Illinois Association of Museums - Commemoration with Care: Rethinking How Museums Recognize Veterans on National Holidays

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Commemoration with Care: Rethinking How Museums Recognize Veterans on National Holidays

3 Jun 2025 8:48 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

By: David Bellm, Illinois Association of Museums Volunteer

Behind the flags and fireworks, many veterans feel forgotten. Although national holidays such as Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day were created to honor veterans, the original significance of these patriotic occasions is now all too often buried in a red-white-and-blue blur of backyard parties, fireworks, and storewide discounts.

Fortunately, museums are in a unique position to change this. With their ability to educate, engage the public, and provide context, our cultural institutions can offer veterans powerful alternatives. Such remedies could help reinfuse our national holidays with depth and significance for veterans. Doing so could also serve the general public better by providing more deeply nuanced, intellectually enriching ways to celebrate our national holidays.

With those aims in mind, here are some effective ways museums can develop programs and events that truly honor and serve veterans.

Let Veterans Tell Their Stories — On Their Own Terms

There’s a strong desire among many veterans to have their stories heard. But they want these stories to be told accurately and on their own terms. In his TED Talk, “How to Talk to Veterans About War,” U.S. Army combat veteran Wes Moore says the public needs to go beyond the automatic, “Thank you for your service,” and hear the deeper experiences of individual veterans. “‘Thank you for your service’ means to me acknowledging our stories,” he says. “Asking us who we are. Understanding the strength that so many people that we served with have, and why that service means so much.”

Veteran support organization Warrior Allegiance points out many therapeutic benefits veterans can get from discussing their experiences, but acknowledges that not all veterans are eager to do so. “For veterans who may be hesitant to share their stories, it’s important to remember that storytelling is a personal journey with no right or wrong way to begin.”

The organization offers the following tips for veterans to begin opening up about their experiences:

Start Small
Find a Safe Space
Be Authentic
Understand the Impact

Museums can facilitate the process by keeping these factors in mind when developing programs for veterans to share their personal narratives. Providing veterans with a safe space to shape and control their own narratives can make them more willing to open up with other veterans and the general public.

Programs along these lines can take many different forms, including oral history projects, collaborative exhibits, public discussions, or presentations. For example, you could create a community-curated exhibit that features reflections, observations, photos, and artifacts from local veterans. Or you could have a roundtable discussion of veterans from different eras, discussing the similarities and differences in their experiences.

In addition to providing meaningful benefits to veterans, events such as these can give museum visitors an unfiltered view of military service. This can go a long way toward fostering empathy and deeper understanding among the general public.

Image Credit: Pexels - RDNE Stock project 7467846

Honor the Full Spectrum of Military Experience

Many people assume that veterans all share the same attitudes about their service and the nation. In reality, there can be vast differences in the values and perspectives of individual veterans. They grew up in different eras. They served in different branches of the military. And they experienced very different things during their time in uniform.

In the report, “Supporting Veterans and Military Families: Stories from the Military Community,” the Institute of Museum and Library Services underscores both the importance and the challenge of navigating this. “Understanding the journeys of veterans and military families is critical as libraries and museums consider the best ways to support this population … Essentially, there is no singular experience that defines a veteran or military family’s journey. The population is diverse, and the range of their experiences is tremendous.”

Museums can recognize these diverse views by developing programming that speaks to a wide array of military experiences. Consider focusing on inclusive narratives that avoid monolithic stories of heroism or trauma. Also, look for opportunities to characterize historical events from different perspectives, such as combat and support roles. In addition to acknowledging the contributions of different veteran types, this approach can also provide a richer, more meaningful view of events from multiple contexts.

At the same time, be aware of the same underrepresented groups found in the general public — female veterans, LGBTQ+ service members, veterans of color, and Indigenous veterans. These groups are often left out of mainstream narratives. Museums can work toward correcting this by developing programs that detail and highlight the experiences of these communities. For example, museums can host an exhibit featuring the role of Hispanic soldiers in American wars or present a panel discussion exploring the challenges and experiences of LGBTQ+ service members.

Image Credit: Pexels - Joel Santos - 18472376

Provide Opportunities for Healing Through Art

It’s widely acknowledged that art, crafts, and other hands-on activities can have deeply therapeutic benefits. These can be especially effective for veterans. “As community-based institutions, museums of any discipline are well-positioned to serve veterans and provide opportunities that teach new skills, create space for dialogue, and encourage connections to history and art,” write Sara Lowenburg, Marissa Clark, and Greg Owen for Museum magazine.

Lowenburg, Clark, and Owen cite a number of successful programs that use art and other hands-on activities as therapy for veterans. For example, the Philadelphia Museum of Art offers peer-led tours, art-making workshops, and other projects designed to foster connection, self-expression, and healing through art. The programs were developed in partnership with the Veterans Empowerment Center to ensure that they’re appropriate and potentially effective in serving veterans.

Get Plenty of Input from Experts and Veterans

Veterans often suffer from pains that aren’t readily visible — physical injuries, emotional scars, and emotional trauma. These burdens need to be carefully considered when creating programs. Museums should incorporate a trauma-informed approach that draws on the expertise of mental health professionals and veteran support organizations throughout the planning process. The insight gained from such organizations can provide critical guidance for creating emotionally safe environments for veterans. This can be vital for structuring group discussions and avoiding content that could be triggering to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Along with consulting veteran groups and mental health experts, museums should also get direct input from veterans. This is best accomplished by forming a veteran advisory board to provide a consistent platform for ongoing recommendations and oversight. Ideally, such a board should be made up of veterans from different backgrounds, military branches, and eras of service. These diverse perspectives can be invaluable for identifying themes, avoiding stereotypes, and fostering community trust. At the same time, the group could provide guidance on opportunities to engage veterans in new and more effective ways.

Image Credit: Pexels - Bryce Carithers - 11680701-8151443

Serve Veterans Year-Round

Truly honoring those who have served should go beyond just a particular day or weekend occasion. By engaging veterans consistently and meaningfully throughout the year, museums can show a deeper, more meaningful commitment to veterans.

Like most things, the best way to stay consistent is by planning regular, recurring events, such as weekly discussion groups, monthly meetups, or an annual storytelling event. Over time, sustained commitments like these cast the museum as a trusted community space. It can elevate an institution beyond just a place veterans go for commemoration, making it a source for connection, learning, and belonging as well.

Final Thoughts

Veterans deserve better than perfunctory thanks or shallow, performative festivities. Their sacrifices and commitment earn them the right to have their voices heard, their experiences respected, and their contributions sincerely remembered. By developing programs that provide powerful recognition to veterans, museums can deepen the meaning of our national holidays for everyone. “Museums are instrumental in giving veterans a voice,” writes Charlotte Coates for MuseumNext. “They can help society to understand the issues that ex-service people face. Museums have an opportunity to raise awareness.”

By paying careful attention to veterans and their needs, we can make good on the ultimate promise of museums — to not only preserve history, but to honor those who have lived it.