Museum
The Veterans Museum and Memorial Center occupies the former chapel of the
Naval Hospital on Inspiration Point in San Diego's Balboa Park. The original hospital buildings
have been a familiar and nostalgic landmark to countless naval personnel and San Diegans alike
since the early 1920s, although the chapel itself was not built until the World War II period.
Today the Museum houses a unique collection of artifacts, memorabilia and papers as well as a
library holding more than one thousand volumes. Dedicated to veterans of all conflicts, the
Museum's exhibits feature World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, the Korean and Vietnam
Conflicts, Desert Storm, Women in the Military, and paintings by local artists of military
subjects.
Do not miss a living history tour by our docents who have been there! See
the first American flag to fall in the Philippines. Enjoy the Museum's unique collections of
memorabilia and artwork, dating from the Civil War to the present. This is the place to see
and hear history.
The Veterans Museum and Memorial Center is one of the very few places
you will find that covers all branches of the service and is indeed a home for all veteran groups.
Take a moment to view a sampling of the Museum.
One of three dioramas on display, this one features uniforms, equipment and photographs from
soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I.
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The Main Stage area in the Museum includes a display interpreting the surrender
of the Imperial Japanese Forces at the end of World War II as it occurred aboard the battleship
USS Missouri. Note also the service flags and beautiful stained glass window. This part
of the Museum is popular for use during meetings, events and ceremonies at the VMC.
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Noted maritime artist Richard de Rosset's mural depicting the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor is one of five now gracing the Museum's walls. The life-rings near the center
of the mural contain the actual signatures of Pearl Harbor Survivors.
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The Korean War diorama includes communications equipment, mine-hunting gear,
uniforms, maps and more, all arranged realistically to depict an American bunker in Korea as
it would have appeared in the field in the early 1950s.
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Still a work in progress, this mural by Richard de Rosset depicts numerous
significant moments-victories, technological achievements as well as tragedies-in American
military history of the 20th Century. When complete, the actual signatures of distinguished
members of the San Diego Chapter, American Ex-Prisoners of War will grace a section in the
lower middle of the mural.
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Richard de Rosset's D-Day mural, depicting events on and around Omaha Beach
on 6 June 1944, is punctuated by one of the Museum's many beautiful stained-glass windows.
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The Vietnam diorama contains uniforms, maps, photographs and artwork depicting
scenes from the Vietnam war. Memorabilia on display in this exhibit includes an M-16 rifle,
flight equipment, authentic camouflage netting, and more.
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San Diego County artist Donald Schloat, a survivor of the Bataan Death March
and imprisonment by the Japanese during World War II, has used painting and sculpture to tell
the horrifying story of his experiences in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The painting at
the right is the most recent in a long series of depictions by Mr. Schloat that serve to bring
alive the POW experience.
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The Distinguished Flying Cross Society, San Diego Lindbergh Chapter is one of
several leading veterans' groups to have sponsored a display cabinet in the Museum. This case
exhibits historically significant documents, photographs, flight equipment and memorabilia
belonging to American aviators who made their mark over a period that extended from the 1920s
through World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War.
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