A Shared Experience

Written 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,

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A Fateful Day

By Andrea Hoffman, Collections Manager The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is rich with stories of World War II veterans who eagerly and patriotically answered the call to service following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Fewer are the accounts of Wisconsin service members who had already enlisted prior to

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Remembering Pearl Harbor The Story of Herbert “Herb” Buehl

By Jenna Madsen, Wisconsin Veterans Museum Assistant Curator Herbert “Herb” Buehl from Monroe, Wisconsin was in the Navy aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Herb served as an electrician in power distribution on the Arizona. His post was at the bottom of the center of the ship

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Like Angels in the Sky: A Combat Medic’s Story

  As I stepped off the plane into the dark Kuwaiti desert a wave of hot moist air hit me. I was in the Middle East, all of those months of endless training had led me to this. For the next three weeks we sat in Kuwait and tried to

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Mexican Expedition

By Russ Horton, Reference Archivist. One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the mobilization of the Wisconsin National Guard for military service. However, he did not send them to Europe, where a World War raged. Instead, he sent them to Texas to protect our border. While their service

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A Story of a World War II Fighter Pilot Fritz Emil Wolf

By RICHARD WOLF, Guest Columnist, THE BUGLE Winter 2011 Cover Story (a Quarterly Publication of the WVM). With the Flying Tigers Fritz E. Wolf was born in Shawano, Wisconsin on February 8, 1916. He attended Shawano High School where he excelled in leadership, character and athletics, graduating in 1933. His athletic prowess

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Wisconsin Veterans Museum conducted its 2,000th interview for its Oral History Program

On July 10, 2015 the Wisconsin Veterans Museum conducted the 2,000th interview for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Oral History Program. Volunteer interviewer Ellen Bowers Healey interviewed Dennis F. Kinney, who served in both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force and retired in 1968 after 20 years of service. Below

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Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud Jr

Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr – Ho-Chunk Nation Warrior Medal of Honor Recipient North Korea, 1950 By the time Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr. wrapped his arm around a tree so he could remain upright, he’d already been shot eight times. The Korean War was in its early stages. Red

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Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day

“I am very happy about hering [sic] that you are back from the war, and others. Things have changed as you were gone. Things like football”. Matt Cain, 2nd grade, Elvehjem Elementary, February 22, 1973. On May 15, 1967, Madison native Major Donald L. Heiliger was hit by anti-aircraft fire

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John Greening: A Veteran in the Spotlight by Andrea Hoffman

This handmade variation on the Type B-1 Summer Flying cap was worn by the donor, Senior Airman John A. Greening, while he was based in Okinawa, Japan during the Korean War.  The painted portions record his service on the brim, including bombs representing the 28 missions he flew over Korea

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