Bill Gwaltney and Tim Merriman Talk Story about ABMC and Training

Today on Reflections I am talking story with my podcast co-host, Bill Gwaltney, who recently returned from a trip to western Europe to visit friends from his long career with National Park Service and especially with friends he made during his final five years with American Battle Monuments Commission. Born and raised in the Nation’s Capital, Bill Gwaltney is a seventh generation native of Washington, D.C. His pursuit of a degree in Forestry/Botany led him to change majors focusing on Western American History and Parks and Recreation Management. Gwaltney had many roles in his thirty-five-year career with the National Park Service from Seasonal Interpreter to Museum Curator and from Regional Interpretive Specialist to Chief Ranger, Site Manager and Park Superintendent. He also served as President of The Association of African American Museums. In addition, Gwaltney served as Chief Naturalist at Rocky Mountain National Park and as Assistant Regional Director for Workforce Diversity at the Intermountain Region in Denver, Colorado. Gwaltney’s last two years in the National Park Service found him on loan to the National Museum of African American History and Culture for the Smithsonian Institution, where he designed and developed the exhibit on Military History. The last five years of his career took him to Paris, France, where he worked for The American Battle Monuments Commission, as the Director of Interpretation and Visitor Services, assisting with the planning, Interpreter training, and Visitor Center development for the 26 American overseas military cemeteries under the Agency’s responsibilities. Still teaching classes to park and museum employees and volunteers, Gwaltney is a trained Instructor of the H.E.A.R.T approach to Interpretation. #timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters  #HEARTApproach #InterpretiveConnections #VoicesOfInterpretation #NPS #ABMC