Southwest Florida Military Museum and Library

Mission Statement:

The Southwest Florida Military Museum & Library is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) institution. The Museum’s mission is to collect, exhibit, preserve, interpret, and archive, United States military history from the 18th through the 21st century. The Library is integrated within the Museum and has a collection of history reference texts, rare books and documents, history books, and periodicals for scholarly research and educational study. The combined entity is for the public benefit, to assist in educating and enhancing cultural heritage awareness within the community.

About Us:

The Southwest Florida Military Museum & Library began under the umbrella of Invest in America’s Veterans Foundation, which was formed and incorporated as a local outreach to local veterans in February 2009. It first operated at a small storefront on Del Prado Boulevard in Cape Coral, Florida, before moving its headquarters into a 34,000-square foot facility on Leonard Street on Sept. 9, 2012.

As the collection of military artifacts, books and papers continued to grow, most space in the Leonard Street facility was devoted to the museum. It is now the largest military museum in Southwest Florida, covering all American wars and conflicts as well as many important events in our history. The museum is consistently ranked in the top three in "things to do" in Cape Coral by TripAdvisor, Inc., the American travel website company that provides reviews in an interactive travel forum.

Although the museum's major emphasis is on World War II, it remains ambitious in its quest to cover all periods of American history. The family-friendly, interactive environment features 60 fully dressed mannequins, allowing visitors to better understand the subject and period customs they are viewing.

A number of the display stations have individual monitors and two streaming videos are included. The history of Cape Coral's Iwo Jima statue at Echo Park is presented in a 23-minute streaming video in the Michael Geml Theater. The second streaming video honors Capt. Daniel Eggers, a native of Cape Coral and a Citadel graduate who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004.

After the museum received its status as a nonprofit institution in January 2017, it reorganized and staff positions were announced. Sonya Raymond became museum director; Tim Neill assistant director; and Jim Zbick, curator/historian.