JOHN AMM SPEAKS AT HOLOCAUST HISTORY CONFERENCE

Museum member and World War II veteran of the 65th Infantry Division, John Amm of Pontiac IL spoke at the Teaching the Holocaust and Global Genocide Conference at the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington IL. John's division liberated the concentration camp at Ohrdruf, Germany - the first camp liberated by the Allies. The Conference was attended by approx. 150 high school history teachers from Central Illinois, including many new teachers. Museum President, Jack Murphy,introduced John at the Conference and urged these teachers and their classes to our museum to learn from our veterans from World War II to the present . Click on image of handout to enlarge.

CORNELL IL SCHOOL VISIT

Thanks to the teachers at the Cornell School for bringing in their class to explore our museum yesterday. Jack Murphy, Museum President, is a native of Cornell so he prepared a page for each student highlighting the contributions of that village shown in our museum. A very impressive list for a small town in Central Illinois! This list follows the photos.
CLICK ON PHOTOS AND CORNELL LIST TO ENLARGE.

PHOTOS OF CORNELL IL VISIT

CORNELL IL VETERANS FEATURED IN MUSEUM

MUSEUM RECORD! ASTORIA HIGH SCHOOL VISITS!

A new museum distance record was set yesterday - January 14, 2010 - when 26 high school seniors visited our museum. These history students from Astoria High School (IL) were led and driven by their intrepid bus-driving classroom teacher, Doug Banwart. The journey on roads and highways in their yellow stretch limo (schoolbus) took almost three hours to our museum in Pontiac. That's over 120 miles!

President Jack Murphy welcomed the group and gave a brief introduction. Then the students were divided into 6 groups to listen to, question, and learn from each of the World War II veterans from our museum as well as the son of our founder. The students were attentive, respectful, and curious as they took notes and interacted with these veteran members of the "Greatest Generation".
The vets themselves were very impressed by the students and their interest.

Following the two hour museum visit, both students and veterans enjoyed many pizzas and soft drinks at Mario's Pizza in Pontiac. We thank Mario's for opening up four hours early to accomodate our group. Thanks also to owner Jerry for recounting for us some of the fabled history of the restaurant and Route 66.

The following veterans participated in the interviews:

Bill Hall - US Marines - Pacific
John Amm - US Army - Europe
Don Ely - US Army - Pacific
Jim Dawson - US Marines - Pacific
Rollie Gagnon - US Navy - Europe
Joe Malone - US Army - Europe
Dal Estes - US Army - Europe
(son spoke on his behalf)

A Big War Museum Salute to teacher Doug Banwart and his students from Astoria High School! We are impressed by the quality of your visit and the quantity of miles required. This brings great credit to you and the Astoria School District. We will remember you.

NOTES: THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS MAY BE ENLARGED BY CLICKING ON THEM. PHOTOS WERE TAKEN ON JANUARY 14, 2010.

SORRY ABOUT WRONG DATE - NEW CAMERA. CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO CHANGE DATE YET! MY DIGITAL CLOCK IS STILL FLASHING 12:00! GOTTA LOVE TECHNOLOGY.

TO SEE PHOTOS. CLICK ON OLDER POSTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE.

Astoria High School Visit

A new museum distance record was set yesterday - January 14, 2010, when 26 high school seniors visited our museum. These history students from Astoria High School were led and driven by their intrepid bus-driving classroom teacher, Doug Banwart. The journey on roads and highways in their yellow stretch limo (schoolbus) took almost three hours to Pontiac. That's over 120 miles!

President Jack Murphy welcomed the group and gave a brief introduction. Then the students were divided into 6 groups to listen to, question, and learn from each of the 6 World War II veterans from our museum as well as the son of our founder. The students were attentive, respectful, and curious as they took notes and interacted with these veteran members of the "Greatest Generation". The vets themselves were very impressed by the students and their interest.

Following the museum visit, both students and veterans enjoyed many pizzas and soft drinks at Mario's Pizza of Pontiac. We thank Mario's for opening up four hours early to accomodate our group. Thanks also for telling us some of the fabled history of the restaurant and Route 66.

The following veterans participated in the interviews:

Bill Hall - US Marines - Pacific
John Amm - US Army - Europe
Don Ely - US Army - Pacific
Jim Dawson - US Marines - Pacific
Rollie Gagnon - US Navy - Europe
Joe Malone - US Army - Europe
Dal Estes - US Army - Europe
(son spoke on his behalf)

A War Museum Salute to teacher Doug Banwart and his students from Astoria High School! We are impressed by the quality of your visit and the quantity of miles required. This brings great credit to the Astoria School District. We will remember you.