\n<\/p>\n
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) \u2014 Rockford\u2019s Veterans Memorial Hall honored Vietnam War veterans with a new exhibit, commemorating 50 years since the end of the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have three veterans that were interviewed as part of the Harlem Veterans History Project. We\u2019re going to share some of their stories,\u201d said Museum Director Scott Lewandowski. We\u2019ve also created a permanent exhibit in Memorial Hall to honor the 69 veterans that were killed from this county during the Vietnam conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exhibit allowed visitors to dive into the history and life of each local veteran thanks to the work Inis Bloomster of the Daughters of the American Revolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cI volunteered, thinking it would be fine because I worked at the library, and I knew that they had yearbooks,\u201d said Bloomster. \u201cI thought I could check the yearbooks. Well, it became a lot more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scouring libraries and reaching out to the public created a worthwhile, years-long endeavor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I had to go to Winnebago and then out of Stillman Valley, Durand and all of those places,\u201d Bloomster continued. A lot of the boys quit school to go into the service. So, they didn\u2019t have a senior picture. It took me two years to find them, but I did find everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks to Bloomster\u2019s work, those 69 Winnebago County veterans killed in action can be memorialized forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to remember these guys and the sacrifice that they made,\u201d Bloomster explained. \u201cI\u2019m proud that I could do that, but I\u2019m also grateful to them for doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n