Museum of the American Military Family & Learning Center

10/13/2026

To limit British control of the sea, the Continental Congress established the Continental Navy, which on October 13, 1775, became the United States Navy. At its formation, the Navy had only two armed ships tasked with disrupting mu****on ships supplying the British Army in America. In 1972, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt designated October 13 as the Navy’s official birthday and directed that it be commemorated to appreciate Navy heritage and reinforce pride and professionalism in the Naval Service.

Happy 251st birthday US Navy!

Graphic by Robert Schultz, US Navy veteran based on the following public domain photo: U.S. Navy sailors with ties to the Filipino community welcome the Philippine navy frigate BRP Gregorio del Pilar as the ship arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during a scheduled port visit. 27/07/2011
https://nara.getarchive.net/media/us-navy-sailors-with-ties-to-the-filipino-community-b5e3c2

10/13/2026

The Virgin Islands has a new license plate honoring women veterans. Check it out!

The V.I. Office of Veterans Affairs has introduced specially designed license plates honoring women who served in the military. Hillis Benjamin and retired Brig. Gen. Deborah Howel…

10/12/2026

Indigenous Peoples' Day is a holiday in some U.S. states. It honors Indigenous peoples of the Americas and recognizes their histories and cultures. The idea was first suggested at a United Nations conference in 1977. South Dakota was the first state to replace Columbus Day in 1990, calling it Native Americans' Day. In 2019, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a law making Indigenous Peoples' Day a paid state holiday, celebrated every year on the second Monday in October. In 2021, President Joe Biden made the first official presidential proclamation for Indigenous Peoples' Day.

In New Mexico, the holiday recognizes the state’s 23 sovereign Native American nations. These include 19 Pueblos, three Apache tribes, and the Navajo Nation.

State offices, services, and local government buildings close for the holiday. Community events and traditional dances are held at places such as the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and Santa Fe Plaza.

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor the Indigenous nations and peoples of New Mexico, as well as those across the country and around the world.

Graphic created by MAMF intern and New Mexico artist Dominguez.

10/11/2026

National Cookbook Month is observed in October. Nowadays many of us look up recipes online, while our beloved cookbooks gather dust on the bookshelf, rarely getting opened. Cookbook Month challenges people to cook the old fashioned way— grab a favorite cookbook, dust it off, and make some fun, new recipes this month. Some of us collect cookbooks and read them for pleasure, reveling in the stories behind the recipes.

In 2017, we published a cookbook “the Home Front Hearth” which was an anthology with recipes. It is available here: https://www.lulu.com/shop/circe-woessner-and-judy-oreilly/the-home-front-hearth/paperback/product-23337683.html?pagIn e=1&pageSize=4.

Recently, we were asked to look up a spaghetti recipe from the AFM-146-3 for someone. It was fun to leaf through those recipes, marveling at ingredient/ portion sizes, comparing how cooking habits and food preferences have changed over the years.

In recent years, we use Cookbook Month to show off some of our “Project: Potholder” collection, which is an ongoing effort to capture military family stories on an ordinary potholder/hot pad.

In the next few days, we’ll be posting photos of this year’s batch of potholders; in the meanwhile, enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal using a recipe from an actual paper book.

Do you have a favorite cookbook? Share it in the comments below.

Graphics by MAMF intern Brittney Lopez. Photo by By Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Africa, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/7MRLGw

10/11/2026

If you‘ve ever lived in Guam, this story might be of interest.

Being stationed in Guam comes with many challenges, but now families have concerns about local drinking water contamination.

10/10/2026

Here's a story sure to melt your heart!

Juju is the 2026 Hero Pet of the Year and is bringing awareness to Dogs on Deployment, whose volunteers care for pets during deployments.

10/10/2026

Today is World Mental Health Day, Saturday, October 10, 2026. The World Federation for Mental Health has chosen this year’s theme: "Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change."This day highlights the importance of putting people who have faced mental health challenges at the heart of policy and service changes.

Caring for others, living with chronic illness, coping with anxiety or trauma, or managing the ups and downs of military life can be exhausting. Everyday stress, whether big or small, can add up. Many of us believe we have to do it all, but it might be time to pause and rethink that. Look for ways to ease your stress. Make sure to take time for yourself and recharge. As our friends at Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life say: Before you try to help others, you need to take care of yourself!

10/09/2026

This is a very interesting read. What do you think?

In the fight for our own identities, has the pendulum swung too far from wearing the military-spouse label as a badge of honor?

10/09/2026

Looking for something to do this long weekend?

If you live in the Stuttgart area, you can visit these two sites in the same day because they are very close to each other.

The Roman Open-Air Museum Hechingen-Stein (Römisches Freilichtmuseum Hechingen-Stein) is one of Southern Germany's largest and most significant Roman farm estates. The site features extensive original and reconstructed ruins, including a villa, Roman bathhouse, temple district, mill, granary, and corner tower. It offers displays, artifacts, and seasonal hands-on activities. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (closed on Mondays except holidays) and seasonally from late March through November 1. The site also has a direct view toward Burg Hohenzollern.

Hohenzollern Castle is in the municipality of Bisingen in Baden-Württemberg. It is the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern noble family, one of the most important dynasties in German history. The castle complex, the museum rooms, the Catholic Michaelskapelle, the casemates and the castle restaurant are open daily. You can explore the museum rooms at your own pace, without a guide. The views from the bastions are truly breathtaking. Some, but not all, of the castle is wheelchair accessible; the shuttle bus from the visitor car park to the entrance gate is wheelchair accessible. Check the website for more guidance.

10/08/2026

More Than a Snowman is a tender illustrated story about family, military service, love across distance, and how one child’s idea can bring people together. Author and illustrator, Pat Murphy, of Murphy’s Story House, has more than 35 years of experience in illustration, animation, and visual storytelling. His children’s stories combine expressive artwork with themes of family, courage, kindness, memory, and community. Look for activities, suggestions, and discussion questions for families on his website at:
https://www.murphystoryhouse.com/