Museum Collection
Although the Museum has many items of military memorabilia that have
been donated, some are of significant historical value.
They include:
Two original seating charts used at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials by a
guard to seat those Germans being tried. We also have this same guard’s
uniform on display. (One copy of the program is on loan to a Holocaust
museum.)
On permanent loan from the Mansfield Collection is an original
Declaration of War from Japan on the United States and Great Britain. It
was one of fifty sent to diplomatic corps members and attaches. The
original postal cancellations stamp for VJ Day (September 2, 1945) from
General McArthur’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. (This was recently
featured in Reminisce magazine.)
A very rare Civil War documents showing battlefield promotions for an
Indiana man, one of which is on “sheepskin” as well as all denominations
of Confederate money, all in excellent condition. We also have a 12
pound Civil War cannon ball, documents and firearms on display.
Six WWI uniforms, most complete, some of wool and some heavy cotton. One
is a Marine uniform, which is rare. Our collection of WWI memorabilia is
quite large and includes many archived photos, documents, medals &
insignia and a collection of letters written over a four year period by
a WWI aviator. This same aviator’s family donated two large, framed,
canvas insignia. One insignia came from a downed German plane and the
other came from the aviator’s plane. (The tradition was to land your
plane and cut the insignia from the plane that you downed.)
A 1905 3” cannon donated to the Museum by the 428th Field Artillery
Headquarters. This rare cannon, only 200 ever made, has been fully
restored. It will be displayed in the new facility in the Spring of
1999. It was manufactured by Bethlehem Steel the year they incorporated
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
A static display of military vehicles including an M114 armored
reconnaissance vehicle, a M110A1 Self-propelled howitzer and an M578
tank retriever along with others added periodically by The Department of
the Army-Center for Military History.
There are over 5000 items in the Museum collection including
memorabilia, uniforms, medals, documents, posters, photographs,
citations/awards, firearms, edged weapons, books, magazines and other
printed material. The Museum maintains an excellent reference library
and archive for researchers/ students of military history.