Local resident Robert MacDonald entered the U.S. Army in 1959 and served in the Infantry, Special Forces Green Beret, and Military Police before retiring 30 years later as a full colonel.

During the Vietnam War he was an advisor within the South Vietnamese Army and, on his second tour, he was designated to serve as a U.S. representative for the repatriation of enemy prisoners of war once the war was over. He was also involved in the return of U.S. prisoners held in prison in Hanoi, North Vietnam.

After the war he had a number of command and staff assignments, including staff officer under the Superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point, New York.

He will detail his military experiences at the Veterans Museum Broomfield’s bi-monthly “Coffee & Conversation” series at 10:00 a.m. on April 9.

The Broomfield Veterans Museum turns 20 this year! In celebration, we have a special exhibit about the Museum Founders in our Forefather’s Exhibit. It was through their hard work that Broomfield has this great local resource for learning and gathering.

Please join the Broomfield Veterans Museum in their parking lot for a ceremony honoring veterans. Featuring military living history enactors and their vehicles as well as music, this annual event is a ‘must see’. After the program, stay for tours of the museum!

It has been 20 years since the terrorist attacks brought death and destruction to the American homeland—and touched off a 20-year war in Afghanistan. To commemorate the nearly 3,000 lives lost on that September 11, 2001, the Broomfield Veterans Museum has installed a new exhibit that recounts the events of that tragic day.

Nineteen persons with a connection to Colorado were killed on 9/11—either because they were in the buildings that were hit by the hijacked planes or were in the planes themselves. Their stories are told in vignettes at the museum. For example, Kathryn LaBorie of Colorado Springs was the head flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 175 that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York, and Jason Dahl of Littleton was the chief pilot aboard United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It it believed that passengers and crew members on Flight 93 fought with the hijackers in an effort to prevent the plane from reaching its target—thought to be either the White House or U.S. Capitol.

The new exhibit is scheduled to remain on display until later this year to remind visitors of the tremendous blow the attacks made on Americans’ feelings of security and changed the course of history.

On Monday, May 30, 2022, the Broomfield Veterans Museum will host a Memorial Day picnic and celebration at the Broomfield County Commons Park, 13200 Sheridan Blvd., Broomfield. The ceremony will go on rain or shine and include a posting of colors, a flyover, the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, an invocation and remarks by Broomfield civic leaders. Following the ceremony, if weather allows, there will be a concert by the Rocky Mountain Brassworks and lunch (burgers and hot dogs for sale from the Broomfield Lions Club). There will also be military apparatus on display. The event is free and will be from 11 AM to 1 PM at Broomfield County Commons Park.

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.

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