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 first Americans to visit the camp. On April 11, 1945, Buchenwald Concentration Camp, located near Weimar, Germany, was liberated by the United States military. Chester, an auto mechanic serving with the 565th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, was just a fe ..read more

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 June 1984 to December 1991. While in the military, she served with the 84th Training Command, then the 84th Division (Training). She served initially on the enlisted side and later as an officer, eventually commanding a company in the 84th Division. McReavey enlisted in the United St ..read more

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 and graduating from boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, around the same time her high school class was graduating. She then completed Marine Combat Training (MCT) at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, followed by motor transport schooling at Fort Leonard Wood, Missour ..read more

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 the Fifth Army. The joint American and Canadian 1SSF trained in Helena, Montana, drilled in unconventional tactics and warfare and was the forerunner of the United States Army Special Forces. The unit did not train like other units in the United States military. First Special Service Force shoulder sleeve insign ..read more

Looking for Light - in this blog, which is an extension of the article in the Winter 2023 issue of The Bugle, we’re sharing more background on the images featured in the magazine. The variations of light captured in these images vary from heavenly cloud formations to battle silhouettes. They can be interpreted as both artful and inspiring. Behind the photos of course are our Wisconsin veterans. Their stories here are often augmented with their oral histories where you can read their experiences as they tell them. We encourage you to explore this content.   A photograph of Dennis Bo ..read more

Photo of Betty M. Prieve, United States Navy. WVM.Mss.2140.I059.03. 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 and served until 1946 in the WAVES, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, United States Naval Reserve. After returning home she married and had four children in five years. Eventually she divorced her husband ..read more

The Green Bay Tribes In 1861 three American Indian nations had reservations located in northeastern Wisconsin and reported to the federal Indian Agent located in Green Bay. Because of this, they were often referred to as the Green Bay tribes. The Menominee, Oneida, and Stockbridge-Munsee Mohicans each had a unique and complicated history of interaction with the United States government, the Wisconsin state government, and the American military. Yet men from each of these nations, for a variety of reasons, chose to volunteer for service in the Union Army. Their stories of bravery and perseve ..read more

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 instead of sitting in a foxhole. Overman passed the entrance exam for flight school, and the Air Force sent him to Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. At Goodfellow, he encountered discrimination due to his Oneida heritage. Overman recalls the event: OVERMAN: When were finally called for pilot school, I went to Goodfe ..read more

Organization The 50th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Randall, Madison, Wisconsin, and left the state by companies in late March and early April, 1865, proceeding to St. Louis, MO.  Active Duty After Missouri,  the regiment was moved to Ft. Leavenworth, KS and thence to Fort Rice, Dakota Territory.  Company E was ordered to Madison and mustered out on April 18, 1866.  In late June, the regiment returned to the state and was mustered out of the service of the United States and disbanded.  Casualties The regiment lost 1 man to mortal wounds and 1 office ..read more

Organization Four companies of the 53rd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment  were organized in April, 1865. They proceeded to St. Louis, MO, and thence to Ft. Leavenworth, KS.   Active Duty In Kansas, by order of the War Department, Companies A, B, C, and D were transferred to the 51st Infantry Regiment on June 10, 1865, and mustered out with that regiment.  Casualties The 53rd lost 8 men to disease. For Further Research Search our collections for photos and artifacts from Wisconsin in the Civil War. Read about other Wisconsin Civil War regiments. For detailed r ..read more