Museum Day

We went sightseeing today to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum and the 82nd Airborne Museum; both on Ft. Bragg.

The JFK Museum is across the street from the special warfare school where special operations soldiers, like the Green Berets, are trained. Inside the museum are displays of special operations units and their missions since the first unit was established.

I found the most interesting exhibits were the more modern ones. There were several of Saddam Hussein's confiscated artifacts on display, including gold plated weapons he had made as special gifts, a painting of him, and part of a statue that was destroyed and removed after he was deposed.

A graffiti covered piece of the Berlin wall and Vietnam-era displays caught my eye since these are the eras that I am familiar with, having grown up in them and experiencing the Iraqi conflict in more contemporary times. The older displays, those of WWII, were interesting but I could not really relate to them.

The opposite was true at the 82nd Airborne Museum where I was most interested in the displays of Nazi memorabilia--mostly the flags, insignia, and knives confiscated from Nazi Germany. Outside the museum they have static displays of several military aircraft, artillery, and armored vehicles used by the 82nd.

If you love military history and memorabilia, these museums are a real treat; if you don't they still convey an interesting part of our history.