Virginia War Memorial

The Virginia War Memorial seeks applicants for the 2025 RADM Marocchi Memorial Scholarship. Students are encouraged to submit by Monday, April 28, 2025. The scholarship provides two awards of $2,500 each, one given to a graduating senior from a Virginia high school, and one given to a Virginia resident attending a college or university in Virginia. This scholarship is intended to reward Virginia students who plan to serve in the military and participate in ROTC at a Virginia college or university. Apply today on our website - https://lnkd.in/e3_-WCrR (Photo: 2024 winners of the RADM Marocchi Memorial Scholarship. We had an incredibly competitive pool of applicants last year. Thanks to the public-private partnership between the Virginia War Memorial and the Virginia War Memorial Foundation, we were able to award scholarships to four Virginian students for the 2024-2025 school year.)

There’s still time to join us for our next Livestream, “Four-Legged Fighters: Military Workings Dogs and their Handlers” on Thursday, March 6, at 10:30 am. Dogs have had a long and storied history with the U.S. Army and include numerous heroes like Sgt. Stubby of World War I and Chips, the most decorated dog in World War II. An estimated 1,500 dogs were employed during the Korean War and 4,000 dogs during the Vietnam War. Today, dog teams continue to demonstrate courage and loyalty, serving wherever American troops do. In honor of National K9 Veterans Day, join Virginia War Memorial Volunteer and Vietnam Veteran Stuart Blankenship as he talks about his training and service as a military dog handler during the Vietnam War. Although free, register early for this ONLINE ONLY event: https://bit.ly/4gF3Ust

Storytime at the Memorial - K9 Veterans Day Celebration Saturday March 8, 2025 10:30 am – 11:30 am Russell Scott Hall Featured Book: "K9 Mattis On The Job" by Mark Tappan. Children will craft police dogs with modeling clay. “Storytime at the Memorial” offers an educator led reading of a children’s book and themed craft activities. “Storytime at the Memorial” programs are free and open to all children and their families with a suggested age of 4-10 years old. Programs take place on the second Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. Pre-registration is not required to attend and children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Join us as we celebrate National K9 Veterans Day with a very special conversation with Military Working Dog Handler, SPC Parker Prewitt and his MWD partner, Dolf. Both are members of the 544th Military Police Detachment at Fort Gregg-Adams, just south of Richmond, Virginia. Although free, register early for this ONLINE ONLY event: https://bit.ly/41ydpp7

Thank you to everyone who attended the "Generations: African Americans and Legacies of Military Service" program last night at VWM and many many thanks to the fantastic panelists. The evening's panelists group photo (L to R): ? Clarence Singleton, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and board member of the Freedom Flag Foundation ? Frank Bland, U.S. Army veteran and son of Pearl Harbor Survivor ? Howard Baugh, U.S Air Force veteran, President of the Howard Baugh Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Son of Tuskegee Airman ? Richard Baugh, Representative from the Howard Baugh Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Son of Tuskegee Airman ? Mark Garner, U.S. Army veteran, son of WWIl veteran, and father of two current service members

Generations: African Americans and Legacies of Military Service Wednesday | February 26, 2025 | 6:30 PM (light refreshments @ 5:30 pm) In celebration of Black History Month, join us for this in-person presentation of GENERATIONS: African Americans and Legacies of Military Service. African Americans have served in every conflict from the American Revolution to the Global War on Terror, and today African Americans serve in every branch of the military. Our program will feature a panel of African American veterans who will share memories from their service and explore each of their own family’s history of service in the U.S. military. Light refreshments will be served beginning at 5:30 pm and the panel discussion will begin at 6:30 pm. The panel discussion will feature the following guests: Clarence Singleton, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and board member of the Freedom Flag Foundation Howard Baugh, Representative of the Howard Baugh Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Son of Tuskegee Airman Richard Baugh, Representative from the Howard Baugh Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Son of Tuskegee Airman Frank Bland, U.S. Army veteran and son of Pearl Harbor Survivor Mark Garner, U.S. Army veteran, son of WWII veteran, and father of two current service members Registration is not required. This program is free and open to the public.

Eighty years ago, on February 23, 1945, the U.S. flag was raised on Iwo Jima. During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines took the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest peak, and raised the U.S. flag. American soldiers fighting for control of Suribachi’s slopes cheered the raising of the flag, and several hours later more Marines headed up to the crest with a larger flag. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, met them along the way and recorded the raising of the second flag. This photo is the most reproduced photograph in history and eventually won Rosenthal a Pulitzer Prize. The Battle of Iwo Jima, or Operation Detachment, would wage on until March 26, 1945. Iwo Jima would then become a U.S. landing and refueling site for long-range fighter escorts for 1,000’s of planes for the rest of the war. To learn more about the Battle of Iwo Jima you can watch our program ‘Battle of Iwo Jima’, which is part of the Virginia War Memorial’s award-winning video series, ‘Virginians At War.’ This collection shares history making events as told by Virginians that were there.- vimeo.com/367104891