Author: MilitaryFamilyMuseum
We are looking for stories from today’s military kids
New Exhibit scheduled to open 5 May
546B State Route 333, Tijeras, NM 87059
info@militaryfamilymuseum.org (505) 504-6830
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Museum of the American Military Family & Learning Center (MAMF)
For additional information: Dr. Circe Olson Woessner, Executive Director: 505 504-6830
April 28, 2019
Still Shouting – Memories from Inside the Closetopens in the MAMF Galleries at 10:30 am on Sunday, May 5 as a follow-on to the Inside Outexhibit which won the 2018 prestigious Albert B. Corey Award given by the American Association for State and Local History, gaining national recognition for the Tijeras museum.
Still Shoutingis the history of the LGBT military veterans before and after “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” both while on active duty and upon returning to communities back home. MAMF has also published an anthology – SHOUT! Sharing our Truth –of first-hand stories by LGBT veterans and veteran family members. A reader posted on the MAMF website that “This is an important collection of personal narratives… that are emotionally compelling… an important document of voices that matter.”
Both exhibits have been created in collaboration with the Veterans Administration Medical Center LGBT Program offices , Sandia National Labs Pride Alliance, Kirtland AFB Gay-Straight Alliance and American Veterans for Equal Rights.
Military uniforms, re-purposed into works of art, will be on display in the new MAMF Performance and Meeting Space, and, as the MAMF Director says, “the exhibit will share with the public unique stories that have not often been told.”
All seven MAMF galleries will be open during this show so visitors can see presentations on “A Military Kid’s Life,” “The Military Spouse – We Also Serve”; “Addiction and Recovery”; “Coming Home”; “Pride”; “Loss”; and “Schooling with Uncle Sam” – a look at the world-wide school system operated by the Department of Defense.
Admission is free, though donations are welcome. Hours are 10:30 to 5:00 Saturdays through Wednesdays. MAMF is on Old Route 66 (Central Avenue) seven miles east of Tramway (Interchange 175 off I-40), right next to Molly’s Bar.
### 30 ###
Military Kids’ Lives—a New Exhibit at the Museum of the American Military Family in Tijeras, New Mexico
By Allen Dale Olson
We are not defined by ethnicity, religion, geography, or race. You cannot spot us in a crowd. But we, the children of warriors, have been shaped by a culture so powerful we are forever different, forever proud, and forever linked to one another. -Mary Edwards Wertsch, Reflections on an Invisible Nation
Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if you had attended five or six different schools enroute to high school graduation? Or if you had lived in a foreign country by the time you reached third grade? Or during any of your elementary or junior or senior school years?
At the Museum of the American Military, as a civilian, you can live that kind of life vicariously because of a new exhibit – Military Kid’s Lives– or as a former military kid, you can reminisce about those memories of packing up every two or three years to move to schools in another state or another country. You can recapture the childhood pride you once had (and still have) in being a Brat or learn what it’s like to be a child growing up in a military family by reading exhibit panels including the stories of kids from the 1930s to the present.
The exhibit is a permanent part of the Museum’s collections, and contrasts and compares the experiences of Hudson Philips, a Brat in the 1930s and 40s with those of author Bernard Lee (1950s and 60s) and Dwayne Dunn (1980s and 90s) and the more recent reflections of Janine Boldrin.
The museum is in Tijeras, New Mexico, on Old Route 66 just seven miles east of Albuquerque and is collecting and preserving the stories, documents, photos, and artifacts of the parents, spouses, and children of those who serve and have served in America’s military. It is also home to a special gallery focusing on the history of the Defense Department world-wide school system for military children with commentary by teachers and students going back to the 1946 founding of the system.
Military Kids’ Lives, the story of what it’s like to be a military kid, is a compilation of information not only from those who grew up military, but also from some of the nation’s leading researchers on military kid life: Marc Curtis, founder of Military Brats Registry; Mary Edwards Wertsch, author of “Military Brats: Life inside the Fortress”; Donna Musil, producer of the documentary film, “Brats – Our Journey Home”; and the museum’s artist-in-residence, Lora Beldon, founder of Military Kid Art Project.
Elva Resa Publishing House and Military Kids Lives Magazine are also featured on panels discussing their military child-centric publications. Visitors will see artifacts, clothing, and books donated by people who grew up in military families – from Thailand to Texas, Norway to Libya, all over Europe, the USA, and the Far East. They can read first-hand stories of people who spent much of their lives in service to their country.
The exhibit was sponsored, in part, by Home Depot, Daisy BB guns, GCC, Rio Grande Credit Union and Chameleon Kids.
MAMF is at 546B State Route 333, Tijeras, NM 87059, right next to Molly’s famous bar at the interchange of I-40 and SR 14, exit 175 (the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway).
Telephone (505) 504-6830. www.militaryfamilymuseum.org.
Museum of the American Military Family’s Grand Re-opening!
On Sunday, April 14, between 11:00-4:00, please join us for the opening of two new exhibits – “Military Kids’ Lives” and “Together We Serve: The Modern Military Spouse” — and the official opening of our renovated and expanded space.
Besides the two new exhibits, you can re-visit updated permanent exhibits, see artifacts from around the world provided by former teachers in the Defense Department School System, and our Special Collections Library of books and first-hand stories of military veterans and military family members.
546B State Route 333 (Old Route 66) Tijeras (Next to Molly’s Bar) I-40 exit 175
Together We Serve: The Modern Military Spouse
By Allen Dale Olson
In 2014, the museum created “Sacrifice & Service: The American Military Family,” an exhibit illustrating a broad overview on the military family lifestyle and describing the entire military family– the parents, the spouses, the service members, the children, and most of the spouses who had contributed that material from World War II wives through those of the 1990s.
While some things have remained the same, much has changed for modern military spouses, so museum Director Dr. Circe Olson Woessner, who is an Army wife, wanted to create a new exhibit about military spouses with input from spouses who are currently part of active duty families, so she could compare and contrast their experiences with those of spouses from past generations.
And so, Together We Serve: The Modern Military Spouse was born.
Together We Serve became a collaboration between the museum, Andria Williams, founder of the Military Spouse Book Review, and Terri Barnes at Elva Resa Books, the publishing company which produced “Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom and Strength in Military Life,” and 38 other authors and organizations.
Husbands and wives sent Woessner their thoughts about what it’s like to be married to the military–some asking for anonymity–some not–but all describing the special challenges and achievements of those married to the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard. Spouse bloggers and authors sent in quotes, poems, and excerpts from their works to be featured on the panels. Children sent in items such as their mother’s jewelry or wedding cake topper—or even decorated potholders honoring their military mothers. One woman contributed a poem painted on an apron crafted from her husband’s ACUs.
What had been planned to be a small, informal exhibit morphed into a bigger one consisting of nine large panels focusing on themes, such as community, career, home, and “balconies” and “basements.” It also took on a decidedly literary theme.
Professor Deborah Cohler and Woessner created the educational text, Army veteran Dominic Ruiz of Dominic Ruiz Photography in Albuquerque, designed the panel graphics, arranging the quotes and poems around the themes, enabling viewers to be drawn directly into the messages.
Some of the books featured in Together We Serve are: Sacred Spaces: My Journey to the heart of Military Marriage by Corie Weathers; Surviving Deployment: A Guide for Military Families by Karen Pavlicin-Fragnito; Right Side Up: Find Your Way When Military Life Turns You Upside Down by Judy Davis; and Seven Wings to Glory by Kathleen M. Rodgers.
Bloggers Julie Provost, Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Lifeand Lisa Smith Molinari, The Meat & Potatoes of Life: One Mom’s Search for Meaning in the Minutia of the Modern Worldprovided quotes as well.
The Kirtland and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Spouses Clubs, Home Depot, GCC, the Parnall Law Firm, as well as private donors co-sponsored or donated artifacts to the exhibit.
Together We Serve is a permanent exhibit at the museum and will be on display starting in mid-April. To learn more about the museum, visit www.militaryfamilymuseum.org, or like it on Facebook. The museum is located at 546B State Highway 333 (Old Route 66), Tijeras, NM 87059. Phone: (505) 504-6830.
The Importance of Community
One of the things military families tell me when they visit our museum is that they miss the life they left behind when they left the service. That life, of course, means different things to different people, but sometimes it’s quite clear that they are looking back nostalgically to what author and historian Mary Edwards Wertsch calls “life inside the fortress.”
The “fortress” refers to a military installation where families work, live, shop, and play inside the installation’s perimeter fence. Living and working in such close proximity creates a very tight-knit community. While this community is comprised of very different individuals with very different perspectives, these individuals are bound together by a common purpose: the mission.
On an installation, at 5 o’clock pm, everything comes to a stop as the National Anthem plays over a loudspeaker. Children stop playing, cars come to a halt, and anyone walking outside comes to a stop. At 5 o’clock everyone faces the flag and places their hand over their heart or, if in uniform, salutes. The National Anthem also is played in installation movie theatres, and the audience stands at attention prior to viewing the feature.
There is a sense of pride and duty that comes with being a military family, and living on an installation requires a modicum of discipline: yards must be kept to a certain standard, children mustn’t run amok, rules must be followed.
One Air Force daughter says, “I grew up knowing that I was a child ambassador representing the United States, the Air Force, and my immediate family.While living overseas and learning new customs and meeting new people, I represented the best of the United States.”
I grew up in Germany knowing that what I did reflected on my parents. If I did something wrong, people would tell them, and there would be Dire Consequences. Luckily, I was a pretty good kid, and the only dire consequence which happened was after my father received a letter from the Post Commander reprimanding him for allowing me to have 36 overdue library books. I was banned from the library for six months.
All people who have left this lifestyle, whether they liked it or not, have stories to tell.
Spouses often reminisce about living in base housing. They acknowledge the lack of privacy, but they also point out the great connections they built. Living in stairwells or in the close quarters of a military installation, means that the adults keep an eye on the kids, everybody knows everybody’s business, and one can’t really “escape the busyness” of the military tempo.
Shannon remembers life on Holloman Air Base during the Vietnam War. She describes when a jeep pulled up to her quarters. “I watched from the window as they walked up to the house. They spoke to my mom for a few minutes and then mom came in. I remember holding my breath (we knew what this meant). She said, ‘I need you and your brother to go next door and stay there until I get back.’ We didn’t ask questions, we went…It wasn’t until years later that mom talked about it though. She told me that she was going to the houses of wives that were being told their husbands were not coming back. She hated the task, but she said she would be damned if those women were going to face that time alone.”
Even as times have changed, the conflicts are different, more spouses work, and life doesn’t solely revolve around the installation, military spouses still look out for one another.
Sometimes it’s in social media groups like Facebook, where someone might post “We’re moving to base soon, which pediatric dentist in town do you recommend”? Or, “There are two black-and-white dogs running down my street, does anyone know who they belong to?” Or, “Can anyone look after my toddler while I run to the commissary for an hour?”
As our lives get busier and increasingly more isolated, we don’t have as much face-to-face contact with our neighbors as we used to, and small social media groups can be very helpful in bringing people together, building connections, and sharing information.
Adult brats often say that they can sense another brat, even in a crowd of strangers. Brats are drawn to each other because of their shared experiences. That happened to me just the other day at an East Mountain Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting. As I introduced myself to my tablemates, the man sitting to my left mentioned he was a brat. A little later, a woman came up to me and told me she was a brat as well. Instant community!
As military families, we are used to moving into and out of communities each time we PCS (move) even while yearning for a permanent “home” someday. “Home is where the heart is” is an oft-quoted platitude–people are the heart of our communities, and communities are what draw people to them when they’re deciding where to settle.
Our neighborhood is small, and when my husband and I are out walking our dog, our neighbors wave as they drive by. We recently got together for a neighborhood New Year’s Eve party, and via Facebook and cell phone, we keep each other informed if we notice anything out-of-the ordinary. It’s nice to have human connections.
Small communities are special. That’s one reason we chose to locate our museum in Tijeras—next to Molly’s Bar, because we wanted to be a part of a small, lively town and part of Route 66’s continuing history. We love the mountains, the folks who come and go from Molly’s, the tourists who are cruising the Mother Road, and the East Mountains’ unique vibe. People are neighborly here; they have time to visit a little. They offer to help someone out. They leave little painted rocks on our museum doorstep.
We hope our museum will become an increasingly important part of the business and tourism ecosystem here, and that as we grow and expand, we can meet many more of our East Mountain neighbors. Stop by the museum for a bit, let’s share a story and get to know each other!
_________________________________________________________________
(Circe Olson Woessner is the executive director of the Museum of the American Military Family & Learning Center. The museum collects and preserves the stories of military families of all branches and generations. The museum is located at 546B Highway 333, Tijeras.)
