The site chosen for the location of the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center was the former San Diego Naval Hospital Chapel at Inspiration Point in Balboa Park, part of a complex of architecturally significant buildings with rich historical connections to the San Diego region's naval heritage.
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 Memorial Garden is situated on a one-acre parcel directly in front of the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center with three individual gardens honoring veterans — Air, Land and Sea — united by pathways leading to the Veterans Circle, a central gathering place reflecting the principles of DUTY • HONOR • COUNTRY with quotes from Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Coolidge. Phase I includes the terrazzo Veterans Circle and Amphitheater, the Air Garden and the initial portions of the Land and Sea Gardens. The Air Garden contains a reflecting pool with a bronze statue of a B24 Liberator facing in the direction of the former Consolidated Aircraft Corporation Plant (Convair) that designed and built the B-24. The Air Garden pays tribute to both the crewmembers — ground and flight—and the citizens of San Diego who designed and built this historic aircraft.—all important to Allied WWII air power. It is the first memorial in a city park highlighting the B-24 Liberator. During WWII almost 40% of all B-24s were built in San Diego. Consolidated employed slightly more than 45,000 San Diego men and women in 1942—more than 15% of the total population at that time. The Garden is a testament to the ongoing relationship between the citizens of San Diego and the Veterans' community. B-24 Sculptor: Robert Henderson; Architect: Austin Veum Robbins Partners; Landscape by David Reed Landscape Architect; and Construction by Ghassan Construction Company.
To provide a repository for printed materials, manuscripts, oral histories, multimedia and related items preserving San Diego’s Military History, and To support the Veterans Museum staff in their historical, exhibit & educational program research, and To provide a historical research library supporting San Diego’s scholars, researchers and students.
Built in 1945 - Chapel for Balboa Naval Hospital Given to City as part of land swap for new Naval Hospital in 1986. Veterans saved the building from demolition and Incorporated the Veterans Memorial Center in 1989. Renovated and opened in 1991. Vietnam Peace Memorial moved here in 1997 Veterans Memorial Garden opened in 2005.
Access: Members
Appointment required: True
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