Kids Salute to Military Heroes

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History will celebrate Veteran’s Day on Sunday, November 15, 2009, with stories of service and multiple family activities.

The Museum will host the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The focus of the day is to encourage citizens to recognize the many contributions of military members with an effort called “Kids Salute to Military Heroes.” Whether a service member served on a flight deck in the 1960s or just returned from Afghanistan, the Museum will honor the service made by this important community. An additional highlight of the day will be a car show featuring classic cars and military vehicles.

“Our veterans and service personnel have given of themselves many times over,” said Jim Walther, Director of the Museum. “Our day will give the community an opportunity to commemorate that inspirational service as well as give young people a chance to learn about the military from someone who has served. And everyone can enjoy some great vehicles from by-gone eras.”

“Kids Salute to Military Heroes” is an effort to encourage young people to write stories about veterans and members of the military. Those profiles will then be shared with visitors at the Museum throughout the day and their young authors will be recognized in an afternoon ceremony. Youngsters who wish to participate should download, print, and complete the Veteran Profile form and bring it to the Museum on November 15, where they will receive free admission for their effort. To download the form visit this link on our website: www.nuclearmuseum.org and look under "Kids Salute to Military Heroes." Veterans and active military personnel will all receive free admission to the Museum that day upon showing their veteran or military identification or documentation of service.

The Veteran’s History Project, a Library of Congress project, will also be represented at the Museum. The mission of the project is to “collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.”

The day will also prove of interest to car buffs. Classic cars (those before 1973; many models from the 1930s and 1940s) and distinctive military vehicles will be on display on the 12-acre site.

The Museum has received support from Kaufman’s West Army and Navy Goods for the Kids Salute to Military Heroes; they will be donating uniforms from several branches of the military so that kids can try on a uniform.

While the activities of the day are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Meet the Authors

Author Event: The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation

October 18, 2009

Authors Thomas C. Reed and Danny B. Stillman will speak about the proliferation of nuclear weapon technology over the last seventy years: where the technology came from, how it spread, who is likely to seek such weapons next and why. They will also offer an insight into the successes that have precluded the “dozens of nuclear weapon states” feared by John Kennedy when he first came to power a half century ago.

Reed is a former Secretary of the Air Force and nuclear weapon designer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Stillman worked at Los Alamos as a physicist; for fourteen years he served as chief of the Technical Intelligence Division.

Richard Rhodes found Nuclear Express to be “loaded with new information and insights; a fascinating read.”

The Reed & Stillman talk will be followed by a reception and book signing at 601 Eubank Blvd SE. Admission is $10 for Museum members, $15 for nonmembers.