Wisconsin Veterans Museum marks 125 years of preserving stories

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -The Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison has been preserving the stories of Wisconsin men and women who went to war for 125 years.

Bob Hesselbein walks the museum halls giving tours, with a personal connection to the exhibits. He flew Cobra gunships in Vietnam, starting when he was 19 years old.

“I’ll show you what I used to fly. Oh, by the way, this is a combat veteran from the war. But here I go, right out of high school — we did high school to flight school. The only branch of service where you can become a pilot without a college degree. So I started with a class of 125. They kicked people out for everything. And I ended up flying — this is like the jet fighter of helicopters — the Cobra gunship,” Hesselbein said.

Decades later, he stands in front of a photograph of that same helicopter, and looks at an exhibit that to him is memories.

“Looking at the M16 that they’re carrying — I carried a sawed-off version of that. But that’s now the grandfather. And I feel, boy, am I old. But on the other hand, I still feel like that 19-year-old when I’m over here. Because I can still smell it. I can still feel it,” Hesselbein said. “And I think 19-year-old me probably wasn’t thinking past making it to my 20th birthday. But if that 19-year-old could — he would probably not have dreamed I’d ever do this.”

Preserving stories behind the objects

The museum exists to preserve objects and protect the stories of the people behind them.

“The written words are what supply us with the stories behind the objects. Allows people to see past kind of the broad overview of names and dates and places — and to see individual Wisconsin men and women who were doing these things, and to learn what they were feeling,” said Russ Horton, archives collection manager.

Jennifer Van Haaften, assistant director, said preserving history helps people understand who they are.

“When a person who has amnesia doesn’t remember anything about themselves, they’re kind of adrift — don’t know where they’re going. And so continuing to preserve history in museums across the country helps us continue to understand who we are,” Van Haaften said.

About 3% of the museum’s collection is on display. The other 97% is being preserved in a state-of-the-art facility.

“Every veteran is a story. No matter who you are, no matter when you served — it’s worthy of remembrance, it’s worthy of respect,” said Chris Kolakowski, director.

Bringing history closer to reality

Hesselbein has traveled to Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines and the battlefields of Europe. But he keeps coming back to the museum.

“Our people in Wisconsin, for the most part, have never seen these places. And it’s all abstract. And museums like this — with the things you can see and the things you can touch — bring it closer to reality,” Hesselbein said.

Kolakowski said seeing people connect with the stories is what matters.

“So seeing those light bulbs go off among students — or at any age when you bring tour groups through here — it’s seeing people connect with our stories, connect with what’s here,” Kolakowski said.

To mark 125 years, the museum unveiled a new display. Inside are a Civil War officer’s sword, a scorched belt buckle, bullets from the battlefield and the handwritten notes of the museum’s first curator. All were salvaged from the fire that gutted the State Capitol in 1904.

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