By special proclamation, May is Military Appreciation Month for Broomfield. Learn more at https://www.broomfield.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2949#

On May 11 at 10am Colleen Sawyer will tell the story of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most influential women of the 20th century. Colleen is a Broomfield hidden treasure and longtime community volunteer. She won the Heart of Broomfield Arts Award in 2009. Her Letters of World War II project won first place in the First Annual History Conference. She also won second place at the Front Range History Conference for her paper on Women Spies in WWI.

On April 27 at 10am John Steinle will present a talk titled, “Colorado and the Silver Crash – the Panic of 1893.” Steinle is an historian and author and has been a frequent presenter at the Veterans Museum. This talk will be in the Presentation Room at 12 Garden Center.

Tim Hutchinson, the Broomfield Veterans Administration Service Officer, will provide an update on current VA policies and programs. He will be joined by a member of the VA Community Living Center in Aurora who will discuss long-term care options for veterans. Start time is 10am at the Museum on April 20.

Join us on April 13 at 10am, when Flint Whitlock will give a special presentation about the Nazi massacre of over 600 men, women and children of the French town, Oradour sur Glane. Flint is an award-winning author and military historian. He is a former US Army officer who served on active duty from 1965 to 1970, including a tour in Vietnam. Flint is a BVM board member and member of the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame.

On Saturday, March 23 at 10am, Joe McGowan, Jr., an “old school” foreign correspondent and bureau chief for the Associated Press for many years, will talk about his experiences and his book, From Fidel Castro to Mother Teresa. He will be joined by Babette Andre, a professor at Metropolitan State University’s Aero Space Department, a laureate in the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, a reporter during the Vietnam War, and the former publisher of Wings West magazine.

On Saturday, March 9, 2024, Chris Juergens, head of Curatorial Services at History Colorado and the Anschutz Curator of Military History, will give a special talk for Coffee & Conversation from his PhD research of the role of “Hessian Soldiers in the American Colonies during the Revolutionary War.” As a prelude he will also give a brief overview of the History Colorado Military Collection.

On Saturday, February 10, 2024, On Feb. 17, Terre Deegan-Young will talk about her experiences as a Red Cross “Donut Dolly” during the Vietnam War. Raised in a Chicago suburb, she was hired by the Red Cross shortly after graduating from college. She served as a recreation specialist for the Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program and arrived in South Vietnam in 1970. She and other recreation specialists, nicknamed “Donut Dollies,” created programs to bring cheer and a touch of home to the many young soldiers who were deployed in scattered firebases throughout the country—often risking their own lives.

On display now at the Broomfield Veterans Museum, this exhibit showcases this path-breaking WWII European theater unit and its ties to Colorado. We’re open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, so come on down.