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Military Museum, Art Center Offer Historical Perspective
On Iraq Conflict
by Bob
Lowe
April 16, 2004
The latest issue of Time magazine contains a cover story titled
"State of Siege," with inside stories headlined
"No Easy Options" and "What Should Bush Do?".
"U.S.
Vexed by Iraqi Security Forces That Refused Fighting,"
states a headline in Monday’s Chicago Tribune. Newsweek’s
April 19, 2004 cover story raises the specter of "The
Vietnam Factor – How This War Compares and How It Doesn't."
In recent days, The Post-Crescent has run front-page articles
about "Baghdad’s Chaotic Year After Saddam’s
Fall"and "Iraqi Militants Threaten to Kill American
Hostage."
The
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other state newspapers have
been running a series of stories on the plight of the Witmer
Family. Their daughter, Michelle, 20, was killed Friday in
combat in Baghdad, and their other two military daughters,
Rachel, 24, and Charity, 20 (Michelle’s twin), are contemplating
whether to return to the Iraqi war zone and face the prospect
of death. Michelle was the 16th Wisconsin soldier killed in
Iraq and the first Wisconsin National Guard member to die
in action since World War II. She also became the first female
Wisconsin Guard member ever killed in combat.
Upon
reading these stories, people experience a wide range of emotions,
from concern, empathy and anger, to confusion, depression
and frustration. But in times like these, people might also
feel the need to obtain a historical perspective on this latest
American military conflict that has so far killed thousands
of Iraqis and 686 U.S. service personnel, including 87 since
April 1.
Two
area entities capable of fulfilling that need have been reaching
out in recent weeks to attract more visitors to their facilities.
One is the Military Veterans Museum, located in the City Center
complex (formerly Park Plaza Mall) in Oshkosh, and the other
is the 7-month-old Veterans Art Gallery, 103 E. College Ave.,
in downtown Appleton.
The
Military Veterans Museum was founded in 1985 by a group of
military veterans from Neenah. It displays military artifacts
and memorabilia which represent all periods of U.S. military
conflicts, from the American Revolution (1775-1783) to the
Persian Gulf War (1990-1991). "These displays are not
intended to glorify war but rather to remind us of the price
of peace," according to a brochure distributed to visitors.
"This
museum honors the citizen soldier, the men and women who served
their country in times of peace and conflict. It interprets
the changing role of those who preserved the cause of freedom
with their sacrifices of time and life itself." Ron Griffin,
a Vietnam Army veteran (1970-71) from Oshkosh who volunteers
at the museum, said a visit to the museum can prove enlightening.
"I am a amateur historian and one thing you learn very
early is that history tends to repeat itself," he said.
"Visitors can also learn about the risks the troops over
there in Iraq are facing and lots information about the technology
of war."
The
museum has an impressive collection of artifacts from all
wars in which the U.S. has fought, "especially anything
that has to do with local people," Griffin said.
Although
pursuing a similar mission, the Veterans Art Gallery uses
a different approach. It relies on more on artistic expression
than military artifacts and equipment. "They say a picture
is worth a thousand words and what we have found is that a
picture stimulates visitors to ask more questions," said
Ron Sager, a Vietnam veteran and executive director of the
art gallery.
"Through
art, the boundaries of expression portray the vast inner feelings
of how the artist visualizes his or her subject matter,"
according to the gallery’s web site. When the gallery
first opened on Sept. 11, 2003, it featured the works of George
L. Skypeck, one of the nation’s leading military-historical
commemorative artists under the title "Art for Veterans
by a Veteran."
The
current exhibit is entitled "The Pictorial History of
the Lao/Hmong in Southeast Asia from 1962 Through 1975."
The display will remain in place through Aug. 28. It features
two mannequins, one dressed in U.S.-style military uniform
and the other attired in regular clothing from the Laotian
culture. The exhibit also showcases 147 photographs of Lao-Hmong
soldiers in the field taken by Laotian and Hmong photojournalists.
Five large panels also provide a view of the distribution
of the Hmong/Lao population throughout the United States and
Wisconsin. "Many people don't realize that it was the
Hmong that taught us how to fight in the jungles of Vietnam
and Laos, aided us with intelligence and the transport of
equipment into the war zone," Sager said. The art gallery
was formed by members of the Fox Valley Vietnam Veterans Association
and is staffed by volunteers from that organization.
"We
are not presenting an argument for or against war," Sager
said. "As our mission statement says, we will endeavor
to remain as objective and open to any exhibit which is based
on veterans and patriotism." The artistic exhibit has
so far attracted the internationally recognized Vietnam War
hero, Gen. Van Pao, who attended the grand opening in February.
Pao praised the efforts of Sager and Appleton Mayor Timothy
Hanna in getting the museum established. Pao heads the local
Chapter 26 of the Wisconsin Lao Veterans of America, which
provided the photographs for the exhibit. Griffin said the
Oshkosh museum is in the process of purchasing a 10-acre parcel
of land near the Experimental Aircraft Association headquarters
at Wittman Field in Oshkosh to build an expanded multi-faced
museum complex.
From
left, Laotian General Ti, Ron Sager, executive director of
the gallery in Appleton, Vietnam War hero General Vang Pao,
Bob Everson, an Appleton Vietnam war veteran, and Sai Lee
Thao, who also fought in the Vietnam War.
"We
have vastly outgrown the facilities," Griffin said. "We
have three times as much equipment in storage than we have
on display." The new facility will accommodate military
vehicles and equipment, a gift shop, meeting rooms, classrooms
for visiting students, an animated and stationary dioramas
and a restaurant.
Fund
raising is underway for the project. "We have plans to
include education programs and a library with books, including
200 manuals and military documents that could be used for
research all the way back to 1917," Griffin said. Sager
said in addition to the exhibits on display, the gallery is
in setting up an educational resource center where people
will be able to come and research the military background
of friends and relatives. Visitors will have access to from
the National Office of Military Personnel Records, the National
Armed Forces Unit Histories in College Park, Maryland and
military records on file at the Library of Congress and the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The
art gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 9-2
p.m. Saturdays. The telephone is (920)-733-4000 and the web
site address is www.veteransartgallery.org.
The
Oshkosh military museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday
through Saturday or by special arrangement for tour groups.
The telephone number is (920)-426-8615 and its web site is
located at www.mvmwisconsin.com. |
