The Freedom Museum street window displays wedding memorabilia from days gone by while staying true to the theme of honoring local residents.

The Freedom Museum had a full circle moment recently. For people who have visited the Freedom Museum, they will remember Richard Bean from Brentsville who joined the Army and fought and died on the Japanese held island of Saipan in 1944. His remains were not found until 2013 when the Japanese nongovernmental agency, Kuentai went to Saipan to try to recover Japanese soldiers remains and return them to Japan. Jarae, a former Saipan resident and now Manassas, VA resident, contacted us to tell us he was the one to discover Bean when he was 12 years old on a family friend’s archeological dig. He was only 14 years old when he helped discover Richard Bean. In 2018, Jarae moved with his family from his tiny island to the town of Manassas.

During WW II, The Double V campaign was a slogan championed by the Pittsburg Currier, which was dedicated towards promoting democracy for civilian defense workers and for Blacks in the military. Let’s delve into the origins of the campaign started by James G. Thompson in Wichita, Kansas.

Local Veteran Merle Hancock became a prisoner of war in World Was II. 70 years later, he was honored with the US Army's Silver Star Medal.

Prisoner of War Survivor George D Idlett served as a Staff Sergeant in the Army Air Force during World War II. Despite the challenges he faced, he fulfilled his honor of being an American soldier with perseverance and grit.

During the World Wars, many new ways of creating art and photography came about to portray what battle and being on the front lines was really like. Check out the harrowing and brave stories behind three of the museum’s pieces and visit us to see many more.

Local Virginian Bill Baker took his first combat flight in 1943. By the end of his career, he'd successfully flown 47 missions. Read all about his fascinating first experience in flight combat on our Freedom Museum blog.

Betty Scott was a woman ahead of her time. With a spirited and adventurous attitude, she became what many consider to be the first female aviator…on accident! Read her story to find out how she took flight and the many other accomplishments she achieved in her life.

Sylvester Henry Epps was an African American soldier who was among the first to be trained and deployed to France to fight in the Spanish-American War. He was a member of the National Guard as well as a local member of Washington, D.C.

Carl Norden, a young Dutch engineer, emigrated to the US in 1904 with ambition. Later, he would become the inventor of the Norden Bomb Sight, one of America’s most highly promoted weapons.

Read about James Schier’s recent presentation on NASA’s future missions related to human and robotic exploration and landings on other planets to the Freedom Museum.

Read about a typical day as a VMF 213 squadron fighter pilot, James Cupp, as he shoots down Zeros.

Learn about Paul Galanti, a pilot of an A-4 Skyhawk on the USS Hancock during the Vietnam War, and he survived and persevered as a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton.

Read Lance Corporal Eli Tice’s survivor story - his story of perseverance will leave you with no doubt that he can achieve the difficult goals he set for himself in spite of what war has taken from him.

Private James W. Keys, a soldier from Prince William County, served in the famous “Wildcat Division” in World War I. He used scraps of paper and a tiny blue notebook to vividly detail his experiences. The following is the last chapter in his diary describing the final hours of the “Great War” as seen through his eyes.

William Baker was a B-24 bombardier and flew 47 missions as a member of the 98th Bomb Group. He was from Norton, Virginia. Baker completed the Army training track for bombardiers before heading for Leece, Italy and the 15th Air Force for duty - read passages from his diary that detail his mission throughout World War II.

Read about S/Sgt Monaghan’s Final Flight - how he survived a plane crash in March 1945 during World War II. With only a minute or so to get out before the plane went into a spinning dive, escape seemed impossible, but S/Sgt Monaghan persevered.