Preseving Veteran History, Honoring an American Legacy
Our team of creatives has enjoyed working on various projects with the Veterans Memorial Commission. Some of our past work includes a Vietnam War multimedia installation and the documentary, “In Flight: A Portrait of Robert Milvoy Horsky”. Most recently, we collaborated to create a World War II exhibit featuring scrim-projected video, surround sound, and lighting design, alongside headlines, uniforms, and artifacts, enveloping museum visitors in an immersive historical experience.
What is the Veterans Memorial Commission?
The Veterans Memorial Commission in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, oversees the Veterans Memorial Building, a historic landmark on May’s Island in downtown Cedar Rapids. The commission is responsible for maintaining the building and supporting its mission of honoring and serving veterans past and present. The commission works to preserve the legacy of veterans in Cedar Rapids while making the building a hub for veterans’ services, community events, and historical education.
In addition to the Veterans Memorial Building, the Veterans Memorial Commission is also responsible for managing, developing, operating, and maintaining All Veterans Memorial Park located next to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids. This park includes a World War II-era tank, a Scorpion mobile gun, a ship anchor from 1942, memorial benches, and multiple monuments honoring conflicts in which Eastern Iowans have served. A victory wall proudly displays the United States military service emblems in granite, and thousands of engraved bricks border the sidewalk, each honoring a local veteran.
Through these efforts, the Veterans Memorial Commission preserves the legacy of veterans in Cedar Rapids, providing spaces for remembrance, education, and community events.
Veterans Memorial Building
This historic Veterans Memorial Building, established in 1927, serves as a tribute to U.S. military veterans. The building features a stunning stained glass window designed by renowned artist Grant Wood, depicting a 16-foot-tall Grecian-robed woman holding symbols of peace and victory, and six soldiers representing the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the First World War.
Inside, the Veterans Memorial Museum houses over 5,200 military artifacts spanning conflicts from the American Revolution to modern military service. Exhibits include uniforms, weapons, medals, and homefront memorabilia, offering visitors a glimpse into the history and experiences of those who served.
The building also functions as a community and event space, featuring the Coliseum, Armory, and Ballroom. These spaces are available for public and private parties, meetings, performances, and assemblies. Additionally, it houses several veteran support organizations and assistance programs. It also serves as the headquarters for the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival, which organizes annual patriotic events.
Vietnam: An Untold Narrative
In the summer of 2014, Van Dorston was beginning to develop a 50-year anniversary exhibit telling the stories of local Vietnam veterans. The display would be installed in the George N. Hamman Memorial Gallery (formerly the Cedar Rapids treasurer’s office) on the first floor of the Veterans Memorial Building.
Van Dorston had seen a Vietnam War exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that utilized an enormous stack of vintage televisions showing war footage, interspersed with news broadcasts. How could we take inspiration from that display and create a similar mood, but in a 1000 sq. ft. space?
This was the first war Americans could watch from the comfort of their own homes. So, among the uniforms, signage, and other artifacts, Wired and Van Dorston created an intimate “living room” complete with a console Hi-Fi, 60s-era television set, a pull-up projection screen, and a period-correct sofa.
A (comparatively) modern CRT was installed in the TV, a video projector was ceiling-mounted, a soundbar hid along the edge of the projection screen, and media was managed and played by a Mac hidden in the Hi-Fi cabinet.
The experience featured three components: The television showed in-country film clips playing within the shapes of numbers, counting from 1963-1975. Projected on the screen was a kinetic collage of snapshots, service photos, documents, and artifacts provided by local veterans. Popular music from each year played as the TV numbers counted up, occasionally punctuated by a slide-projector sound effect when projected images changed.
In Flight: The Horsky Collection of Model Airplanes
The 2021 film “In Flight: A Portrait of Robert Milvoy Horsky” was originally produced as part of a permanent exhibit at the Veterans Memorial Building. The award-winning documentary short, directed by Wired Production Group, is featured in the exhibit titled “In Flight: The Horsky Collection of Model Airplanes,” installed in the museum’s 4th-floor Chamber Lobby.
The Horsky exhibit includes nearly 200 model airplanes, Major Horsky’s uniform, letters, log books, and other personal effects. The models, representing aircraft from the Wright Flyer to Vietnam-era bombers, were displayed at the Eastern Iowa Airport from 1966 to 2012.
”In Flight: A Portrait of Robert Milvoy Horsky” chronicles the life of Major Horsky, a Cedar Rapids native whose passion for aviation and sense of duty led him to serve, first in the army in WWII, then in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conflict and Vietnam War. Tragically, Horsky’s life was cut short when his plane crashed in the Khánh Hòa Province, Vietnam, on December 11, 1965.
The documentary utilizes archival photos to trace Major Horsky’s journey from a local boy fascinated by flight to a highly decorated serviceman. It also delves into the personal impact of his loss on his family, particularly on his wife and daughter, who were left with lingering questions. ”In Flight” has appeared in film festivals and received several accolades, including the Award of Achievement in Educational Production from the Iowa Motion Picture Association in 2022.
World War II: Local Showcase
The Veterans Memorial Building unveiled its World War II: Local Showcase exhibit on June 6, 2024, commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Located in the intimate George N. Hamman Memorial Gallery, this exhibit brings guests into an immersive experience of the lives of local World War II veterans.
The showcase features a diverse collection of artifacts donated by families of fallen veterans, including uniforms, weapons, artillery, rations, and personal documents. These items provide a tangible connection to the past, allowing visitors to explore the overseas experiences of area service members and the significant contributions made on the homefront.
How to Support Veterans Memorial Commission
The Veterans Memorial Building is located in downtown Cedar Rapids on Mays Island, between 1st and 2nd Avenue Bridges. The Veterans Memorial Building is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with the Grant Wood Memorial Window accessible during these hours.
More information can be found on the City of Cedar Rapids website.