This holiday weekend, all you need are just a few minutes to remember the veterans and their sacrifices.
The Director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum encourages people to stop by sometime this Memorial Day weekend and take a look at the exhibits and displays depicting significant events in Wisconsin military history. Dr. Richard Zeitlin, PhD , ( pronounce ) says it’s very important for people to keep in mind the meaning of the holiday.
“To do that, they don’t have to take the whole day and change their schedules. And I know that people are busy and time is short. Just to take a little time to remember the purpose of the holiday, which is to remember those who have given their lives in America’s military past, is really what Memorial Day is all about.”
Zeitlin stresses, the state Veterans Museum is for historical purposes, not political.
“We want — in Abraham Lincoln’s words — to keep the unbreakable chain of memory alive. From one generation to the next there’s an unbreakable chain of memory, which reminds people that other generations have made contributions, too. It’s not partisan; it is simply to recognize the historical facts.”
In addition to the exhibits, you’ll find an interactive Civil War computerized record display, so you can look up the record of your ancestors.
“Where, if you have had an ancestor who served from a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil War , we could look up his military record; tell people what battles they were in, if they were wounded and when was their service, what hometown they may have come from and we can provide a print-out of that information, too.”
The Wisconsin Veterans Museum will have special Memorial Day weekend hours, and will be open on Sunday from Noon to 4:00 p.m. and Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, and it’s free admission.
If you can’t get to the state Veterans Museum, located in Wisconsin’s capitol city, Zeitlin says you can go online to see some displays or check out the satellite facility, Wisconsin National Guard museum, located at Volk Field in Camp Douglas. Also, there will be plenty of Memorial Day ceremonies throughout the state .
The National Moment of Remembrance asks Americans to pause for a moment of silent contemplation, wherever you are, on May 28th, at 3:00 p.m., to remember America’s fallen soldiers.
The state Veterans Department ‘s theme this year to honor and remember our fallen service members is, “Land of the Free Because of the Brave.”