On Creating a Military Family Memorial

ON CREATING THE MILITARY FAMILY MEMORIAL

by Dr. Circe Olson Woessner, Founder and Director of the Museum of the American Military Family

When our museum was founded back in 2011, we wondered what kind of lasting tribute we could make to honor military families. We decided that we wanted to make a memorial honoring the men, women and children who serve alongside America’s service members.

Brainstorming design ideas was hard. What best represented centuries of military families? Because military families are so diverse, we finally decided to use a house, because no matter which generation or which branch of service, military families keep the home fires burning – and home is where our hearts are, and as every military family knows, “home is where the military sends you.” A house was perfect.

We originally had been gifted some old military housing units, but after having several people come out to look at them, we decided that it would be too costly to rehab and move one to a permanent location. It was at a "Tribute to Women" at a Military event in Albuquerque that one of the co-founders of the Las Cruces women veterans’ memorial suggested I should think outside of the box, and consider using one tiny house.

Together we sketched a design on the back of one of the Tribute programs, and parted ways. Months later, I came across the rough sketch, and thought that this could really work!

Over the next few months, we started fundraising. One of our first supporters, the Kerr Foundation from Oklahoma, gave us a generous $4,000 grant. Over the next few years, we got small donations and materials from about 50 individuals, organizations -- including American Legion Posts -- and companies like Lowe’s and RAKS. The National Guard agreed to let us place the memorial on the grounds of their museum in Santa Fe.

It was amazing to see all sorts of people coming together to build a memorial based on only the rough sketch I had cobbled together. (I didn’t want to spend money on a professional drawing, as the money would be better spent going to the actual memorial.)

With some of the money, we bought a small, pre-made wooden cabin and then our Special Projects Manager Paul Silva, a Sandia National Laboratories retiree, customized it. We kept it deliberately simple, reminiscent of some of the old wooden military buildings commonly found on installations worldwide. We decided to make five small display windows in the building --each representing an aspect of the military family. Visitors can look upon artifacts depicting the life of the military parent, the spouses and partners, the children, the service member, and the veteran.
Army veteran and graphic designer, Dominic Ruiz, created display panels using photos which military family members sent us. The photos are around scanned letters and poems from our museum collection and artifacts donated by military families.

We commissioned some hand-painted dandelions to represent military children; we repurposed an old street sign from Kirtland Air Force Base. We added elements from our 2014 exhibit, Sacrifice & Service — a tricycle and a mailbox.

On May 13, 2017, we dedicated our tribute to the military family — in a moving ceremony in Santa Fe. It was the perfect weekend: May 12th was Military Spouse Appreciation Day, the 13th was Children of Fallen Patriots Day, and the 14th was Mother’s Day. What better weekend to honor America’s Military Families?

The Santa Fe High School JROTC color guard opened the celebration, and ten year-old Marisol Herrera sang the National Anthem. During the dedication, former Congressman William Redmond spoke of his own military family roots, as did Santa Fe Councilor Peter Ives. Board member Joe Baca spoke of his dual Marine family, and Debi Coffelt, a military veteran and Gold Star Wife made some remarks. The Baca children cut the yellow ribbon, and then the visitors viewed the memorial.

The Museum of the American Military Family Board worked hard and is thankful that the National Guard leadership recognizes the family as an essential component of military service and supports having our Memorial right at the entrance to their own museum. We are also appreciative of all the people who came together to make this dream become a reality.

The Memorial is located on the grounds of the New Mexico National Guard Museum (formerly the Bataan Memorial Museum) at 1050 Old Pecos Trail in Santa Fe. The Museum of the American Military Family is located in Tijeras, NM right next to Molly’s Bar on Old Route 66. We are open weekends from 12:30-6:00 PM and by appointment.

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