The Seattle Veterans Museum was founded in 2001 by two veterans, reserve Army Captain Hunter Floyd and Navy Lieutenant Todd Crooks. It began with Crooks collecting his father's uniform and gear from WWII, then grew as he collected mementos and items from other conflicts in US history. When Floyd and Crooks realized that Seattle did not have a local museum to honor veterans, they decided to turn Crooks' collection into a public museum. The museum was located behind the Garden of Remembrance next to Benaroya Hall, and it exhibited objects from across US history - including a replica Revolutionary War uniform, a mess kit from WWI, WWII gear, and a flight suit worn by a plane gunner in Afghanistan.

This image shows Hunter Floyd at the Seattle Veterans Museum on December 6, 2002, one day before the 61st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. A Union uniform from the Civil War is in front of the counter, at right is a WWI uniform with gas mask, and WWII uniforms and medals are visible in the background, backed by a US flag.

Caption information source: "A perfect day to thank a veteran," by Mike Lewis, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 7, 2002, page B2.