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

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Part V: THE END OF THE WAR

On June 18, the day General Buckner was killed, President Harry Truman met with his senior military and civilian advisors to discuss the next steps in the war against Japan. General MacArthur estimated 100,000 U.S. losses in the first 30 days of an invasion of the Japanese home islands, while

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A Lesson in Resiliency From the Bataan Death March

At the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. A Philippine insurrection against the United States began almost immediately and ended in 1902 with the United States controlling the territory until the Japanese invasion in December of 1941. Choosing deployment to the

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Month of the Military Child: Augustus Patchin and Family

By Russell Horton, Reference & Outreach Archivist  The Wisconsin Veterans Museum focuses on preserving the stories of men and women who serve in the US military. But very often, in the letters, photographs, and objects from those veterans, we can learn much of the families and children who remained home,

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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

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“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.”                                   

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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

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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

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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

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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

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