On Saturday, March 27, 2021, the museum hosted a group of Civil War reenactors who set up camp on the front lawn to mingle with visitors and give them a “first-person” view of the war that began 160 years ago. A sutler’s store, a mounted cavalryman, and a mountain howitzer provided a backdrop for plenty of family photos, and a talk by local Civil War expert Bob Moulder made for a complete immersive experience.
The following Saturday, John Peticolas, a member of the museum’s board of directors, gave a lecture about a relative who fought on the Confederate side.
The museum currently has a special Civil War exhibit featured as part of the rotating Forefathers Exhibit series.
The museum is reopened and hosting Coffee and Conversation events in a safe and socially distanced manner. However, if you prefer to watch from home, we invite you to tune in via our YouTube livestream.
If you’ve never attended a Coffee and Conversation event, we invite you to join us for one of our free Saturday events, starting at 10 a.m. Enjoy coffee, donuts and networking with fellow veterans and history buffs. Plus, you’ll hear a great presentation from a veteran or historian. You can also access our entire library of recorded Coffee and Conversation presentations on our YouTube channel.
Upcoming Events
27 February – Bill Niles served in the US Navy Submarine Service from 1980 to 1988 with tours on the USS Queenfish (SSN651) and the USS Omaha (SSN692) based out of Pearl Harbor. He achieved the rank of E-6 and his job focused on the maintenance of alarm, warning, control and interior communication systems for the submarines. Bill will share his experiences of what it is like to train to be a submariner and then serve on a nuclear attack submarine.
13 March – Bob Moulder joined the US Navy in 1952 and served as a radioman on the USS Hector, USS Ajax and the USS Pinola. Most of his service was spent in Japan and Korean waters during the latter part of the Korean War. Bob is a Civil War expert and amateur historian who will present a talk titled, “Civil War Guns, Swords and Stories,” as told through artifacts from his extensive personal collection. This is in conjunction with a special Civil War exhibit at the Veterans Museum.
27 March – John Peticolas served a 25 year career in the US Navy and Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of Commander (0-5). As a pilot he flew multiple different aircraft including the A-6 Intruder, the A-4 Skyhawk and P-3 Orion. In conjunction with a special Civil War exhibit, John will tell the story of his great-grand uncle, Albert Brown Peticolas, a young lawyer from Victoria, Texas, who joined other troops from his state in the 1862 Confederate invasion of New Mexico.
On November 11, 2020 the Broomfield Veterans Museum hosted an outdoor, socially-distanced ceremony to honor America’s veterans. The event was held on the front lawn of the Broomfield Veterans Museum. Museum President Lew Roman welcomed veterans and guests, Rick Schneider of the American Legion Post 58 gave the Invocation, and Gulf War Veteran Ryan Wolf gave a keynote speech.
Many thanks to the following organizations assisted with the implementation of the event: City of Broomfield, Colorado, American Legion Post 58, Broomfield, Colorado, American Military Living History Association, • Mile High Fife and Drum Corps, • Bugles Across America, Tenth Mountain Division Reenactment Group, InnovAge Image Company, and Daughters of the American Revolution.
The ceremony was video streamed to public thank to Sara Farris (link here) and a digital copy was also taken by Steve Kutala. Media coverage included reporters from the Broomfield Sentinel, Broomfield Enterprise, the Boulder Camera and there was a TV crew from the Spanish speaking TV station Telemundo.
The museum has installed a new exhibit that commemorates the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII and honors local veterans and Colorado companies which played a major role in ensuring the Allied victory.
A view of a portion of the exhibit commemorating Colorado’s role in the victory of World War II. The Norden bombsight is visible in the lower right corner of the photo.
On display are stories and artifacts related to local D-Day participants such as Robert Rudzinski, a Navy corpsman (medic) who took part in the landings at Utah Beach, Normandy; Coast Guardsman Wil Staub who served aboard a landing craft bringing American soldiers into hotly contested Omaha Beach; and Bob Hilbert, who was a part of the 1st Infantry Division amphibious assault landings at Omaha Beach.
Also honored are airman Bob Caron of Denver, who was the tailgunner on the “Enola Gay”—the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and sailor Clyde Brunner, who witnessed Japan’s formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri; Brunner later became Broomfield’s second mayor.
Encompassed by a 20-foot-long timeline of the most significant events of the war, the display also highlights the contributions of Colorado companies, such as the Gates Rubber Company (maker of military tires); Schaeffer Tent and Awning Company (which made tents for the military); Coors Porcelain (producers of ceramic insulators required for the atomic-bomb manufacturing process); Coleman Motor Company of Littleton (which produced heavy trucks and cranes); and the Remington Arms Plant in Lakewood (manufacturers of over 6 million bullets per day) — all of which did much to bring about victory.
Also on display are the once-top-secret Norden bombsight that was touted to provde American bomber crews with “precision” aerial bombing capabilities; a brief history of the Holocaust; and the Colorado National Guard’s role in liberating the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945.
It is anticipated that the exhibit will be up until the beginning of 2021.
Pictured is the museum’s fully outfitted 1950s fallout shelter, where civilians could expect to spend two weeks or more in order to survive a nuclear attack.
Another recent addition to the museum is the full-scale fallout shelter in the Cold War Room. This fallout shelter replicates in perfect detail the type of basement shelter that many Americans built during the 1950s and 1960s when fears of an imminent nuclear attack by the Soviet Union or Communist China were very real. The fallout shelter chillingly reminds visitors of a frightening time in U.S. history.
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum brings you one more Virtual Coffee & Conversation.
Background: In 1945, the author Gertrude Stein lived as an ex-patriot in the French countryside under the Vichy French government. As a Jew and an American, she had lived in fear of the Nazi regime during the years of the war. When American soldiers from the 47th Infantry liberated her town, she gratefully welcomed them into her home. On page 34 of her 1945 book Wars I Have Seen, she described that joyous day, “How we talked that night, they just brought all America to us every bit of it, they came from Colorado, lovely Colorado, I do not know Colorado, but that is the way I felt about it lovely Colorado and then everybody was tired out and my were we happy, we were, completely and truly happy and completely and entirely worn out with emotion.”
Imagine the release of tension that the liberation of France brought to people like Stein and so many others! As you do so, enjoy this presentation from Lew Moir about underground tunnels in Europe and how they were used during the war.
In the Coffee & Conversation from April 2019 linked here and embedded above, Lew Moir describes four different tunnel systems used in Europe during World War II.
Source: Library of Congress. Black soldier, Indian war period, Infantry, Co. D with shoulder knots, holding noncom sword, wearing aiguelette, crossed rifles with “D” on kepi, white gloves plus 3 service stripes i.e. 15 years service. [Between 1866 and 1890] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2010650832/>.
African Americans in the military have long had to fight a two-front battle. They fight against the enemy (whether against the British in the American Revolution, Confederates during the Civil War, fascists in World War II, or the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong during the Vietnam War) and they also fight against racism in the United States.
This two-front battle is a tragic outcome of the legacy of slavery and oppression of black people in the United States. The persistence and dedication of the thousands upon thousands of black members of the armed forces throughout America’s history is truly remarkable. These men and women continually strove to upend the systems of discrimination and disenfranchisement in the United States, revealing their courage and determination in the face of rampant and unrelenting racism.
Source: Library of Congress. Unidentified African American soldier in uniform and overseas cap. [Between 1917 and 1918] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2017648692/>.
At the outset of World War II, James G. Thompson, a black member of the segregated U.S. Army wrote, “Being an American of dark complexion and some 26 years, these questions flash through my mind: ‘Should I sacrifice my life to live half American?’ ‘Will things be better for the next generation in the peace to follow?’…‘Is the kind of America I know worth defending?’”
Thompson’s questions helped to galvanize the “Double Victory” campaign—the fight against racism at home and fascism overseas—during World War II. Sadly, Thompson’s questions still have relevance today, as America continues to grapple with societal turmoil inherited from the past.
Photograph shows members of the 332nd, from left to right: Robert W. Williams, Ottumwa, IA, Class 44-E; (leather cap) William H. Holloman, III, St. Louis, Mo., Class 44-?; (cloth cap) Ronald W. Reeves, Washington, D.C., Class 44-G; (leather cap) Christopher W. Newman, St. Louis, MO, Class 43-I; (flight cap) Walter M. Downs, New Orleans, LA, Class 43-B. (Source: Photographer’s notes and Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group pilots.) Source: Library of Congress. Frissell, Toni, photographer. Members of the 332nd Fighter Group attending a briefing in Ramitelli, Italy, March. Italy, 1945. [March] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2007675004/.
This photograph shows Lieutenant Virginia N. Justy looking at documents at a table in the United States 8th Air Force headquarters operations room, possibly outside London, England during World War II. Source: Library of Congress. Frissell, Toni, photographer. Lt. Virginia N. Justy, 502 1/2 South Ogden St., Los Angeles, Calif., in front of Airdrome status map in ops. room. England, 1945. [January] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017646161/.
Continuing our focus on women in the armed forces, this post will delve into women in the Air Force and Coast Guard.
Air Force—Much like the Women’s Auxiliary Corps (WAC) for the Army during World War II, the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) provided essential support to the United States’ war effort. Women pilots who had been trained by WASP flew 80 percent of all ferrying missions, delivering over 12,000 aircraft. Stationed at air bases across the U.S. during the war, they proved their worth time and time again.
Coast Guard women honor World War heroes of U.S. Coast Guard. The members of the United States Coast Guard who gave their lives during the World War were signally honored in Washington today by the League of Coast Guard Women when they journeyed to Arlington National Cemetery to place a wreath on the Coast Guard Memorial. Mrs I.W. Buckalow, of Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, is shown placing the wreath Delegates from the various units of the League of Coast Guard Women in all parts of the country are also shown in the photograph. Source: Library of Congress. Harris & Ewing, photographer. United States United States, 1928. November 9. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016889083/.
Coast Guard— A few women served in the Naval Coastal Defense Reserve during World War I, but World War II saw a much larger group of women join them. Formed around the same time as the other auxiliaries during World War II, the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve welcomed a total of 11,868 enlisted women and 978 female officers throughout the course of the war, paving the way for women in the Coast Guard up through today.
Female Navy Yeomen stand in review during World War I. Source: Library of Congress. Navy Girls on Review. , None. [Between 1917 and 1915] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/96501196/.
As part of the Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum’s “miniseries” about women in the armed forces, this post will dive into women in the Navy (who certainly made WAVEs) as well as female Marines.
Navy—Women took on roles in the Navy beyond nurse starting in World War I. The first female inductee in the U.S. Navy was Loretta Perfectus Walsh in 1917. Beyond the yeoman role, women also served as draftsmen, pharmacists, torpedo assemblers, photographers, telegraph operators and chemists. After the war, these women were released from active duty.
During World War II, women were again brought into service in the Navy, this time as a separate auxiliary called Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service, or WAVES. Serving with distinction around the world, the WAVES broke barriers for the women who continue to serve the country in the Navy.
Marines—
This photograph shows women called the “Marinettes” who performed clerical work usually done by male Marines starting in 1918 during World War I. Source: Library of Congress, Bain News Service, Publisher. Enlisting “Marinettes”. , ca. 1915. [Between and Ca. 1920] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014707651/.
World War I saw the Marines recruit women into the Marine Corps reserve, as depicted in the picture above. By the end of the war, 305 women had served, most of whom went to France to fill administrative roles.
During World War II, over 20,000 women served in the Marines. It is estimated that one third to a one half of the positions on Marine bases during the later part of the war were filled by women. One such of these was Irene Brophy, whose photograph is below and also on display at the BVMM in the Women in World War II exhibit.
Sergeant Irene Brophy served at the Marine Corps base in San Diego in the Motor Transport Company as a tune-up specialist and truck driver. Photo in Veterans Museum collection, 2010.8.
As with the other branches of the military, despite obstacles and difficulties, women served in the Marines in a variety of capacities in all subsequent American conflicts. Take a moment today to appreciate these pioneering women.
Women have served the United States in all of its wars—from Molly Pitcher during the American Revolution to Mary Owens who dressed as a man to fight in the Civil War to female spies in World War I—but only recently have been granted mostly equal treatment in the armed forces. One of the groups that paved the way for the current status of women in the military was the WAC. As we’ll learn in future posts, service women from other branches of the military also played a large role in shifting the perception of women in the armed forces.
This photo from the Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum archives is of Audrey Renstetter and was taken at Fort Lawton in Seattle, Washington in April 1944 and given to fellow WAC member Sylvia Amato. Photo album donated by Paul Strange and in permanent collection at BVMM, 2008.9.3.
Formed in May 1942, the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (later changed to Women’s Army Corps), was a direct way for women to engage in the effort to defeat the Axis powers. Ultimately, over 140,000 women served in the WAC during World War II. Stenographers, arms maintenance, switchboard operators, mechanics, and drivers were some of the many Army support roles women took on. Serving both stateside and overseas, these individuals proved to be both capable and effective. General Douglas MacArthur referred to the women in the WAC as “my best soldiers” as the WAC became an essential part of the war effort.
While the WAC did not lead directly to the break-throughs for women that some had expected, some of the current success of women in the armed forces can be traced to this pioneering group.
This photo from the Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum archives shows Sylvia Amato in a truck at the Daytona Beach WAC training base in Florida circa 1943. Photo album donated by Paul Strange and in permanent collection at BVMM, 2008.9.3.
As of 2014, women comprised a full 14 percent of the active duty Army and continue to break barriers. For further reading about women in the Army, visit the website here.
Keep an eye on our website for posts about women in the other branches of the armed forces in the coming weeks.
You can also watch Colleen Sawyer’s excellent presentation on female spies in World War I at our Virtual Coffee & Conversation linked here and below.
Colleen Sawyer speaks about female spies during World War I at her April 4, 2019 Coffee & Conversation at BVMM.
Sources:
Morden, Bettie J. (2000). The Women’s Army Corps, 1945-1978. United States Army Center of Military History.
Treadwell, Mattie E. (1954). The Women’s Army Corps. United States Army in World War II (1991 ed.).
