Elizabeth O’Hara Baehr
Serving Those Who Served: Immense Personal Satisfaction and Incredible Hardship Guest Author, Assistant Gift Shop Manager, Michael Olson France, July 1944−German buzz bombs fly overhead and the ambulances rush in their first patients. Many are in need of immediate surgery and many of them are German soldiers. “I thought
Part I: Okinawa: Genesis of a Battle
In 1945, 75 years ago, World War II in the Pacific ended with the Battle of Okinawa and the atomic bombing of Japan. These important events, in which Wisconsin service members did their full duty, still impact the world today. From April until August 2020, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum staff
“These Numbers All Mean Something”
By Russell Horton, Reference & Outreach Archivist “I’ve got documents that I brought out of Korea… just pieces of paper with numbers on them. They are very old. These numbers all mean something.”
Rearguard at Gettysburg
By Kevin Hampton, Curator of History On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, the 7th Wisconsin played a pivotal role as the rear guard of the Union Army during the retreat through the town of Gettysburg. Though the regiment held their position as long as possible along a rail fence
Robert C. McCoy at the Battle of Buna
By Kevin Hampton, Curator of History Robert C. McCoy of Sparta, Wisconsin came from a long lineage of military service. Grandson of Captain Bruce E. McCoy and son of Major General Robert B. McCoy (both namesakes of Wisconsin’s Fort McCoy), Robert C. grew up with a strong sense of duty
A Son’s Service
More than 122,000 Wisconsin men and women served in the military during World War I, in all branches of service and in hundreds of different units. However, the largest concentration of Wisconsinites served in the 32nd Division, which consisted of the Wisconsin and Michigan National Guards. Much like today, individual
A Shared Experience
By: Andrea Hoffman, Collections Manager While there are numerous reasons Wisconsin residents have joined the military over the last 150 years—each generation met with unique historical events and changing social expectations—serving one’s country has also been a shared experience within families. Whether a parent and child, siblings, or spouses, serving
The Story of One Wisconsin WASP: Happy Landings, the Jeanette Kapus Story
Whether they were WACs, SPARs, WAVES, or WASPs, no witty acronym or cute nickname could belie the fact that women performed dangerous jobs across the country and around the globe during World War II. By 1945, there were women serving in every branch of the United States military, standing a remarkable
The Life-Saving Gift to Majil Steiner
By Andrea Hoffman, Collections Manager On November 21, 1944, the B-29 “Snafuperbomber” with the 40th Bomb Group was attacked over Japan while approaching its target city of Omura. While badly damaged, the crewmembers managed to keep the B-29 airborne back across the China Sea. But when the aircraft’s usable fuel
Veteran Sweethearts~Rose Jrolf and Fred Ray
Part of the Rose Ray WVM Collection This formal portrait is of Rose Jrolf and Fred Ray on their wedding day in 1945. Rose is wearing a large lily and ribbon corsage and Fred is wearing a carnation boutineer. Rose enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in 1943 and