Rockford Veterans Hall unveils exhibit honoring Vietnam War veterans

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford’s Veterans Memorial Hall honored Vietnam War veterans with a new exhibit, commemorating 50 years since the end of the conflict.

“We have three veterans that were interviewed as part of the Harlem Veterans History Project. We’re going to share some of their stories,” said Museum Director Scott Lewandowski. We’ve also created a permanent exhibit in Memorial Hall to honor the 69 veterans that were killed from this county during the Vietnam conflict.”

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.

“I volunteered, thinking it would be fine because I worked at the library, and I knew that they had yearbooks,” said Bloomster. “I thought I could check the yearbooks. Well, it became a lot more than that.”

Scouring libraries and reaching out to the public created a worthwhile, years-long endeavor.

“So I had to go to Winnebago and then out of Stillman Valley, Durand and all of those places,” Bloomster continued. A lot of the boys quit school to go into the service. So, they didn’t have a senior picture. It took me two years to find them, but I did find everybody.”

Thanks to Bloomster’s work, those 69 Winnebago County veterans killed in action can be memorialized forever.

“We need to remember these guys and the sacrifice that they made,” Bloomster explained. “I’m proud that I could do that, but I’m also grateful to them for doing that.”