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Local museum offers military history

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Greene County News Report

DAYTON – The Miami Valley Military History Museum, located in downtown Dayton, was established to preserve the history of the men and women who served and continue to serve our nation, and perpetuate their memory by making their history available to the public. It is a member of the Small Museums Association and an Official Partner with the Department of Defense Vietnam War Commemoration, the Imperial War Museum (London) World War One Centennial Project and the Missing In America Project.

The musuem explains that its goals include the following:

  • Perpetuate and preserve the memory of the veterans of our Armed Forces past, present and future.
  • Establish a permanent military history museum as a repository for artifacts and research materials.
  • Collect, organize and preserve collections of United States and foreign military artifacts.
  • Highlight the military history of local communities and the state of Ohio.
  • Provide traveling displays for civic, fraternal and veteran’s organizations.
  • Establish educational programs for schools to educate and inspire succeeding generations in military history.
  • Stage events to give the public a better understanding of the armed forces in the history of our country.
  • Establish special exhibits to encourage interest from a wider audience.
  • Create and distribute publications and documents.
  • Establish a volunteer lecturer program.
  • Foster patriotism and respect for veterans.

Our displays begin with the Revolutionary War, and include the history of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (commonly called the “Soldiers Home” which is now the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center), and continue through the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, Operations DESERT STORM, ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM and Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW), such as Grenada and Panama.

Some of the services it provides:

  • “Operation FOOTLOCKER”; traveling footlocker with authentic WWII artifacts and interactive materials.
  • Speakers Bureau: General Museum Presentation – an overview of the Museum, its history, current exhibits, events, and future plans.
  • The National Home For Disabled.
  • Volunteer Soldiers, the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, Vietnam and Operation DESERT STORM.
  • Medal replacement requests for lost, stolen and missing awards, as well as decorations.

All ranks and branches of the service are represented – you’ll have the opportunity to see artifacts belonging to privates and generals alike, as well as relics from the opposing side in each conflict. For those interested in World War II, one of the museum’s prized artifacts on display is an actual piece of the battleship USS Arizona, generously donated by the United States Navy. We also have a piece of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 crash site – one of the few places in the country where individuals can see artifacts from all three locations of the Sept. 11 attacks. Listen to authentic WWII news broadcasts in our Home Front display, or observe the Armed Forces Vietnam radio shows playing in the Vietnam display. Attendees can also experience the weight of a flak jacket and Kevlar helmet is, as the museum has them waiting to be tried on. Civilians are welcomed; veterans are welcomed and honored.

It is located a 120 Ohio Avenue, (building 120) Dayton, Oh, 45428. Its hours of operation are 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the first and third Saturdays of the month, all patriotic holidays or by appointment.

Greene County News Report compiled by Whitney Vickers.