Tribute to Fallen Wisconsin Sailor Opens at Veterans Museum

MADISON, Wis — (October 8, 2025) The Wisconsin Veterans Museum has opened a temporary exhibit to remember a Wisconsin sailor killed in the bombing of the USS Cole (DDG 67) in the Yemini port of Aden on October 12, 2000. Seventeen crewmembers perished in the terrorist attack, and among them was Engineman 2nd

Continue reading
James Megellas

WISCONSIN’S HIGHLY-DECORATED WWII VETERAN MEGELLAS FEATURED IN NEW DISPLAY

WISCONSIN’S HIGHLY-DECORATED WWII VETERAN MEGELLAS FEATURED IN NEW DISPLAY Megellas Family entrusts WVM with internationally renowned war hero’s collection  (MADISON, Wis.) September 5, 2024—The artifacts of one of Wisconsin’s legendary World War II heroes, James Megellas, will soon be  added to the permanent exhibits at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. On

Continue reading
James Megellas

James Megellas: Meeting a Hero; Knowing the Person

Meeting James “Maggie” Megellas will always be a highlight of my career with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Growing up, the World War II generation was almost larger-than-life in my perception. I was fortunate to grow up on stories from my grandparents and their generation at the peak of public memory

Continue reading

FOX VALLEY VETERANS TELL THEIR STORIES

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum (WVM) collects and publishes a substantial number of veteran interviews from the Fox Valley and the surrounding area. Additionally, we act as the dark archives for several interviews from that region of Wisconsin. These Fox Valley oral history interviews range from the current day back to World

Continue reading

Remembering the USS Cole (DDG 67) 20th Anniversary

    USS Cole Remembrance Ceremony Pierside Ceremony and Wreath Dedication Norfolk, VA Monday, Oct. 12, 2020 beginning at 10:15 am EST Guest Speakers Adm. Christopher W. Grady, Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command Retired Adm. Robert J. Natter, Commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet/Fleet Forces Command Cmdr. Edward Pledger, Commanding officer, USS

Continue reading

USS Cole Bombing: The Road to 9/11

On the morning of October 12, 2000, the USS Cole was attacked in Yemen’s Aden harbor by two suicide bombers piloting a small boat loaded with an estimated 700 pounds of explosives. The subsequent blast tore a 40-by-60-foot gash in the side of the guided-missile destroyer, claimed the lives of

Continue reading