Wednesday
was the eleventh day of the eleventh month….in America that means it’s
Veteran’s Day. A friend had told me
about a Vietnam War Museum somewhere near Ruckersville, VA a few months ago and
I filed it as something to check out over the winter. Then last month at our AirFest event a
gentleman talked with Lou about the Vietnam War Museum that he volunteered at
and that we should check it out. Lou is
a Vietnam Veteran and put together a private cruise to the Museum on Veterans
Day. Lou & Arlene, Fred, David and
the Princess & I met up at the Reva Fire & Rescue from 4 different
directions. Then Lou led the motley
little crew south on Rt. 29 as we tried to find our way to the Vietnam War
Foundation Museum. www.vietnamwarfoundation.org
Lou is a firm;
no make that devoted, advocate of the GPS technology. We had a little….diversion….from the route to
the museum. But hey, it was a very nice
day to be driving aimlessly around the spectacular Virginia countryside. It really was fun for me. I usually lead our cruises but today I was
just following David’s awesome blue Mustang, who was following Fred’s red/white
’57 Dodge, who was following Lou’s red ’53 Ford Sunliner, who was following
Helga….that lives in Lou’s GPS. Lou
explained how something had happened to his GPS….how Helga was getting him back
for not updating her software on a regular schedule….how sunspots effect the
GPS satellites….how the clouds were articulating the signal and bending it
because of the coriolis effect north of the equator….or something like that…. He finally admitted it was an operator
programming error….? So now Lou is the
keeper of the “Boone & Magellan Broken Compass Award” and the “Daniel Boone
Hat” for leading us astray….until the next leader leads us off course.
When we
turned off the hard road onto the single lane, nicely maintained gravel road we
still hadn’t seen anything resembling a museum, much less one with armored
vehicles, helicopters and airplanes! After
cruising a little further we finally made a left turn and tucked in near the
trees was the unmistakable outline of an Army Huey helicopter! Then I saw an Air Force O-2 Skymaster (The
Duck) on the left of the road and poking out from the trees behind the Huey was
the nose of a C-47 Gooney Bird….it turned out to be an AC-47, a much feared
gunship of the era. The museum
volunteers swarmed our cars to help us park then welcomed us to their special
place.
This museum
is a treasure trove of artifacts from the Vietnam War….but it’s so much
more. The volunteers breathe life into
the inanimate objects of that war. They
tell the stories both personal and general of the war that took so many
Americans from us. They tell the story
from getting off the bus at the draft center, then to boot camp, then to being
in country. They share the sad stories
and the funny ones. The harrowing near
death experiences to the surreal unexplainable encounters with the horrors of
mortal combat. The volunteers share and
educate from the perspective of ones that were there, not ones that read a book
about it. They also keep a sharp eye out
for people that know they want to visit but can’t. They help them with their demons in a
constructive way that transcends a loose fellowship to a brotherhood.
One of the
Volunteers is a Mr. Shotwell….yeah, Shotwell….I saw him but was unable to meet
him before he left….next time. Well Mr.
Shotwell is a master model maker, painter, restorer, archivist,
researcher….most of the “built” items in the museum has felt his hand on
them. The murals on the walls were done
by him. The armaments that were
incomplete were made complete by him.
Check out the rockets in the pod on the wing of the O-2! We were able to meet the curator/owner,
Craig, for a brief conversation right before we left….but Bob was our
host/guide for the day. Bob was patient
with the ones that didn’t know anything about the items displayed and was also
able to explain them in depth for some of us that wanted more information than
usual. But his patience and kindness
with us was the best…. Pretty much
everyone in our great Country has been touched by that time in our history and
this is a place that will make the books come alive.
This museum
is only open to the public a few times a year; you should contact them for
their schedule. The museum is a “hands
on” deal, they encourage the visitors to touch and sit in/on many of the
vehicles. They encourage schools to
schedule field trips to their museum to better understand a very important part
of our history. We are going to
corroborate with them on an event next year….stay tuned!
This is the
link to their website; http://www.vietnamwarfoundation.org/
This is
their Facebook page;
https://www.facebook.com/Vietnam-War-Foundation-137470479662673/?fref=ts
These are
the pictures we took of our visit;
https://www.flickr.com/photos/53063560@N05/albums/72157661080967462
After our
visit to the museum we gathered up and began our cruise to….FOOD. The Princess & Arlene like to visit
Ciro’s Italian restaurant if we are within….50 miles of Elkton, VA….so we ended
the day with a great Italian meal. Our
cruise back to our respective homes was uneventful and pleasant….I love this
job/hobby!
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