Friday, October 24, 2008

Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 15th because that is the grand opening of the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum at the Grout Museum in Waterloo. (There will be a parade too 10:00)

I had a chance to go for a sneak peak yesterday with a Cub Scout Pack and was excited and proud that this museum is here in our own area.
The Lone Sailor statue greets visitors. Designed by Stanley Bleifeld, the original stands in Washington D.C. at the Navy Memorial. He represents all sailors past, present and future. There are 12 statues around the country all standing next to water. We are only inland site. (If you ever get to Washington D. C. take a moment to visit the memorial. The bronze reliefs surrounding the Plaza are really cool to see!)

Inside: Learn about Iowa's veterans from the Civil War to the present.
Including Iowa boys sent to the Phillipines in the late 1800's. Learned something new.

Trench warfare in World War I, the war to end all wars.

Up periscope.

The home front is explored through packing crates of cans in 30 seconds.
We told him that the lid would have to fit on the crate. Lid?

Checking out the theatre and viewing the stories of our Iowa Veterans.

Liberation is at hand! They were told to get down from the tank. I don't know why- the huge picture mural behind them shows about a dozen soldiers sitting on top of a tank.

Exploring a coding machine.

There is a Navy feel through out the museum.
The battleship grey and the steel stairs had the feeling of a battle ship.

Upstairs this statue of the 5 Sullivan Brothers greets us.

Evaluations are filled out at the end.
We only had time to touch on a few things.
Leaving plenty to come back and explore and learn.

If you don't already know the story of the Sullivan Brothers, I encourage you to do a some research. Kelly Sullivan Loughren, the granddaughter and grandniece lives and teaches right here in Cedar Falls! Check out Kelly on YouTube.

Take care and take pictures,
Kim

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Kim,
Great Pictures!
Hope everybody enjoyed their visit and will come back again when we're officially open!
Sally