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.

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

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.