A Word from Our Founder
A lot has happened at the museum since our last newsletter. We held a successful third annual Veterans Talking to Veterans Fair May 23 – 24. We conducted our first in-house equine therapy program for veterans and family members June 8 – 14 under the tutelage of Anna Twinney, founder of Reach Out to Horses. We hosted other veterans, military, and family members for retreats in line with our Wilderness Healing Project.
We entered 25 military vehicles - ranging from the U.S. M60 and the British Chieftain main battle tanks to a variety of WWII vehicles – in the Dubois 4th of July parade. Successful, even though we got hammered by a severe rainstorm toward the end.
We conducted our first Iwo Jima Day immediately following the 4th of July parade on July 5. Historian and past Executive Director of the Iwo Jima association Shayne Jarosz gave a two hour lecture that some of our attendees said was the best lecture they ever attended. Our own local Iwo Jima veteran Tom Guthrie met with Shayne during the day.
Those of you who have already visited the museum know that we have had an M88 armored recovery vehicle and a one-of-a-kind CCVL (close combat vehicle light) prototype M8 posted as monuments by the entrance to our Poolaw Building. The CCVL is still there, but our restoration shop confiscated our M88 to aid restoration projects. Don’t worry though, we replaced the M88 with a stunning M110 203mm or 8” self-propelled howitzer. The M110 was the largest self- propelled howitzer in the U.S. military prior to its retirement in 1994 and was capable of firing nuclear projectiles.
One of our most important recent events was celebrated August 20 with a press conference hosted and conducted at the museum by Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder. The first lesson plans for middle school and high school teachers (as well as home schoolers) created by the museum in partnership with the University of Wyoming and Wyoming educators have been completed and posted on the state’s Canvas learning platform.
These are available to the public online. These lesson plans are just the beginning. We will continue to expand our educational material for public use going forward to further our mission of educating next generations on the history of American freedom.
What is next?
The 24th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is 9/11/25. Once again, a patriot and benefactor who insists on remaining anonymous made a donation to provide free admission to the museum for all on 9/11/25. The museum celebrates freedom, patriotism, honor, the fallen, and our military and veteran community all day every day. There is no better place to commemorate 9/11 and express appreciation for our military that responded to that attack than at the museum, courtesy of this anonymous patriot.
Construction of our on-site motel “Liberty Lodge of Wyoming” is well underway and on track for completion before the end of 2026. This 70 room motel will be a game changer for the museum in 2027 and beyond. Tour companies will begin to include the museum on their tour schedules. We will be able to conduct multi-day professional development programs for educators and others on-site. We will be a better venue for larger groups as well as for groups who do not want attendees to have to drive home at night after dinner. The Liberty Lodge’s target audience will be educators, students, veterans groups, and those on fixed incomes, as well as other price sensitive guests.
We recently added resources to help us produce more YouTube videos to expand the reach of the museum. If you have not already done so, please check out our YouTube channel (@NMMV_USA). As of this writing we already have posted 94 long form videos and numerous shorts for you to scroll through. Three of our shorts already have more than 1 million views each. One of the posted long form videos that deserves more attention than the YouTube algorithm generates is our video regarding the connection between U.S. manufacturing and U.S. military capability, which can be viewed on our channel. Please, check it out and share it with others to help spread the word about the role U.S. manufacturing plays in helping preserve American freedom.
Last but not least, we are revising our Patton Gallery to expand our interpretation of WWI along with other improvements. We expect to have these improvements in place in time for the summer of 2026 and the U.S. 250th Birthday.
If you like this Newsletter, please encourage family and friends to sign up to receive it. We want to reach as many people as possible to fulfill our mission to (1) honor the service and sacrifice of veterans and their families and (2) educate next generations on the history of American freedom.A
Dan Starks, Founder of National Museum of Military Vehicles