Military Memorials, Museums And Medals

More memorials and museums listed under Military Places

Memorials

Barking Beagles
Long without a memorial recognizing its contribution to the war effort, the American Beagle Squadron Alumni created a Memorial Wall featuring bronze plaques and renderings of a Spitfire and Mustang as well as a summary of the Squadrons WWII accomplishments. About $1,500 was raised for the wall through donations. A dedication ceremony was held at the wall during the 52nd Fighter Group Reunion, September 21-23, 2000 in Dayton, Ohio.

Lynchburg - National D-Day Memorial
The National D-Day Memorial opened on June 6, 2001 to honor the valor, fidelity and sacrifices of the Allied Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

The first wave of battle at Normandy – with the most casualties – was led by the Army's 29th Division, made up mostly of Virginians. Virginia and Bedford are forever linked with D-Day as a symbol of America's sacrifice. The Virginia National Guard, the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division, was one of the two first assault regiments on Omaha Beach, scene of the bloodiest fighting on D-Day.

In 1996, the City of Bedford was selected by Congress as the official site of the nation’s memorial to the Allied Forces involved in the D-Day invasion. One of the reasons was because the city (with a 1944 population of 3,200) had the highest per capita losses of any community in America during the landings on the Normandy coastline.

The Memorial’s 88-acre site, with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop, featured sculptural tributes to all service branches, Victory Plaza and the massive overlord arch, ringed by the flags of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

The Lynchburg Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau offers military reunion planners a "War & Peace" package that includes admission to the National D-Day Memorial, a visit to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (where the nation reunited following the War Between the States) and a tour of one of Lynchburg's five historic districts.

For a complete Reunion Planner package contact Lynchburg Regional CVB at 800-732-5821; lmeriwether@lynchburgchamber.com.

Freedom preserved and celebrated
The Freedom Museum held the Third Annual Festival of Freedom August 10-12, 2001 at the Manassas (VA) Regional Airport. The festival welcomed heroes from 20th century conflicts. Heroes include veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm.
The festival includes more than 25 vintage aircraft, many tanks and armored vehicles, WWII re-enactors, contemporary military and experimental civilian aircraft, period music, displays and patriotic performances. It was a weekend immersed in American history.

Many previous festival favorites returned and new features debuted. Among the new features were a JU-52 Tri-Motor German Transport. Other aircraft are P-51 Mustang, TBM Avenger, B-25 Mitchell bomber, UC-78 Bobcat, SNJ Trainer, Harvard Mark 2 Trainer.

The Freedom Museum was founded in 1999 by a group of veterans to honor contributions to world peace and freedom of the Armed Forces and civilian leaders. Contact The Freedom Museum, 10400 Terminal Road, Manassas VA 20110; 877-393-0660; 703-393-0660; www.freedommuseum.org.

Where were you in January 1944?
Members of surviving families of the crew of the B24 Liberator shot down in the Ardennes region of Belgium in January 1944 are sought for a reunion and memorial dedication. The memorial will be at the crash site near the village of Wibrin in Belgium. The reunion will bring together survivors or surviving family members of the crew. Arrangements, location and design of the memorial are being made in Belgium. The 44th BG Veterans Association will have a reunion tour group for this and other war memorials and sites. Contact Forrest S. Clark, 44th Bomb Group; 863-427-0371; b24vet@aol.com.

POW artifacts sought
The National Prisoner of War Museum, located at Andersonville National Historic Site, Andersonville, Georgia, is seeking artifact donations. The museum is the only unit of the National Park Service dedicated solely to the commemoration of POWs from all time periods in US history. Items that have a direct relationship to the POW experience are of special interest. This includes dog tags, forks and knives, letters and telegrams and items POWs actually used to survive their incarceration. Anyone with such POW related items is encouraged to contact Eric Reinert, Museum Technician, Box 800, Andersonville GA 31711. from the Ex-POW Bulletin

Contribute to history
The National D-Day Museum is now seeking artifacts from Pacific invasions. Paula Ussery, Museum Curator, says the museum is looking for artifacts with interpretative stories and things that spotlight the human experience of the millions of men, women and children who participated in the Pacific and on the home front.

Of particular interest are American uniforms and personal equipment worn or used in combat and Japanese items such as swords picked up on beaches. The museum has many wonderful items, but needs more especially from areas like Tarawa, Peleiu and Guadalcanal. Contact Paula Ussery at 504-527-6012, ext. 234. from The National D-Day Museum Newsletter

Rosie gets her dues
With the dedication of the Rosie the Riveter Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, World War II women workers are getting the recognition they deserve. The memorial is 441 feet, the same length as Liberty ships women helped build and includes a walk with a timeline of facts and memories from female workers.

The memorial brought back memories for Phyllis Gould, a welder on the San Francisco Bay. When Gould's husband and friends joined the ship-building effort, she wanted to help too. She met opposition and was told "no women and no blacks." She cried the third time she was turned down but as she left, ran into a man who helped her get a job.

The job was rough, but Gould performed well and made sure she looked good while doing it. Behind her mask, her lips were lipsticked and her hair tied in a kerchief. She always made sure her bandanna matched the color of the shirt collar poking from beneath her sweats.
Marian Sousa, Gould's sister, was a draftsman in the war. About the memorial, she said "we never expected to be recognized. Everybody worked. They did what they could."

Sousa had an easier time entering the war effort later because female workers were commonplace by then. She took a crash course in drafting at The University of California Berkeley in 1943 at just 17. Then, got a job when her mother lied for her.

Sousa's job was to correct blueprints. "I remember just endless, endless papers of erasing two bunks and making them three bunks." She said the people she worked with were great. "I was expecting my daughter and those men gave me a surprise baby shower."

Recognition for all of "Rosie's" war efforts was greatly overdue.
from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Vietnam Memorial Top Draw
Among the most visited tourist attractions in the nation's capital is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. More than 2.5 million people pass the black granite walls bearing the names of the 58,220 men and women killed while serving with the US Armed Forces in Vietnam.

Tourists can also visit the Vietnam Women's Memorial, raised in 1993 to honor the nearly 8,000 American women on active duty during the war.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is free and open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Contact the Vietnam Memorial Fund, 1023 Fifteenth St NW, 2nd floor, Washington DC 20005-2602; 202-393-0090; www.vvmf.org.

Clarifying memorials
Some people mistakenly associate the Normandy Foundation, a private organization, with the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), sponsor of the World War II Memorial. There is no connection between the two and plans for the World War II Memorial continue to develop and grow. ABMC is the Executive Branch's agency, which maintains 24 permanent US military cemeteries abroad and 22 memorials in 15 countries. Contact WWII Memorial, Courthouse Plaza II, Ste 501, 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington VA 22201; 701-696-5127.

Museums

Legion of Valor Museum
The Legion of Valor, organized in 1890, is the nation's senior veterans organization. It is an association of persons who have been recognized with the award of one of the nation's two highest honors: The Medal of Honor of the Navy, Army or Air Force; or The Army Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross or Air Force Cross.

The Legion of Valor Museum is in the Fresno (CA) Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 2425 Fresno St, Fresno CA 93721; 209-498-0510. Hours are 10 AM to 3 PM with special viewing by appointment. Admission is free.

Fun at forts
Seeing military history is easy at Fort Scott and Fort Leavenworth, both in Kansas.
The forts were built to keep peace among Indian tribes and settlers heading west before Kansas was a state. Fort Leavenworth opened in 1827 and Fort Scott in 1842, both were gates to western expansion.

Eventually, there was a need to bury soldiers and cemeteries were established at each fort in 1862. These National Cemeteries offer a solemn and historic experience in American history. However, there are historic tours of nearby towns to lighten the mood. If frontier forts sound interesting, Kansas has eight and many offer living history programs and annual events. Visit www.fortscott.com; http://leav-www.army.mil/cac/history.htm; www.nps.gov/fosc/home.htm. from Kansas Department of Commerce & Housing

Military history worth visiting
From the frontier forts of our westward expansion to the modern Air Force bases of the Cold War, military museums chronicle our past while honoring the men and women who fought for our freedom.

• The Civil War Museum, Bardstown, Kentucky, explores the War of the Western States - Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Mississippi;
  502-349-0291.
  
• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, the US Air Force Museum 300 aircraft and missiles; 937-255-3286.
  
• Great Lakes Museum of Military History, Michigan City, Indiana, spanning military history from the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm; 800-726-5912.
  
• Rock Island Arsenal Museum, Rock Island, Illinois, the history of many eras since Fort Armstrong helped protect fur traders on the American frontier; 309-782-5021.
  
• The National Museum of the Tuskegee Airmen at Historic Fort Wayne, Detroit, Michigan, is dedicated to men who fought for democracy while being denied freedoms for which they risked their lives; 313-843-8849.
  
• Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, exhibits Civil War to Desert Storm, each branch of the military; 608-264-6086.
  
• Camp Ripley near Little Falls, Minnesota, "Forts on the Frontier" exhibit describes how Minnesota's early garrisons and forts aided in the settlement of the state; 320-632-7374.
  
• The Strategic Air Command Museum, next to Mahoney State Park near Ashland Nebraska, 4000-item permanent collection and interactive children's gallery; 402-944-3100.
  
• South Dakota Air and Space Museum, Rapid City, South Dakota, Bus tours of Ellsworth Air Force Base during the summer months allow visitors to tour a Minuteman II missile launch facility; 605-385-5188.
  
• Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa, Gold Star Museum items from Iowans who served from the Civil War to the present; 515) 252-4531.
  
• The US Disciplinary Barracks and the Frontier Army Museum, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, focuses on the role the Army played in westward expansion; 913-684-5604.
  
• The 45th Infantry Division Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, displays works of cartoonist Bill Mauldin whose Up Front series featured two infantrymen's views of WWII; 405-424-5313.
  

As the US expanded across the Kansas plains in the 1800's, a fort was erected each time the frontier was pushed beyond the protective reach of the last citadel.

• Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth remain active. Fort Scott, Kansas, was established in 1842 to protect settlers on the Permanent Indian Frontier; 316-223-0310.
  
• Fort Larned; 316-285-6911.
  
• Fort Hayes was home to Lt. Col. George Custer and his 7th US Cavalry, as well as William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, Gen Phillip Sheridan, and the 9th and 10th US cavalries, better known as the Buffalo Soldiers; 785-625-6812.
  

from Home & Away Magazine, AAA Wisconsin

Remembering Vietnam
One of the most controversial and tumultuous times in US history has been honorably recognized with the opening of the nation's first Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. The center's exhibits include photographs, interactive displays, and personal letters from Vietnam veterans. More space has been allocated for classrooms and research. Located next to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, the Education Center is an unparalleled learning source and historic treasure house of the Vietnam Era. For more information call 732-335-0033; www.njvvmf.org.

Now open!
Bush Gallery at Admiral Nimitz Historical Center immerses visitors in WWII Era
The new George Bush Gallery of the National Museum of the Pacific War at the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas, opened recently. New exhibits portray American and Japanese battles in the defining War in the Pacific. Designed as a walk through history, memories will be awakened in veterans who fought on isolated beaches hopping across the ocean. A new generation, meanwhile, will learn how wide a swath this war created.
For more information about the Bush Gallery call 830-997-8515, or visit the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau, www.fredericksb urg-texas.com; 888-997-3600 (toll free).

Medals

Korean War Service Medals
If you haven't received your Korean War Service Medal, contact Major Kwon, Korean Embassy, 2450 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20008; 202-939-6484.

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