 billet trying to make this system work. For well over a month, and you do what you have to do, and it certainly got done. But what I remember from that period of time, because it was 24-hour operations for a while, for over a week initially, it started to get quiet after Clinton went to the ceremony and Norfolk to be with the families, but I think I'd been up for three days doing this stuff and we were watching the news updates on it and I excused myself to go to a private room and the guy—the pastor who ran chaplain programs for the navy, because he fell in that directory, followed me in and I was crying and he said, “Well, I know this is awful. Are you okay?”
And “I said—I’m, I’m, some of those casualties were from Pennsylvania and I put them in the navy, you know, I know I did.” That was hard [crying].
He said, “You know, skipper, you're not the bad guy. Those are the bad guys.”
But I've never really had to attach what I did for a living to that before. So I guess, I don't know, I guess I kind of lost my um, can you be naive and be a captain? [laugh]. But I guess I was, sort of you know. I remember in Officer Candidate School, the first time I had to shoot a .45 at a target. I'm like, I'm not doing this. That's what makes it so weird that I was in for as long as I was. This is the person that my friends all say to me, I can't believe you did that. So. That was hard. He took me out, he had to lull me out of the convertible, he says, we need to get you out of here. He took out of that convertible, and it was a decent day. Just drove fast with the top down for a while, and then I went back to work.
Image from the scrapbook of Marc I. Nieto of Fond du Lac, WI. This is a photo of the USS Cole (DDG-67), accompanied by his captain’s congratulations following the completion of the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) qualification program. WVM.2186.I020
By: Molly Snow WVMF Membership & Events Director
Dennis “Denny” Behr was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Upon graduation from Riverland Technical School, in Austin, Minnesota, in communication electronics, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 23, 1965. Denny served four years on active duty as a Naval aircrew submarine hunter during the Cold War. His deployments included flying from the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CVS-18) with Anti-Submarine Squadron 31 (VS-31), which operated the Grumman “Hunter Tracker Killer” S-2E aircraft.
Following his active duty, he joined the United States Naval Air Reserve, where he continued his submarine hunting duties as an air crewman on a Lockheed P-3 “Orion”. Over the course of his 25-year reserve career, he advanced to the rank of master chief with Anti-Submarine Patrol Squadron 90 out of NAS Glenview, Illinois. During this period, he lived in the Madison, Wisconsin area, frequently deploying to the greater Pacific Ocean hunting Soviet-Block submarines and ships.
In 1994, he was assigned to the USS Eisenhower (CVN 69) as command master chief for the ship’s aviation reserve forces. He concluded his career where it started, at Great Lakes, IL, on May 1, 1999. After retiring, he became an active member of the Navy League of the United States, supporting the U.S. Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines. As Navy League Wisconsin State President, Denny initiated the existing U.S. Merchant Marine scholarship at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, Traverse City, Michigan.
He currently resides in McFarland with his wife Joan, who has also had leadership roles in Madison’s Navy League Council, where they have been members since 1998. Denny and Joan have been strong supporters and members of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum since 2017. Thank you for your service and continued support of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and Foundation.
sponsored by U.S. Vet General Contracting, LLC FOUNDATION
A big thank you to everyone, especially to all our sponsors and volunteers, for making our 21st Annual WVMF Golf Outing, sponsored by U.S. Vet General Contracting, LLC, another successful year! Every year we are amazed by the strong support we receive from our golfers, volunteers, and sponsors. This year, we had 131 golfers and together through registrations, donations, and sponsorships, we were able to raise over $39,000. 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.
U.S. Vet General Contracting, LLC
Associate Sponsors
Cheryl Heiliger
Edgewood University Military & Veterans Services
Hole Sponsors
Badger Chevrolet
Econoprint
GEN (Ret) Lewis B. Harned
In Loving Memory of COL (Ret.) Don Heiliger Sr., USAF
Wall-panel
Madison Navy League
Musicnotes
Veterans Community Project – Milwaukee
Putting Contest Sponsor
Village Caregiving
Driving Range Sponsor
Dave Shaw
Hail Mary “In Memory of Mary Lange” Ball Toss Sponsor
The Hausmann Group
Trivia Cart Sponsor
Fred & Ginny McCormick
Lewis B. Harned
Madison History Roundtable
Bill & Jackie Hustad
Wall-panel
Matt Meyer
Andrea Jansen
Brothers On Oak
Additional Donors
Mark Shapleigh
John Litscher
Justin Hoagland
Neil’s Liquor
Special Events Ambassadors
Tara Duncan
Dan Heiliger
Dave Heiliger
Katie Jaggi
John Michael Krieger
Rick Lange
Adrian Mateus
BG (Ret) Joni Mathews
Fred & Ginny McCormick
Jackie Sommers
Mary Sommers
Andrea Thorsness
Denise Tincher
27 AUG
USS Wisconsin SSBN-827
KEEL LAYING CEREMONY WATCH PARTY
WVM Education Center
9:00 — 10:30 am
The Keel Laying ceremony will be held at the museum on her “hull number date” and symbolizes when the ship begins to transition from design to reality by marking the formal recognition of the commencement of a ship's construction. The event is free, reservations required.
TALKING SPIRITS XXVII: FOREST HILL CEMETERY TOURS 9/29 —10/5
These 90-minute walking tours at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison will feature four vignettes along the route, as historical actors retell some the stories from this unique era of American history. School tours will be held from Sept. 29 – Oct. 2. Candlelit tours will be the evening of October 4 and public day-time tours will be given on October 5. Tickets will be available August 25.
Tickets: $15
WVMF Members Free
13 OCT
NAVY’S 250TH BIRTHDAY
CELEBRATION AT THE WISCONSIN STATE CAPITOL Noon —1:00 pm
Please join us as we celebrate the U.S. Navy’s 250th Birthday. This celebration honors the true spirit of American sailors through their service, sacrifice, and achievement in defense of the people and democratic values of our nation. This event is free and open to the public.
SCIENCE ON THE SQUARE 5:00 —8:00 pm
The museum will be open after-hours and feature a live, hands-on science activity. This event is free and open to the public.
To register visit: WisVetsMuseum.com/events or scan the QR code below
31 OCT
MOVIE DISCUSSION NIGHT
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
7:00– 8:00 pm (online event)
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.
THANK YOU DONORS A most sincere thank you to all who donated from March 2025 through the end of July 2025. You are the reason we can provide quality programming and award-winning exhibits.
Gruennert, Jim & Joann
ABC Supply JP Cullen
McAllen, Kerry Rock Road Companies, Inc.
The Morse Group
Angus-Young Associates, Inc.
Brodd, Thomas Ceroni Piping Company
County of Dane – Dane Arts
Cullen, Mark & Carol
DeGarmo Plumbing & Piping, Inc.
Fairbanks Morse, LLC
Glaza, Anjuli
Hansch, Dennis & Elizabeth
Heiliger, Cheryl
Heiliger, David & Christina
Ken & Marlene Mack
Charitable Fund
Litscher, John Lycon Inc.
Meyer, Matt
Mid-States Concrete Industries
Naleid, William
Nelson-Young Lumber Co.
Park Bank- Capitol Square
Sokaogon Chippewa Community
U.S. Vet General Contracting
VFW Post 10272
Wall-panel
Whittow, Richard & Janet
Action Electric of Sauk County Angevine, Jim
Arestides, Karen Barth, Paul Beckerleg, Steve
Brothers On Oak Campbell, Frederick
CTW Abbey Carpet & Floor
Drake, Chase Duecker, Robert Fargen, Joseph Fay, Dennis
Finley, Barbara
First National Bank and Trust Company
Fisher, Michael
Flanagan, David & Maureen
Flatley, Tim
Fonger, MAJ Linda & COL
Michael Gauger, Stephen
General Mills
Grabowski, Ervin
Greenwoods State Bank
Gronli, Dan
Hagen, Scott & Natalie Hall, John Hancock, Linda Harned, Lewis
Hattenhauer, John & Sally
Heiliger, Dan & Tarah
Heiliger, Jr., Donald Heinritz, Melinda & Mark
Hemmer, Paul
Hoagland, Justin
Hoesly, Michael Howell, Jonathan Hustad, William & Jackie
Janis, Angela Jansen, Andrea
Johnson, Richard & Brenda
Kempainen, Matt Kennedy, Thomas King, Jeanette Kromanaker, Lisa & Alan
Krueger, Cal & Susie
Kurtz, James & Rebecca Larson, Robert Leverance, James & Jane
Lindeman, Roy & Dorothy
Marino, Al & Marti
Markert, Bruce & Kathryn
McCormick, Frederick & Ginny
McCrory, Tom McEvilly, Paul McGeshick, Roger
Millane, James & Monica
Millsap, Nathaniel Monona Grove Business Men's Association
Mullins, Michael & Karen
Musicnotes
Myers, Robert Neil's Liquor Nettesheim, Daniel North American Mechanical
Nyberg, Edwin & Sally
Olesen, Gerald Olson, Margaret Ann Oregon Middle School Parker, James Patterson, Bill Peterson, Gary
Ralston, Richard & Krista
Rohrer, John
Ryan, Tobin & Oakleigh
School District of WI Dells
Schrag, Beverly
Schroeder, Joe
Schrum, William
Seifert, Howard
Shapleigh, Mark
Shropshire, William Sloan, Fred & Nancy
Smith, Gary & Patricia
Sonnentag American Foundation, Inc.
Storch, Marc & Beth
Terrytown Plumbing
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Appleton
Van Kauwenbergh, Darlene
VFW Post 1879
VFW Post 8021
VFW Post 9511
VFW Post 10549
Viner, Orrin
Wagner, Dennis Wagner, Gregory
Weier, Anita Wise, Mitchell & Roslyn
Wolf, Richard & Marjorie
Woolley, William & Jean
Wopat, Chris WPS Health Solutions
Adams, Cheryl American Legion Post 214 American Legion Post 257 Anderson, Jan Anderson, Tommy Balcerzak, Eugene Baldwin, Michael Banda, George Barnett, Jodi & Jim Bartz, COL (Ret) Claudia Berens, Todd Bieniek, Brian & Jen Bradley, Richard Bull, Ronald Burton, Nancy Callaway, Mary Christianson, Bill Civil War Round Table of Milwaukee & Iron Brigade Association Collins, Chaplain, Rev. Dean Crawford, Karen Deeken, Michael & Johanna DeGuire, Frank Drilling, Leo Duerr, Jerome Ely, Michael Englesby, John Fisk, Paul Fleming, Tom Frederking, Katelyn Gingras, Jim Graham, Darrin Haag, Douglas & Margaretann Haidinger, Shirley Hall, Phillip & Barbara Hammel, Stephen Hansen, W. Lee Hanson, Bob Hauda, William
Hembel, Alan Hencheck, Melania Heuer, LT COL (Ret.) Martin Janecek, Jason Janz, James Johns, Jason Kahler, Mary Kelly, Joanne Kleidon, Emelia Kleinsteiber, Larry Knutson, Joyce Link, Thomas Macaulay, Coltrane Mathews, Joane Mayo, Zachary McTernan , LT COL (Ret) George Mertes, Bob Morgan, Marla Morrisey, Jennifer Morse, Thomas & Janice Mulrooney, Teresa & Paul Eastwood Mumma, David Navy Club of the USA, Wisconsin Squadron, Ship 60 Nolten, Step Nowicki, Edward & Edith Perkins, Steven & Marianne Powell, Angela Powers, Brian Powles, John Prahl, Mark Race, John Radosavljevic, Julie Rasche, Pamela Riceman, John Robbins, William & Chris Roden, Robert Rusch, Lynn Schedler, Jonathan & Jo Ann Schlappi, Ed & Kathy Schuette, Dan Solberg, Samuel & Karolyn St Clair, Russell St. Johns Ev.l Lutheran Church Stimpson, Valerie Szymoniak, Krzysztof Thorson, Thor Trent, Ray Trest, Dennis Van Kampen, Phillip Verheyen, Byron Verona Area School District Vondran, Nathaniel Vrydaghs, Kathy Ward Decatur, Mary Ann Wartolec, Walter Weber, Nicholas Winn, Melissa Wisconsin Vietnam Vets Ch.3 Wren, Christopher Ziegenhorn, Mark
