Millville Museum Honors Veterans, Spotlight on World War II Service

The Millville Army Airfield Museum convened residents and veterans on December 8 for its annual Veterans Appreciation Day, drawing attention to the citys wartime role and ongoing efforts to preserve that history. Museum executive director Lisa Jester framed the event as both a commemoration and a reminder of Millvilles unique place in national defense when she said, “We honor our World War II veterans here at America’s First Defense Airport, along with all veterans for their service to our country.”

Donna Pio, Education Co Chair for the Millville Woman’s Club, served as keynote speaker and centered her remarks on her father, Robert “Bob” Goldstine, a World War II veteran who served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps and worked as a P 47 Thunderbolt mechanic while stationed at Millville Army Airfield. Pio shared personal photographs and first person recollections about life on the base, including the anecdote that her father met his future wife Madeline Milita at a USO Halloween dance. The couple later married and settled in Millville, raising three children, and their story anchored the program in local continuity between wartime service and postwar civic life.

Earlier in November, Millville Woman’s Club members hosted Pio at a club meeting where she provided a brief description of her father’s service and the everyday rhythms of the base community. At the museum event she expanded that narrative with images including a portrait of her father in uniform and a photograph of her parents in their wedding attire displayed in the museum.

The event underscores the museum’s role as both a repository for artifacts and a civic space for intergenerational exchange. For residents, the program reinforced how individual family histories illuminate broader patterns of enlistment, labor and settlement that shaped Cumberland County after the war. The gathering also highlighted the value of local institutions in maintaining veteran recognition, supporting educational outreach and preserving archival material that can inform school curricula and public programming.

As municipalities and civic organizations balance budgets and programming priorities, the Millville Army Airfield Museum’s Veterans Appreciation Day serves as a reminder that local historical stewardship influences community cohesion and the ways veterans are remembered and supported.