Chester Krause on the Liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Chester L. "Chet" Krause served with the 565th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion in World War II. In honor of the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp during World War II, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum presents the story of veteran Chester L. “Chet” Krause, one of the
Alannah McReavey on Giving Back
The Wisconsin Veterans Museum supports Women's History Month. As part of that effort, we are featuring Alannah McReavey, who agreed to interview with us for the statewide women veterans oral history project: I Am Not Invisible. Here is her story. Alannah McReavey served with the United States Army Reserves from
Tarra Gundrum on What is Possible
Tarra Rimone Pickens (later Gundrum) grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. She attended Cleveland Junior Naval Academy, an area Navy Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (NJROTC) high school, and determined by the age of seventeen that she wanted to join the United States Marine Corps, enlisting in 1998 at seventeen-and-a-half
Urban A. Sippel with the First Special Service Force at Anzio
In this blog post, Urban A. Sippel of Glenbeulah, Wisconsin, retells his story with the 1st Special Service Force (1SSF) during World War II in Italy, from November 1943 to June 1944. He supplies a detailed account of the 1SSF at the Anzio beachhead and later breakout as part of
Betty M. Prieve: A Song for the Holiday
Betty Mae Whitney Prieve was a Merrill, Wisconsin, native. She joined the United States Navy in 1942. She trained as an airplane mechanic in Norman, Oklahoma, before transferring to Lakehurst, New Jersey. In 1944, shortly after the combat related death of her brother, she volunteered for duty at Pearl Harbor
Oneida Warrior James K. Overman on racism and rescuing pilots
James K. Overman of Delafield, Wisconsin, is the son of a World War I veteran and raised with a love for aviation. After receiving a draft notice in 1951, a year after graduating high school, Overman opted to enlist in the Air Force to ensure he got to fly planes
Wisconsin Women in Combat: Garza Recounts Being Under Fire at FOB Masum Ghar
In April 2011, Jessica Garza deployed to Afghanistan with the brigade S-1 section, 1-25th Striker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT). Initially, the command assigned Garza and her unit to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Lagman. FOB Lagman was a former forward operating base in Qalati Ghilji, Zabul Province, Afghanistan. While there, she
Remembering the Korean Armistice: 1,100 Days as a Prisoner of War
On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed that began a ceasefire between North Korea and South Korea, although occasional hostilities flare between the two countries continue to this day. While this declaration of ceasefire was not a formal end to the war, it marks an important day in which
Dunday Recalls Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)
In March 2005, Blair Dunday enlisted under the Army's Delayed Entry Program (DEP), knowing that the Army would train her as an 89B (ammunition specialist). She delayed entry until July 2005 as she cared for her younger siblings and began her six-year enlistment. Dunday attended basic training at Fort Leonard
Memories of War with Nao Tou Lor
Nao Tou Lor was born in 1953 in the province of Xieng Khouang, Laos. His father worked with the French, and Nao Tou Lor remembers visiting the French fort near his home at an early age. Circa 1962, the Vietnamese arrested his father and took him. Nao Tou Lor and