Shownotes
Whether you’re a veteran, a family member, an educator, or simply someone interested in history and service, this episode offers a profound look at the enduring legacy of America’s veterans—and the power of storytelling to unite and inspire us all.
Welcome to Looking Forward Our Way! In this special episode, hosts Brett Johnson and Carol Ventresca take us inside the National Veterans Memorial and Museum (NVMM) in Columbus, Ohio, for an inspiring conversation with Colonel Bill Butler, U.S. Army (Retired), and president of the museum. As November marks a time to honor and reflect on the sacrifices of our nation’s service members, Colonel Butler shares his remarkable 27-year military journey, the pivotal moments that shaped his career, and the unique challenges veterans face as they transition to civilian life.
Together, they talk about the creation and vision of the NVMM—America’s first museum dedicated to telling the stories of veterans from all branches and eras, through both war and peace. Colonel Butler sheds light on the museum’s four guiding pillars: Honor, Connect, Inspire, and Educate, and highlights how individual stories take center stage. The discussion explores the building’s symbolic design, its role in revitalizing Columbus’s west side, and the diverse permanent and temporary exhibits that bring the lived experiences of veterans to life.
Here are 3 key takeaways from our conversation:
- Veteran Stories Matter: NVMM uniquely focuses on individual veterans—their backgrounds, motivations, and legacies—not simply on military campaigns. Visitors gain new understanding of service through exhibits that spotlight real people and their post-service lives.
- A Hub for Community & Healing: The museum serves as a safe, welcoming place for veterans and their families to connect, reflect, and share experiences—often for the first time. Events like the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home ceremony offer healing, validation, and genuine community support.
- Education & Engagement for All Ages: Beyond exhibits, NVMM offers resources for educators, interactive programs for students, and special events (like Daniel the Tiger meet-and-greets!) to inspire future generations and foster a deeper appreciation for service.
If you like this episode, please let us know. We appreciate the feed back, and your support of offset costs of producing the podcast!
Moments
00:00 "Childhood Adventures to Military Interest"
07:09 Military Service Commitment Decisions
14:48 John Glenn Inspires Vets' Renovation
19:20 Veteran Experience and Community Connection
24:19 Veterans' Journey and Experience Exhibit
27:28 Vietnam Veterans Day Welcome Ceremony
38:11 Diverse Faces of Military Service
42:45 Honoring Veterans' Stories Program
47:06 "Veteran-Inspired Art Exhibits"
52:53 Educational Veterans Interview Programs
57:19 Community-Focused National Museum
01:01:59 Veterans' Stories and Partnerships
01:06:48 Passion for Veterans and Lifelong Learning
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Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.
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Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson
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The views and opinions expressed by the experts interviewed on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast hosts or any affiliated organizations. The information provided in these interviews is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with qualified professionals for specific advice or information related to their individual circumstances. The podcast host and producers do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information provided by the experts interviewed. Listener discretion is advised.
Transcripts
We are Looking Forward Our Way. Hi, this is Brett. November is a time of reflection to honor the men and women of our military. For over 250 years, the American military members have made the ultimate sacrifice, putting their lives on hold and putting their lives on the line to protect our democracy. Looking forward, Our Way is proud to highlight the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, located here in Columbus, Ohio. Today we're on site at the museum with our guest, Colonel Bill Butler, U.S. army retired acting president of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. Colonel Butler, thank you for your service and for hosting us today.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Brett, Carol, thank you so much for having me and allowing me to join you and talk about the museum.
Carol Ventresca [:We are pretty excited to be here and really thank you so much for hosting us. Brett and I don't get out of the studio too often, but we're really glad we do get on the road once in a while. So I visited the museum, as I mentioned to you, I have family that had served, and it's a phenomenal place. So we're very excited to have this opportunity to highlight it for particularly for Ohioans to come and visit, but really for anybody in the country who's floating through Columbus, especially during football season, come to downtown and see the museum. So your position as the acting president provides incredible opportunities to enhance understanding of the role of the military, increase resources for its members. But before we get into all of that, we want to hear more about you, your history in the army and your career since retiring.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Okay, sure. So. Okay. So I was raised in Cincinnati, so I'm raised as a Buckeye. My dad had done two tours in Vietnam, and then after a second tour, he decided to get out and go to law school. But he still had that desire to serve in some capacity. So he joined an Army Reserve unit in a Special Forces unit in Jamestown, Ohio. So he would bring me occasionally to watch parachute jumps or out to the field on exercises.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And I'd run around in the woods as a little kid and try and sneak up on the Green Berets. Did that work most of the time, surprisingly, because I'd grown up hunting in fishing, so, you know, an avid outdoors boy. So, yeah, so that kind of sparked my curiosity about the military. And then, you know, similarly, I was on a team, you know, basketball, baseball, football, wrestling as I was growing up. And I just loved being, you know, being in that team environment. And so when I went to college at Eastern Kentucky University, I had was interested in rotc, but I didn't know if I wanted to, you know, I Didn't apply for scholarships or anything until I'd gotten down there and joined the. They had a Ranger Club that I joined. So we'd rappel off the side of the football stadium at home football games and, you know, run around in the woods and, you know, patrol and do land navigation exercises and that sort of thing.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And then I competed for their Ranger Challenge team. So that was a competitive team that every ROTC unit puts together and then you compete against other ROTC programs. So I was on that all four years and really loved it and applied for and got a three year scholarship for rotc. And then, you know, afforded me the opportunity to go to a bunch of military schools while I was in college. And then commissioned right before graduation in 1990 and was a infantry officer. And I went down to Fort Benning for my first couple of courses that I had to go to the officer Basic course and Infantry Mortar leader course. And then my first assignment was up at Fort Drum, New York in the 10th Mountain Division. And I was a platoon leader and a rifle platoon leader, a mortar platoon leader up there.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And then I had really had this interest to be an Army Ranger. So I'd applied for and was accepted into 3rd Ranger Battalion. And so I met my wife up there, we got married, we moved down to Fort Benning, Georgia. I went to the Ranger Regiment at 3rd Ranger Battalion and loved it. And that's when I knew I really was inspired to continue my service. And my goal at that point after being around, you know, just the best officers, best non commissioned officers that you could serve alongside, is I knew I wanted to be a Ranger company commander and compete for that. So long story short, I did my company captain time, competed, went back and then that started my 27 year journey as a career infantry officer. So it included me and my family living all over the world.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Two different assignments to Italy for seven years total. When I was on active duty, one year in Germany. I did three deployments in combat, one year in Iraq and two years in Afghanistan. And then when it was time to hang up the uniform, I retired in 2017, but still wanted to serve in some way and still wanted to feel like I was contributing to the greater good. So I was drawn to service as a Department of the army civilian civil servant working for the federal government. So that took me and my wife to Vicenza, Italy again. So for a third time. And you know, at that point in time, both our kids were in college, so we were empty nesters living in Northern Italy.
Colonel Bill Butler [:It's time to go to Italy And I wasn't in charge of anybody but me.
Carol Ventresca [:They're even better.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And so I didn't get the 3 o' clock in the morning phone calls. Hey, sir, sorry to wake you up. This is Captain Van Etten. But you know, Specialist Smith just got in a fight downtown and, you know, I need to go pick him up at the Carabinieri police jail. So, you know, it was just a wonderful, wonderful thing. And then, you know, for a variety of reasons, older parents and, you know, some aging challenges that they were having, was trying to get back to Ohio. And then it's just one of those serendipitous opportunities where this job was opened up and I knew, I had heard about it and, you know, threw my name in the hat. And long story short, we moved from Vicenza, Italy to Columbus, Ohio.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And and so we did that in May of 2019 and fast forward six and a half years and here we.
Brett Johnson [:Are just in time for Covid. Yay.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Right, exactly.
Carol Ventresca [:There you go.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah.
Carol Ventresca [:Yes, yes. Get here and shut it down.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, exactly.
Carol Ventresca [:You know, you said something about that notion of the career progression, and I had never thought of this in the military that you hit a point and you're like, okay, this is what I'm going for and I'm going to stick with it. So then it becomes career military, as opposed to those few short years that so many active members just hit their four year, their eight year and they're gone kind of thing.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah. So everybody goes through the, you might enlist or you might, like I did, go through the officer route and you owe time back. So on the officer side, it's five years of active duty, three years of reserve or irr individual ready reserve duty. So, you know, at that point you've got a decision, you know, do you want to stay in or do you want to get out and pursue other opportunities? And you know, like I said, for me it was stay in. But then, you know, you still have that decision, at least for me up until about year 10. Because on the officer side, that's when you're at the halfway mark to retirement. And, you know, if you go to, you know, every time the army would move you or send you to a different school, then there's a service obligation associated with that. So with a move, it's a year long service obligation with a promotion or with a selection for command or something like that, then it might be a two year service obligation to go to like the Command and General Staff College or the Army War College or one of those courses.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So you're always thinking, okay, if I. If I stay in for this opportunity, then I know I'm in for another year. Or if I stay in for this opportunity, I know I'm committing myself and my family for two years. So there's always that, you know, are we good? Do we want to do this, you know, for another few more years? Or.
Carol Ventresca [:Well, and part of that then, too is if you decide to retire, what do you do? What's next? And that's huge.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yes, absolutely.
Carol Ventresca [:That, as I mentioned in my role, helping older adults find jobs, so many of the older vets were only in for a few years and then came back to civilian life. That could not translate those skills into civilian work. So they were doing a much better job of that now.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, they are. And, you know, even if you're in for a couple of years or, you know, almost 30, like I was, you, you know, you still have that loss of identity, that loss of, you know, sense of purpose, the comradery that you build in the military with the units that you're in. And you've got to redefine yourself. And, you know, I was an infantryman, like I said, and, you know, there's no career opportunities for, you know, infantry officers in the civilian world or infantrymen. So you've got to figure out what you're going to do right in, you know, some positions in career fields, you know, lend themselves to the civilian world. You know, X ray technicians, medical profession, you know, logistics, that sort of thing. So if you enjoy doing that in the military, then there's a natural, you know, opportunity for you to do that in the civilian side of things when you become a veteran. But, you know, for me, it was, you know, you got to figure out what you're going to do.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And, you know, for me, it was, you know, I could, you know, work for the defense industry, try to go in academia, try to, you know, be a civil servant like I was, or, you know, in this case, now as a nonprofit executive.
Carol Ventresca [:Very good.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, you gotta redefine yourself. And for me, it was, I've gotta have a sense of purpose.
Carol Ventresca [:One of the things that we always highlight on this program are folks going through encore careers. So we're not only getting to talk about the museum, but we also get to highlight a wonderful encore career that you're following. So thank you.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah.
Brett Johnson [:And so you said you met your wife early on. Does her family have a military background or did she understand what she was signing up for?
Colonel Bill Butler [:So, yeah, she grew up as an army brat. Her dad was Also a career infantry officer. And so she bounced around all over the US until she met me. And when I was up at Fort Drum, my very first company commander, he had set the two of us up on a blind date. And so I move up there, and the Monday after Thanksgiving, and I in process for about a week, and I get all my equipment, I get on a bus to go down to Fort Pickett, Virginia, and in the middle of the night, I meet my company commander in the woods. Hey, Lieutenant Butler, Captain Chapa. Great to meet you. Glad to have you on board.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Your platoon sergeant is Sergeant First Class McManus. He's over here. And we get under this poncho liner with a red lens flashlight, and they're in the middle of this training exercise. And so it's a Sergeant Matt. Great to meet you, Lieutenant Butler. And we're looking at a map, and they've got this route plan, and we're going to do this infiltration attack. That's how I meet my first company commander, my first platoon sergeant, my squad leaders. So that's in December, and then, of course, Christmas break, and then January, we go to the Joint Readiness Training center in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, and we come back from that, and it's February 1st.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Desert Storm has kicked off. We don't know if we're deploying. My platoon, they were expecting tens of thousands of casualties, so they had replacement platoons identified in army units that hadn't deployed. My platoon was going to be a replacement platoon, so we turned in all of our winter gear, snow camouflage stuff, and were issued desert gear, and we were going to be a deployed platoon. So February 14th, our battalion, we're the Golden Dragons. Our battalion is going to have a Valentine's ball. So a couple days before the ball, this soldier walks and, you know, knocks on my door at my office and said, hey, sir, Captain Chapa wants you to report to his office. I said, okay.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So I walked down to his office, knock on it, render a hand, salute, sir, you know, Lieutenant Butler reporting his order. And he said, lieutenant Butler, who are you taking to the Golden Dragon Ball? And I said, sir, you know, I just got up here. I haven't met anybody, you know, nobody I want to bring from, you know, Cincinnati or whatever. I'm just going to go stag with some of the other single lieutenants. And he goes, okay, great. You'll be escorting our friend, Ms. Howard. I said, sir, I did a blind date before.
Colonel Bill Butler [:It was a disaster. I really don't want to do another blind date. He goes, okay, yeah, that's great. But you're still going to be escorting our friend, Ms. Howard. And I said, sir, you can't do that. That's an unlawful order. And he goes, get out of my office and beat your boots.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Exercise. And so fast forward 33 years later, and we're married and have two wonderful grown adult kids. And in fact, two weeks ago, Mindy, my wife, and I were down in Alpharetta, Georgia, at their oldest son's wedding. So we've intermittently served with each other over the last 30 years.
Carol Ventresca [:But you said she grew up going across the country, but you took her to Italy, so I think she got.
Colonel Bill Butler [:A good end of that. She took her to Hawaii, Italy, Germany.
Carol Ventresca [:Exactly, exactly.
Brett Johnson [:It's not a bad deal on that one either. Yeah, exactly.
Carol Ventresca [:Well, our shout out to her for being a wonderful companion wife and supporter in a military family.
Colonel Bill Butler [:She's an amazing woman.
Carol Ventresca [:There you go.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah.
Brett Johnson [:The National Veterans Memorial and Museum was created by Congress in 2018. Located in Columbus on the site of our former Veterans Memorial Building, it's the first museum dedicated to all branches of the military through all eras and campaigns, as well as in peacetime. Who led the endeavor to create the facility, and how was this unique perspective conceived, you know, to include all that I just mentioned, you know, focusing on individual service members as opposed to the conflicts.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So this all predates me, but as I understand it, the origin story, every iconic organization needs an origin story is that John Glenn, when he was still alive, lived in the Miranova just over here. Right. And he was in one of the upper level apartments and overlooked the old Franklin county vets. And at this point, the building, you know, was 55 years old or 60 years old. And he would meet with community leaders and elected officials and say, we got to do something about the vets. It's pretty shabby. And so they had looked at renovating it and bringing it up to code and making some changes, and it was going to be a. A $32 million price tag.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And that's what everybody did. They raised their eyebrows like, holy cow. And so he saw that as an opportunity, and he said, you know what? Let's do something better. Let's tear the damn thing down and build something that's worthy of our veterans and shares the veteran experience with America. So that, you know, long story short, that's what they ended up doing is they raised $82 million in private donations and funds, and Franklin county had contributed the land that we're on for a dollar a year lease, and they built A museum with the intent to inspire Americans to give back to their country in some way.
Carol Ventresca [:There were a lot of events that I attended at the old Fetts hall, but it was a terrible building. As bad as it was outside, it was even worse inside because I don't know that they ever did anything to it in all of those years. And so people were up in arms that it came down. But I think we were also very glad when we knew something else was at this magnitude was going to be taking its place.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, I heard a lot of veterans were upset that they were going to tear it down and not knowing what it was going to be. But, you know, in the last six years since I've been here, heard a lot of feedback from veterans who are naysayers or disappointed or upset that it was being torn down, and they recognize that what has replaced it is significantly better.
Carol Ventresca [:Right, right. And it's not that it's just a prettier building. It's that there is a core of information and programming and events and space dedicated to the history of our veterans. And so I, you know, it's. It's not just because it's prettier that I think people appreciate it.
Colonel Bill Butler [:A lot of veterans recognize it as a touchstone for them for, you know, variety of events that we do. But also, you know, it kind of gives them an opportunity and an environment where they feel comfortable talking about their service. You know, a lot of veterans are quiet and humble and don't really like to talk about themselves, and this provides them that space, if you will.
Carol Ventresca [:So, as I mentioned, I've been here several times, but I really have enjoyed going sort of into detail on the website, learned a lot more about what I actually had already seen in the museum, but now need to go back with this new perspective. The scope of the museum is based on four fundamental pillars. Honor, connect, inspire, and educate. Can you describe those pillars for our audience and the importance it holds on how the museum is able to convey the importance of service and dedication of our veterans?
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, sure. So when they were tearing the old building down and coming up with the design, the. They hired some amazing partners to build this museum and what it is. Brad Clayfield was the architect. Very iconic building has won dozens of awards for the construction, the design, the materials used. Architecture Digest, they hired Ralph Appelbaum and associates to do the interior of the museum, the story side, if you will, in the visitor experience. And he's done the Holocaust Museum, national World War I museum, the African American Museum of the Smithsonian, dozens of Museums around the world. And then as they're building this, we weren't nationally designated yet.
Colonel Bill Butler [:John Glenn had convened some veteran focus groups to work on the pillars. What is our mission? What is our vision? What are we, what do we stand for? How are we going to share the veteran experience? And they settled on these four pillars on our Connect, inspire and educate. So let's honor all veterans and acknowledge the sacrifice that they and their families have made. Connect America to her veterans and veterans to their communities. Inspire service in others. We want people young and old to walk into the museum and listen to the stories of, of men and women who serve their country and what they did after they served their country when they became a veteran. Just as importantly, how they continue to give back. And we want people to be inspired to do something, become an agent of change in their neighborhood, their church, their synagogue, their school to serve in some way.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And then the other part is educate, educate about the veteran experience. Educate school groups as they come in. But we've also partnered with the John Glenn College of Program Public affairs and we offer a graduate level leader certificate program that we co instruct with Dr. Don Stenta and Dean Trevor Brown at the Glenn College is just an amazing partner with us.
Brett Johnson [:Normally when you visit a military museum, the focus is on a particular branch of service and the wars, campaigns that were fought. This museum though, as we mentioned, has taken it a different perspective, focusing on the individual veterans and documenting each distinct particular story. What will one who visits find when visiting museum? I mean, can you highlight the methods used to portray those stories? I'm sure that was, we can, I can imagine the conversation like hey, we want to focus on the stories, but how do we do that? That is engaging and that you walk.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Away going, wow, yeah, so there's an estimated 4, 40 million veterans who served our country since 1775. So that's a lot of stories. And there are about 20 million living veterans. That number obviously changes year to year. And so as you walk into, it's about the people, it's about the soldiers, airmen, Marines, guardians, Coast Guard men and women, women. And so how do you tell those stories? That's a tall order. So as you come into the museum in the great hall, we've got Stacy Pearsall's veteran portrait project, or a portion of her rather. And from the ceiling there are suspended these giant poster boards.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And as you look at it, you just see all these photos of, you know, veterans, young veterans, older veterans, men, women, minority, from a variety of backgrounds, all branches of service. But then if you look on the opposite side of every one of those poster boards, it's that same person when they were in service. So them as a young soldier versus a 80 year old woman. And so you can hear about and read about all of the veterans in the portrait project. Cause we've got this interactive table and you can click on all the photos and learn about the person, who they were, what they did in the military, what they did after the military, when they became a veteran. So that's kind of part of the journey. And then as you go into the Corps exhibits, you've got the historic timeline of the United States, 1775-2018. And it talks key moments in our history.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And instead of highlighting, you know, presidents and generals and admirals, it highlights an everyday man or woman who is part of that moment in history. So as an example, you can learn about Deborah Sampson. She was the first woman honorably discharged from the army 168 years before women were even allowed to serve in the military. So she had enlisted as a soldier in the Continental army, fought in several key battles. At one point she was wounded. She didn't want to be discovered because she knew she'd be kicked out. So she dug a musket ball out of her leg to recover. And then at the siege of Yorktown, she was wounded or sick again, and they had to take her to the field surgeon's tent.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And you're not worried about modesty. If you're wounded, they just start cutting clothes off to get to the wound. And that's when they realized she was a woman. And could you imagine that discovery? And what the surgeon said? They're like, oh my God, holy cow, what is going on? And so they treated her, they let her recover. The course of war was over and they released her from service. But she was given the same benefits that every other soldier at the time received. And she was just one of dozens of women who did similar thing and served in the American Revolution. And there are examples of that in every major conflict that we've had.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So that's the historic timeline. And then as you go, on the opposite side of the museum are 14 thematic alcoves that talk about the common experiences that most veterans have. A nation calls why I Serve, leaving home, taking the oath, you know, where we serve, basic training, boot camp, that sort of thing, jobs we had. And it goes all the way through that journey of service, maybe being overseas, coming home, and then that transition process. And how do you connect back and give back? So that's that piece and throughout the alcoves, there are audio recordings and videos of men and women who are talking about why they served, what combat was like, what it was like when they came home. The most important thing to them as they took the oath of office or oath of enlistment when they joined the military, and what it still means to them today in some. Some regards. And then that connecting piece and leaving service and that dumps you out at the store, and then you go into the citizenship gallery, and that's another video where veterans talk about service and what it is to them and what it isn't.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And, you know, again, the theme of that video is to inspire others to do something. And we're certainly not a recruiting arm for the military, but we just want people to get engaged in their community and do something.
Carol Ventresca [:As a child of the 70s and my classmates going to Vietnam and coming back to certainly not open welcoming arms, I think that that's what always affects me the most when I come to visit is to see those stories and what people were going through, through and how, at least today, there it's appreciated. May not have been then, but it is appreciated now. Sometimes things happen and it's hard to come back into civilian life. And our job really is to make it easier.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, so we've seen. We've had Vietnam veterans come into the museum, and there's one gentleman, the first year we were open, we provide a certificate of appreciation, and it's got some designs on it that have the Vietnam campaign medal on it, and we just thank them for their service. And so the welcome desk staff had given this gentleman his certificate, said we can leave it right here at the welcome desk, go through the museum when you come back, just be sure to grab it. And so he came through the museum and did his tour, and about two hours later, he came up to the welcome desk and he had tears in his eyes. And he said something to the effect of, you know, this museum validates my service. And, you know, all the, you know, my experience when I came home, you know, the ill will on the country has just disappeared for me. And so, you know, this is kind of that opportunity that we have is organization to welcome those veterans back. And so we do.
Colonel Bill Butler [:One of our national ceremonies we do is on March 29 is a Vietnam Veterans Day welcome home ceremony. So as we do it up in the great hall, we got a, you know, all the chairs in the stage and the die set up, and we'll have all the Vietnam veterans who are in attendance walk up through the middle of the aisle and to a standing ovation and then welcome them home. And we get a great partnership with Franklinton High School and they make signs for the veterans and we've got those posted in and they'll have some students that typically participate in the ceremony and, you know, hold their signs up. So we try to, you know, give them the experience that my era veteran had every time we came home as the bands and, you know, families on parade fields and welcome home parade and, you know, you can't go to, you know, a place in the community without somebody thanking you for your service if they know you're a veteran. And so we were trying to make that right, that wrong that our country had. Yeah, good.
Brett Johnson [:Even that one story of the millions of dollars spent on this place, just that one story makes it worthwhile for sure.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, it really does. Yeah, yeah. And we've got hundreds of stories like that.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Carol Ventresca [:It's. I, my, I think it was, my class was the first to not have selective service.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Okay.
Carol Ventresca [:So it was, it was, it was critical. I mean, talk about life changing opportunities. People just didn't have a choice at that point when they were in. My meandering around the museum, it is very easy to see. It is a very unique place. It is a blending of the building and the landscape, which is not what I think anybody would expect when they come in. It creates a very tranquil atmosphere. How did that design emerge and what features would you encourage visitors to make sure they actually do experience while they visit?
Colonel Bill Butler [:That's a great question. So there's a lot of symbolism that people attribute to the museum, and I think much of it was not necessarily intended, but people are applying their experience to it, which is great. That's what we want. We want people to see something and have it resonate with them and their experience. So when our founding president was and CEO was General Ferriter, and before he. Before the museum opened, he got hired months beforehand. And so he was in the museum, they're putting exhibits in and the office furniture and that sort of thing. And somebody walked in the museum he didn't recognize and he said, excuse me, do you know where you're going? He goes, oh, yeah, I know where I'm going.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Do you need any help? And he goes, nope, I'm good. And he goes, all right, come on, you got to give me something. Who are you? What are you doing here? Sort of thing. And the guy goes, brad Clayfield. I'm the architect. I designed this place. He goes, okay, great. Can you.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Why this Particular design circles are hard. Five concentric circles are even harder. The arches without any columns is really hard. And I just wanted the challenge. He's like, okay, well, that's kind of a cool story, but is there something else that you wanted people to take away from the design or the design to evoke? And he said, well, I really wanted to create ethical space. So it's kind of at that. The story about that veteran who came in and had his experience in Vietnam completely, completely transformed by coming into the museum. And we've had, you know, other.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Other veterans come in, and it'll be a multi generational family. So the veteran, his or her spouse, maybe an adult child and some grandkids. And, you know, as the family is going through the alcoves or the timeline, it just, it gives, you know, like I talked about earlier, it gives them that opportunity, that space where they can share stories. So it, you know, elicits these emotions and memories. And, you know, the veteran will start telling the story to the grandkids or the. The adult child, and the spouse will look over and say, okay, this is the first time I've heard this story, you know, and we've been married 45 years sort of thing. So it. And then you get, you know, veteran groups in, or, you know, a buddy team of veterans, if you will, and, you know, they just start opening up about, oh, yeah, when I was deployed, you remember this, remember that sort of thing.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So it really, it gives folks the, you know, just this well up of emotion and memories and, and that sort of thing. So that's kind of.
Brett Johnson [:That's very special.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, it gets at the Brad Clayfield design piece. And then, you know, we're a memorial and a museum. So obviously we're in the museum, but if you go outside, we've got our memorial grove and it's got a reflective pool, waterfalls, fountains, and the elm trees in the middle of the grove. And it's a public park, so it's open from dusk or, I'm sorry, from dawn to dusk. And you'll see all kinds of people out there running or walking or walking their dogs. And in the grove, there is a Purple Heart monument, there's a soldier's cross, and then a Gold Star family monument. And so, you know, the Gold Star families are those families who've lost a loved one and serviced our country. Could, could, could be killed in action.
Colonel Bill Butler [:They could be somebody who died in the line of duty, you know, vehicle accident, parachute accident, illness, something like that. And then the soldier's cross is the Empty boots, the inverted rifle stuck in the ground between the boots and a bayonet, and then a helmet on top. And that's. You see that anytime we do a memorial ceremony downrange. So somebody's killed in action, their remains are recovered, and within 24 hours, their remains are placed on a C17 and escorted back to their family, back from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, wherever. And the remains are given to the family. And then the military's got this deliberate program to take care of the gold star families until their benefits are in place, the loved one is buried, and they've got a casualty Assistance officer that helps them through that entire process. And it could take months for that.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And the military supports that, as we should. So that's the grove part. And if you look at it from an aerial view of both of them, it almost looks like a semicolon, because you've got the design of the building like that, and then you've got the Memorial grove. And, you know, semicolon is kind of a continuation of a thought or an idea. So. And, you know, other people have attributed what's the continuation of my journey after being in the military. And others have, you know, looked at the. You know, the kind of the concrete building bursting out of the ground, and it looks like ribbons crossed, like the taya yellow ribbon around the old oak tree when veterans, service members or family members were deployed.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So there's a lot of symbolism that people will attribute to.
Carol Ventresca [:Would seem that this building in this part of Columbus is sort of an entrance into an area of Columbus that is coming back to life. And this museum is helping grow that new life. This area of having a place to go, tranquil, safe, beautiful. And, you know, this whole western part of Columbus has gone through lots of change, lots of hard times, and along with your neighbor Cosi across the street has really begun to morph into something. A whole new. Whole new life.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah. When we first moved here, I was in an event in New Albany, and I was talking to a gentleman, and, you know, we were doing the 100 questions, you know, just moved here. Where'd you move from? Have you ever been to Columbus? No. And he said Franklinton was so bad years and decades ago that the drug dealers wouldn't even go to Franklinton. And so we moved here six and a half years ago in 2019, and it was us in Cosi, and that was it. On the peninsula, there's a surfer slot and some parking lots in the old spaghetti factory or warehouse. Now you've got the Junto and the Deloitte Building. And for Franklinton is really a vibrant, growing community.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And you've got so much condominiums and apartments and housing and restaurants and shops, and there's a giant eagle going in across the street. So it really has almost shifted the center part of the city from the east side of the Scioto to our side of the Scioto. And we've got this peninsula hub of activity with us in Cosi and the Junto.
Carol Ventresca [:Well, and you've got the Arena District is just to the north, and the Audubon Peninsula is just to the south. So it really is bringing new life to that western part of Columbus.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And we might have a cultural peninsula here if the symphony goes in on the other side of Cosi, which would be great.
Brett Johnson [:That's been discussed, too.
Carol Ventresca [:That's true, absolutely.
Brett Johnson [:The museum has a great number of exhibits and perfect programs, both permanent and temporary. The emphasis of each exhibit not only honors veterans, connects the audience with the experience and sacrifice endured, and provides the country's historical military perspective. Can you help us visualize the permanent exhibits and what they reveal to the visitor?
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, they, you know, like I described with the timeline and with the alcoves, you know, you see the everyday man or woman who is a part of a key moment in history, and you can put a face and a story to a historic event. And then on the alcoves, you just really see the very personal and in some cases, very raw side of service. You have certainly some happy experiences, but, you know, some tragic or, you know, inspiring experiences that people share in those videos as well. And, you know, if you ask somebody to describe a veteran, I would venture to guess most people say, well, it's an older white man. And that's not the case. I mean, we've got the most diverse military that you can imagine. We got people from all walks of life also socioeconomic conditions, all backgrounds, religions, races, creeds from across our country and really around the world. If you think about it, I was a battalion commander in 2008-2011.
Colonel Bill Butler [:I had a 900 person paratroop battalion, and I had paratroopers from Germany, Italy, the Philippines, Slovenia and other places, Kazakhstan. They joined our military to serve our country even though they weren't citizens of the United States. So it really puts that personal side of serving in the military into perspective. And it's all part of the foundation of, okay, what is a veteran? And we're not this monolithic group of, you know, pick a descriptor, Revolutionary War mindset almost. And it's, you know, young People. I mean, our son is a captain in the Army. He's going to be a veteran here in a little while. And, you know, you've got, of course, older men and then you've got some older women who served and a lot of people.
Colonel Bill Butler [:My mother in law, stepmother in law, she's a veteran too. So she and my father in law both went to west point, class of 64, class of 83. They'll go together to their VA appointments and they'll talk past her to talk to my father in law because he's the veteran. It's almost like you wouldn't even think that a woman would be a veteran. So there's a lot of kind of dispelling that kind of expectation. And so there's, you know, everybody in between and everybody's got their own unique, important story. Everybody's story is different. And we don't want those stories to be lost.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So we provide opportunities for guys and gals to share their stories.
Carol Ventresca [:One of the programs, and I didn't put it in our list of questions, and I wish I had, is the Honor Flight program where we are doing so much to make sure veterans get an opportunity to go to Washington, but it's also an opportunity to hear their stories.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah. So we've partnered with Honor Flight Columbus. And Honor Flight is a wonderful organization. And so the reason they exist was to take World War II veterans to the World War II monument in Washington, D.C. which is phenomenal, which is an amazing experience. So now that there's so few World War II veterans alive and who can travel, they've opened up that to Vietnam veterans and younger veterans to get them to DC and they honor flight Columbus does 10 or 15 flights a year here from Columbus. They serve just over half of the counties in the state of Ohio, I think 40 of 88 or 44. And we were able to get our staff on as guardians for this past year.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And I went in the spring as a guardian and I had two, two veterans I escorted. They were both from Bexley. They grew up watching Ohio State football together. One was in the Air Force, one was in the Navy. And so I escorted them. And you talk about a fulfilling day for the guardian. That was a fulfilling day. And, you know, regardless of where we went, you know, of course you're running into tourists and it was in the springs, a lot of school groups there.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And you know, the American kids would of course thank them for their service. But with the tourists, there are a lot of foreign visitors. And those foreigners were thanking the veterans for their service as well. And so honor flight is a great, great organization. One of their pillars is also share the stories. So we're able to, with the veterans, you know, talk about our program with StoryCorps to record stories here in the museum. We've got a small studio where we can do it, but we can also do it from your telephone, if you got a smartphone or from your laptop and sit down with, you know, veteran and do their story number one, so it's not lost to history. Number number two, so family members don't have the regret of oh, you know, grandpa or grandma served and I think they were in the army.
Colonel Bill Butler [:I don't really know what they did. We don't want family members to have that regret on not having asked their veteran where and when they served. And so this past August, they did an honor flight reunion and we brought 700 veterans who had been on honor flights in the past and then 500 family members to the museum and we had broken it down into hour long segments to bring them in, get them into the museum. We had a short program with some of the honor flight staff and then we were able to sit down with some of them and record their stories as well. So great organization.
Carol Ventresca [:And many of them didn't want to talk about their experience. Experiences as you said, spouses of 45 years didn't know. But this gives them an opportunity to do it in that safe environment and knowing that the people who are going to be listening really do want to hear.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Right. And you know, just when I was a guardian with, with my two vets is, you know, you're going to the Iwo Jima Memorial, the air Force Memorial, the Navy, so on and so forth. And you know, it just, the conversations just, just flow. That's not the right time or place to do the interviews because it's too noisy and disruptive and sort of that sort of stuff. But you just get this group of 75 veterans and who are there for the honor flight plus the guardians who are escorting them. And it's just the conversation is natural and you know, so they're, you know, sharing stories about, you know, Algeria when they were in the air Force and you know, just some just really interesting, unique pieces of American history.
Carol Ventresca [:There are also a lot of temporary opportunity, temporary exhibits and opportunities to see information, gather more knowledge about military service that the museum has had. I like the depiction of the ghost army. That's always a fun thing to hear about and it's always nice knowing that we can fool people. But there were there was a visual art exhibit of glass from cathedrals and churches all over Europe during World War II. I missed that. We thought we were going to get to see it, and we had the wrong date, so we missed it. Do you have a particular goal you're trying to reach in looking at what temporary exhibits there will be? And do you have any ideas for next year? What can we expect to see?
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, so the exhibits that we've had to date have all had a veteran focus on them. So they have ranged from, you know, Stacy Pearsall's exhibit, Light and Wartime. She's an Air Force combat photographer. Her work overseas capturing these really, really amazing images of servicemen members in action. We've had Mary White's veteran portraits that she's done, a huge watercolor portrait of 51 veterans and 50 canvas. And her work is almost looks like a photograph. It's so detailed for a watercolor artist. And so, again, it shows veterans in the kind of the rainbow of colors and experiences and backgrounds that they come from and who they are.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And then we've had Susan Barron's work talking about PTSD and suicide and how she was inspired to try to do something. So really, all the temporary exhibits we've brought in have got a veteran or through a veteran lens. It could be because the artist was a veteran, or it could be because the artist was inspired by veterans. And so the stained glass piece is really fascinating. It was Chaplain Frederick MacDonald, and he was the chaplain for the Field army that was in Northern Europe from Normandy all the way until the end of the war, working for Omar Bradley, who was his personal chaplain for the unit. And every place that he went on his journey from London all the way to the end of the war, of course, there were bombed out churches and synagogues and cathedrals. So he'd pick up pieces of the stained glass from those houses of worship, and he'd stick them in an envelope, and on the envelope wrote, done or London, you know, 1944 or whatever. And a little bit about in his journal that accompanied his kind of memories and thoughts of going through this destroyed piece of, you know, Europe.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And so in 19. Let me see if I get the dates right. In 1994, at age of 92, he met with an artist, and he was a pack rat, and he had all these envelopes, trunks in his basement or in his attic, and he met with this artist who had happened to be from France and said, hey, I've got all these stained glass pieces from all these places. I'd like to do something with them. So together, the two of them worked on his story and his work. And so she had put it together and these beautiful pieces. And it wasn't just the pieces of stained glass, but it was the historia that was also embedded into the stained glass work as well. And it was just a really amazing number one story of, you know, kind of the World War II experience.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And then, you know, to have that recall at that age and to have the forethought to keep those pieces and then to have it back be displayed in museums around the country is pretty neat. So that's really the. The focus on the temporary exhibits. We've partnered with the World War II Museum, National World War II Museum down in New Orleans. So we had the Bob Hope exhibit here during COVID We've had the Ghost army exhibit that you mentioned. Just a little known piece of history and what they did to help win the war. And then here, in another week or so, we'll have the Matthew Modine's exhibit. That actor from Full Metal Jacket.
Carol Ventresca [:Right. What is that about?
Colonel Bill Butler [:So when he was so flashback to 1987, Full Metal Jacket comes out. I think that was his second role as an actor, maybe third role as an actor. So he's a, you know, the new up and coming young movie star. And Stanley Ku Kubrick, who directed the movie, gave Matthew a camera and a journal and said, capture your story for posterity's sake. You're going to want to do this sort of thing. So it's pictures and journal entries that he took while he was on Full Metal Jacket. And Matthew's not a veteran, but he portrayed the Marine joker in the movie. His older brothers had all served in Vietnam and in the military.
Colonel Bill Butler [:They're drafted. And so he used his experience and memories of his brother, older brothers, to kind of shape how he portrayed that Marine in the movie Full Metal Jacket. So that'll open up here in a week or so once we get everything taken down, patched, painted and put back up. And then the. We're excited that he.
Carol Ventresca [:How long will that be at the museum?
Colonel Bill Butler [:Until the end of the year.
Carol Ventresca [:Oh, wonderful. Okay.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And then he'll be our keynote speaker for Veterans Day. We've got this great StoryCorps program. We've got some really cool partnerships that we're finalizing.
Carol Ventresca [:So audience, you know, he's just giving you the. A little nugget here to take with you. And we will make sure that we have resources for our veterans on this podcast. Show notes and any of the information that we're talking about today but also other resources that you or someone you know may be in need of, either here, locally or across the country. So we'll continue to keep sending out information and as soon as we get the word on the exhibits for next year, we'll also get those out.
Brett Johnson [:Exactly. And we also want to highlight the educational exhibits and programs at the museum. A major foundation is to educate children, college researchers and educators on the stories and experiences of military life. Would you like to highlight some of the great opportunities available to learners? How would an educator connect with the museum to provide a new experience for their students?
Colonel Bill Butler [:Sure. We've got an education page on our website. So if you go to that education page or variety of resources there, we've got some curriculum worksheets, you know, on a variety of ages. We, we do all kinds of virtual tours. We've had tour. Virtual tours from schools in, you know, Pennsylvania, California, Washington state. But we also do regular field trips here in the museum. And a lot of times they'll partner.
Colonel Bill Butler [:You know, they'll do the morning here and then afternoon at the State House or COSI and then here or other places. Places. And so we've got tremendous amount of toolkits and resources as part of the StoryCorps piece with the recording opportunity. A lot of times schools will use that as a curriculum requirement for high school kids where they've got to interview a veteran or a handful of veterans. So that could be an option for educators. And then we've also done it with a couple of elementary school classes where the class interviewed a veteran. And so we'd done one with the third grade class here in town, and their upper math teacher is still working. Vietnam veteran.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And so this group of third graders interviewed their Vietnam war veteran teacher. And you would think, okay, third graders, what are they going to ask? But I mean, really insightful, insightful questions by this class. And every student asked a different question. And so we went afterwards and I gave the class a, you know, pocket full of challenge coins that we give out and a certificate of appreciation and stuff like that. And the. We brought the teacher back in and he said that was one of the most special days that he's had as an educator and, you know, 50 years of working. So it's really, really powerful.
Carol Ventresca [:Third graders are great.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah.
Brett Johnson [:Coupled with that. Exactly.
Carol Ventresca [:So, so, so if a teacher is interested, go to your website and.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah, our website or Mason Fars, our education manager. He does an amazing job. And his email is mfar far f a r rational vmm.org and he's got A great relationship with high school social studies teachers here in the community. And he and his team will do a great job taking care of educators and field trips.
Carol Ventresca [:Well, I've been here when there have been some little ones running around, and they'll be fascinated. So teachers do take advantage of this great opportunity.
Colonel Bill Butler [:The week of Veterans day, we've got 11 field trips coming in, and then we've also got Daniel the Tiger with WSU event on Saturday, the 8th of November. So that'll be, I think, from 10 to 3, and it's on our website, but an opportunity for people who may not come to the museum because of the content and focus to bring their younger kids to meet Daniel the Tiger. And. Yeah, so we've done that. We did that last year, doing it this year as well.
Carol Ventresca [:Wonderful.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah. Okay, Great program.
Carol Ventresca [:Will there be a list on the website of all of the different events?
Colonel Bill Butler [:Our events page.
Carol Ventresca [:Okay. And also Facebook page.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah.
Carol Ventresca [:Okay. Yes. Wonderful. All right, we'll get. We'll make sure that that is all highlighted, too. So audience, please don't forget we're posting this podcast early November. It's the time to come and visit and get not only a whole new look at the world of veterans, but in this amazing facility that we have right here in central Ohio.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So one of the other things, too, for kids that come through, you know, there's some scavenger hunts we can do, but we've also given them the opportunity to write a letter or note to a veteran. And so those notes will either get go to veterans in their retirement homes here in Columbus. There's two. One in Sandusky, one in Georgetown. But we'll also give them the veterans that come visit the museum or to honor flights. So those handwritten notes actually do go to somebody when they thank them for their service.
Carol Ventresca [:Great. To get the kids to write the note first.
Colonel Bill Butler [:They do a great job.
Carol Ventresca [:Good. That's good. Okay, well, thank you for all of that. We were talking earlier. The museum really is kind of the welcoming point into the western part of Columbus. When I was going through your website, I found this new event I never heard about called the Sciota Arts Market. So is that a new opportunity that the museum is taking advantage of? And are there other kinds of things that you're doing with the community?
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah. So, you know, yes, we are a national museum, but we are also a great neighbor. And, you know, much like in the military, you know, you enter the military and you go to basic training or boot camp or Hell week, whatever the branch of service calls it and, you know, all vestiges of individualism are torn off of you, and you're built up as a member of a team. So we've really taken that to heart, and we succeed as a team and collaborate well with others. So today we have the Columbus Metropolitan Club here at the museum. We're going to be their new location this coming year to bring members of the community into the museum. And easy access, parking's easy, Great location, centrally located. And then same thing with the Scioto Arts Club, with the Columbus Young Professionals, is we've done five of six that we've got planned for this year, but it's really to be a resource for the community and partnered events where it brings people to the museum and it may just be to the parking lot, but then we'll hook them when they do come.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So over the course of six different weekends this late spring through the summer and early fall, we partnered with them to do their arch market here at the parking lot.
Carol Ventresca [:Wonderful.
Brett Johnson [:Nice. Funding's always at the forefront of any organization. You're in a unique position to create funding streams that also benefit the community, such as your corporate sponsorship program. Talk a little bit more about the programs, events and amenities available to the community that also financially support the museum. And how can this community, community help to support the museum? That's the big question, for sure.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So, you know, a lot of people think, you know, National Veterans Memorial and Museum, it's fully funded by the federal government. We're not. We don't get any federal funding. So it's through partnerships, like I said, but through sponsorships, earned revenue, foot traffic, and memberships that we can keep the doors open and the staff paid and the resources available to folks who come in. So we've got two different commemorative programs, one around Memorial Day and one around Veterans Day. For flag. It's called our Flag Campaign. So people can purchase a flag in honor of a veteran or somebody who.
Colonel Bill Butler [:For Memorial Day for somebody who is killed in action or lost in the line of duty. Duty. Somebody they served with, maybe. And all we've got a thousand flags that we plant on the grassy area around the museum. And it's a stunning. As soon as you cross the Broad Street Bridge across the Scioto and hit that crest, you see a thousand or 800 or 900 flags planted in the ground. And it's just stunning. And every time we plant the flag, we call off the person's name, and then those names are also on the website.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So it's a way for us to honor folks who've served our country or who lost their lives in service to our country. So that's one way. Another way is sponsorship programs. And you know, we just finished a strategic plan. And from December until the end of June we worked as a staff and every couple of weeks we met collectively and we really tore apart our mission, our vision, who we are, our identity, why we exist, our purpose, those sorts of things. And we settled on a revised mission statement. And that mission statement is to honor all veterans, elevate their stories and amplify the power of service for everyone everywhere. Again, we want people to come in the museum, hear the veterans stories, what they did in service to our country, what they did after service, and inspire others to do the same thing, give back to their community, have tough conversations, respectfully, but make our community better.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And then we settled on six goals. And those six goals are to strengthen and grow our impact for all veterans and their families. And that was an important piece. The family also serves. And if you think about it, you know, the family members may not have, they didn't join the military, they happen to fall in love with somebody who did, but they still make those sacrifices. And then the other goals are to elevate and innovate veteran storytelling. And we do that through a variety of ways. We do that of course, through our keynote speakers who talk about their service at our various programs.
Colonel Bill Butler [:We bring, bring in some amazing authors who've written, who happen to be veterans, who've written their stories or who are renowned New York Times best selling authors who have written or published books about veterans. And we've done some movie screenings. We have Matthew Modine coming in, there might be movie screening that we'll do with him as well. So everything we try to do is veteran storytelling, but through the lens of the veteran, of course, ensure the long term financial stability and growth, inspire action through service. We've talked about, expand our local and national partnerships. It's really, we've got to be a great teammate and collaborate with so many people and then build strong and adaptive and supported team. And then through those six goals we've got 10 initiatives and, and they run the gamut from really what is this ecosystem of partners that we have and how can we become more effective here locally, but more broadly nationally? The Service in Action campaign, that's one of those things I'll hit on when I can announce it on November 17, which will be a great partnership with iconic organization here in the community. But we hope that's going to be something that we can take to communities across the country.
Colonel Bill Butler [:You know, the enhanced exhibits, on site experiences make them more interactive. So we're really looking hard at how we can elevate the experience of people that come to the museum.
Carol Ventresca [:One of the things that I noticed on the website regarding partnerships is that corporate sponsorship oftentimes employers have. Have difficulty trying to translate how they want to serve a particular community. So if an employer is interested in serving veterans, either those who work for them or other veterans in the community, this is a great opportunity. It kind of gives them some guardrails, some ways to make it happen for sure.
Colonel Bill Butler [:So, you know, corporate sponsorships can come in the form of, you know, sponsoring a program, sponsoring the speakers at our national ceremonies. It could come in the form of sponsoring flag plantings out at, you know, their headquarters. Those sort of field trips could offset the cost of, you know, for veterans and military members to do retirement ceremonies, promotion ceremonies, you know, those sorts of events as well. And then, you know, amplifying this veteran storytelling, bringing in these great authors, one of whom next in February, we'll bring in Will Haygood, who's written about the black experience in Vietnam. So his part of his book tour is going to be an event here in February and March. Super excited about that as well.
Carol Ventresca [:I've heard him speak. He's wonderful.
Colonel Bill Butler [:And. And then of course, individuals. If corporations want to do events at the museum, if they want to do board meetings, if they want to do cocktail receptions, holiday parties, we've got tremendous amount of rentable space. Our Great hall, our gallery 33, our rooftop is really stunning view for cocktail receptions in the evening. Now that it's cooler, we've got the Memorial Grove. We've done weddings, concerts, we did a fashion show one year. We've done all kinds of different events here in the museum. And if people just want to do an off site for their key leaders, they can do that as well.
Carol Ventresca [:Wonderful. So as we wrap up, which it always goes much quicker than I think it's going to go, and we suddenly realize we are going to run out of time. We always give our guest speakers an opportunity for their last words of wisdom. I also want to say, is there anything else you want to make sure we know about for veterans? Our Veterans Month, the month of November that's going to be happening here at the museum, but also last words of wisdom.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Yeah. So Sunday, November 9th, we'll have in partnership with Milvette, the Franklin County Veterans Services Commission, and the local VA Veterans rally. So there'll be a bunch of community resources that we bring to the museum free access, of course, for veterans every day and free parking. But bring, you know, hundreds of veterans into the museum to share stories, learn about new resources that are available to them and some of the programming that MILVETS is going to put on. So that's the big one. November 11th, of course, is our Veterans Day ceremony at 11 o'. Clock. Matthew Modine will be our keynote speaker.
Colonel Bill Butler [:He's not a veteran, but he's got a passion in his heart for veterans because all of his brothers served in the military. And then he portrayed a veteran in the movie Full Metal Jacket. And then words of wisdom. I don't know that I have any words of wisdom other than never stop learning and become a voracious reader to challenge assumptions that you might have. Nobody's got. I don't. Nobody's got a monopoly on good ideas and you can always learn something from somebody else. And then with regard to veterans, everybody is very quick and almost is an awkward exchange when people hear you're a veteran and they thank you for your service.
Colonel Bill Butler [:Instead of doing that, I would take it one step further. I would challenge everybody to do that is ask them about their service. Maybe just one question. Why did you serve? Or what was the most. The most challenging thing you experienced? Or what's the most positive thing you experienced? Or why are you proud of being a veteran? Instead of just the almost. It's almost kind of this awkward obligatory thank you for your service, but get beyond that. Ask a question.
Carol Ventresca [:Wonderful.
Brett Johnson [:Good advice. Good advice. Well, many thanks to Our expert guest, Colonel Bill Butler, U.S. army retired acting president of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, for joining us today. Listeners, thank you for joining us as well. You're going to find contact information and resources we discussed in the podcast Show Notes on our website@lookingforwardourway.com and we are looking forward to hearing your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes.
