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While most of us will celebrate Independence Day weekend with food and fun, lets not forget some of the people with Wisconsin ties who made these freedoms possible.

Most (22) were awarded to soldiers who fought in the Civil War especially the Iron Brigade, (the 7th Infantry along with members of the 6th and 2nd) for its sacrifices at Gettysburg that helped preserve the Union on July 1-3, 1863. Medal of Honor recipients spanned US history through the Vietnam War. A special congressional medal was also awarded to Milwaukees own Gen. Billy Mitchell, an aviation pioneer and airport namesake.

General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. is the father of five-star General Douglas MacArthur. The pair became the first father and son to both receive the Medal of Honor. (And it has only happened once since, with former President Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Theodore, Jr., who commanded troops at Utah Beach on D-Day.)

The elder MacArthur started his military career in Milwaukee, but his most famous moment happened during the Civil War Battle of Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, when the 18-year-old planted the regimental flag on top of a hill and shouted On Wisconsin. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for inspiring his fellow Union soldiers with that action and went on to serve in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars.

General Robert Bruce McCoy was a National Guardsman during both the Spanish American War and World War I. After his first deployment, McCoy bought some land in Wisconsin to start training other soldiers. When he died in 1926, the military named the base after him.

Since then, Fort McCoy has been in constant use, and currently trains more than 100,000 members of the military every year. The 181st Infantry Brigade, the division responsible for training National Guard troops involved with the Global War on Terror, is the largest unit stationed at the fort.

Navy corpsman and field medic John Doc Bradley jumped in to help several Marines hoist the first American flag above the black sand and volcanic ash on the tiny island of Mt. Suribachi in February 1945.

Bradley was the last surviving flag-raiser when he passed away in 1994. His son John wrote the best-selling book Flags of Our Fathers in 2000.

He was born in the Antigo area, grew up in Appleton, and returned to Antigo after the war, where he raised his eight children and started a business.

After Bradleys passing, confusion about the men in Joe Rosenthals famous photograph was finally resolved. Bradley had actually been photographed by Lou Lowery while raising the first flag, but commanders wanted a larger flag planted later that day. Bradley was misidentified as being part of the second flag-raising.

Bradley was among 110,000 Americans who fought for control of the small but vital island and he was one of some 20,000 who were wounded in a campaign that resulted in 6,800 American deaths. Bradley was awarded the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart.

Appletons Russell Klika dropped out of high school in the late 1970s and joined the Marines when he was 17. On a whim, he bought a 35mm camera and taught himself how to use it.

After working as a civilian newspaper photographer and documenting the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Klika rejoined the military and, camera in hand, traveled to Iraq as a non-commissioned officer. His photographs have been featured in Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times. In 2007, Klika was named the Military Photographer of the Year.

The withdrawal of most American soldiers from Afghanistan ended the countrys longest war. But the post-traumatic stress and pain of losing friends or family members in the past is still very real within the military community.

Here are several organizations the Wisconsin Veterans Museum supports that benefit US troops, veterans, and their families:

Wisconsin Veterans Foundation

Wounded Warrior Project

Soldiers Angels

Veteran Tickets Foundation

Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America

Link:
From Gettysburg to Iwo Jima to IraqWisconsin Soldiers Played a Role in Keeping America Free - UpNorthNews