Iowa Gold Star Military Museum


Des Moines' People Choice Award 2023



VOTED the BEST MUSEUM by the Des Moines' People Choice Award 2023!

VOTED the Silver AWARD for BEST PLACE TO VOLUNTEER!!

Loren Horton Community History Award


This award recognizes outstanding local history projects completed during the previous calendar year. Its namesake represented the State Historical Society of Iowa in many capacities from 1973 until 1996.

Award Recipient: Iowa Gold Star Military Museum of Johnston, Iowa
Project: Living History Weekend



Pictured Left-to-Right: Lt. Governor Adam Gregg, Board Member Tom Clegg, and Curator Michael Vogt
Volunteers: Dave Ruffcorn, Russ Flattery and John Krohn

Tribute to Iowa Women in the Military



  • Welcome to the Gold Star Military Museum!

  • Our WWI exhibit has been updated recently with new artwork

  • The WWII Pacific Theater collection has some recent additions



News:

New Oral History Interviews!

Vist the new Veteran Oral History interviews Sponsored by Bravo of Greater Des Moines!

Our Used Book Store is Open!

Paperback books $1
Hardcover books $2
DVDs 25 cents and VHS tapes are FREE!!

Virtual Tour Receives Ranking!

Iowa Gold Star Military Museum Recognized by Mark Catton made the Top 5 Best Virtual Reality Tours.
  • CIA Museum - McLean, VA
  • Behringer Crawford Museum - Covington, KY
  • Field Museum - Chicago, IL
  • National Museum of Natural History - Washington, D.C.
  • Iowa Gold Star Military Museum - Johnston, IA
If you have not tried the virtual tour, check it out!! Click here to take a virtual tour of our Museum on Google!

New Virtual Brick Wall

Take a moment to visit our new Virtual Brick Wall!


Groups of 10 or more require a reservation:

Click here to create a GROUP Reservation to Visit the Museum »

Five Educational Field Trips Near the DSM Metro:

Five Educational Field Trips Near the DSM Metro and guess who made the list?

Guidelines

  • Face Coverings/Mask - Optional
  • No food of any kind allowed
  • No drinking containers of any kind including water bottles
  • No Umbrellas
  • No bags (Exception purses and diaper bags)
  • We encourage social distancing.

New: B17 Virtual Exhibit

The B-17 interactive exhibit is now available online. Click here to visit our new B-17 virtual exhibit!

Gold Star Gazette Newsletter

Click here to find all of our issues on the bottom of the Events page.

Upcoming Events

Group Tours
Our Stories
Volunteer Spotlight
Gift Shop

Find Us

Iowa Gold Star Military Museum
7105 Northwest 70th Avenue, Johnston, IA 50131
Get directions »

Virtual Tour

Click here to take a virtual tour of our Museum on Google!

Hours

Sun - Mon
Closed
Tues - Fri
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Saturday
10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Plan your visit »

Newsletter

Click here to view the Gold Star Gazette.