Public Programs

Wednesday, April 7, 2021, 10:00 a.m. EDT

Wednesday, April 14, 2021, 10:00 a.m. EDT

Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 10:00 a.m. EDT

Join a Museum educator to explore the gear, weapons, and personal items that made up a Civil War Soldier’s Load. Tens of thousands of Soldiers endured hardships and challenges to carry out the Army’s military mission to preserve the Union. The items Soldiers carried into the field were invaluable to performing their duty and executing the Army’s mission. During this field trip, students will engage with the Army’s history through artifacts, primary sources, and Soldiers’ Stories.
Program content appropriate for participants 4th grade through adult.

April 20, 2021 at 7 pm EDT

Join the National Museum of the  United States Army for a one-hour virtual tour related to the Army's extensive history. The "Battle Brief" look at the hard-fought Battle of the Wilderness in early May 1864, the first face-off between Grant and Lee in war-torn Virginia. 

Join chief Curator, Paul Morando on Friday, April 23, 2021 at 12:15 p.m. (EDT) for a Gallery Talk.

Select artifacts on display in the Museum’s “Preserving the Nation Gallery” which includes Civil War exhibits will be shared. This tour highlights interesting artifacts from the Museum’s collection as well as individual Soldier stories from the Civil War era – revealing themes of personal courage and leadership from throughout the Army’s ranks. This livestream event includes opportunities for audience questions.

Join the National Museum of the United States Army on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 7:00pm EDT to learn more about the Army and the Philippines. 

The United States and its armed forces have been militarily involved with the Philippine Islands for over a century. As part of a far-flung campaign of the Spanish-American War, the U.S. conquest of the Philippines in 1898 wrested control of the strategic islands from Spain, and gave American arms a vital toe-hold in the western Pacific Ocean. Soon afterwards, U.S. troops and Filipino nationalists fought a bloody conflict over the islands’ independence and America’s disputed involvement in their rule. In World War II, the Philippines was the scene of difficult terrain, a harsh climate, and bitter fighting, including Bataan and Corregidor, the Bataan Death March, Leyte, and the urban battle for Manila. Join the National Museum of the United States Army as we host Christopher L. Kolakowski, Director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and author of “Last Stand on Bataan: The Defense of the Philippines, December 1941-May 1942,” for a discussion with Museum Educator John R. Maass about the U.S. Army’s role in the military history of the Philippines since the end of the nineteenth century through World War II, and into the Cold War years.

Christopher L. Kolakowski received his BA in History and Mass Communications from Emory & Henry College, and his MA in Public History from the State University of New York at Albany.
Chris has spent his career interpreting and preserving American military history with the National Park Service, New York State government, the Rensselaer County (NY) Historical Society, the Civil War Preservation Trust, Kentucky State Parks, and the U.S. Army. He has written and spoken on various aspects of military history from 1775 to the present. He has published “The Civil War at Perryville: Battling For the Bluegrass;” “The Stones River and Tullahoma Campaign: This Army Does Not Retreat;” and “Last Stand on Bataan.” Kolakowski is the Director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, after serving as MacArthur Memorial Director for six years.

Program Date Options:

May 12, 2021 at 10am EST

May 19, 2021 at 10am EDT

May 26, 2021 at 10am EDT

Join us to learn more about the U.S. Army during the Cold War. 
 
During World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States worked together to fight a common enemy; and after the war that relationship fell apart. Trust between the former allies broke down and fear took hold in its place. This mutual mistrust lead the two countries to confront the looming question of “what if?” That question would color the relationship between the two for the next 50 years. As a result, the Army developed new technology, equipment, and training to better protect Americans from the possibilities and threats posed by the “what if?”

In this virtual field trip, you will learn how Soldiers worked together to keep the “what if?” from becoming a reality during the Cold War. 

Join our virtual Book Talk on May 20 at 7:00pm EDT! US Army War College professor Kevin J. Weddle will discuss his new book on one of the crucial turning points of the American War for Independence, The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution.

In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy: sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany. 

When British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga with unexpected ease in July of 1777, it looked as if it was a matter of time before they would break the rebellion in the North. Less than three and a half months later, however, a combination of the Continental Army and Militia forces, commanded by Major General Horatio Gates and inspired by the heroics of Benedict Arnold forced Burgoyne to surrender his entire army. The American victory stunned the world and changed the course of the war. In the end, British plans were undone by a combination of distance, geography, logistics, and an underestimation of American leadership and fighting ability.

Kevin J. Weddle is Professor of Military Theory and Strategy at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A West Point graduate, he served in the US Army for 28 years on active duty in command and staff positions in the United States and overseas, including Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom, before retiring as a colonel.