“Look, there’s an MRE in here,” says Pam Bullock, pointing to a shelf in a glass display case at the Columbus War Museum. The military’s “Meal, Ready-to-Eat” is next to a cardboard box of black and white photographs, a worn helmet and other memorabilia donated to the collection housed at the Columbus Municipal Complex at 1501 Main St. Nearby is a book titled “Grandpa’s War Stories, 1967 Diary.” Newspaper clippings, uniform patches, commendations and accounts from World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom fill cases that line a hallway just inside the building’s main entrance. Pictures remember faces of those who served. Some, like one of a young African-American sailor, are unidentified. The photograph was discovered in trash at a house on 23rd Street South. But, identified or not, every item is part of Lowndes County’s story of service to country.
Bullock and Frances Hairston were at the museum Wednesday representing the Bernard Romans Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Chapter in Columbus. They had just come from a meeting where members officially adopted rehabilitation of the Columbus War Museum as a three-year project. Hairston is the new chapter regent; Bullock is the immediate past regent and currently the group’s secretary. In phases, members will clean, relabel and repair where needed and update organization of the collection.
“I think this is an exciting project for the whole community,” Hairston said. “It’s an important project because it’s very close to us. These are veterans who fought for us, and we can do this to give them honor and respect.”
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Phase One gets underway in earnest Friday, Oct. 11 — the National DAR Day of Service. From 11 a.m.-2 p.m., the community is invited to stop in the museum to help provide identification and additional information about photographs and other items. Available forms will let the public not only ID, but also supply details like branch, years served and where.
“On some of the photographs, we’re not even sure which war they were in,” Hairston remarked.
“And if somebody has a personal story about that person they want to share, they can do that on a form and we can attach it,” said Bullock.
Phase One continues Jan. 20, 2020, on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, when chapter members plan to implement an improved system of identification on museum items.
Phase Two in 2021 will focus on thoroughly sorting all materials and organizing displays by wars. Members will also reframe items, where necessary, and rehang them.
In Phase Three the following year, the chapter’s outlook is to develop a plan for maintenance and development, “and how we can make it more accessible to the community, possibly adding a self-guided tour,” said Bullock.
“This is a worthwhile cause and it helps the City of Columbus,” said Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton. The police department is located in the Municipal Complex that holds the displays. “I appreciate the fact that they want to come in and do it.”
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Details of exactly when the war museum got started are not easy to verify. But the vision was Wayne White’s. A supporter of military veterans, White grew the collection that moved into its current home near the mid-2000s. A framed letter posted by White on the wall there reads, in part, “To quote James Young, a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge, ‘The boys and girls of my generation knew what we were tasked to do, and we did it.'”
White continued, “We pray that those who read these words will be tasked to preserve the history of our soldiers that served in the last two centuries. To honor them and to teach our future generations how precious their freedom is and at what price it came. This is the dream of the Columbus War Museum.”
White oversaw and added to the collection for many years. When he became unable to continue, however, there was no caretaker to assume responsibility.
Bullock said, “The war museum first came to my attention five or six years ago, I think when I attended a city meeting.” As the spouse of a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, she appreciated the displays honoring veterans. When she visited the complex some time later, however, she realized the collection seemed in need of attention. She was told the person who had taken care of it could no longer do so.
“This has been burdening me for several years,” Bullock said. She began to wonder what the women of her DAR Chapter might do to help. The idea of adopting the museum as a project gained momentum.
Like many in the area, Idabelle Ables of Crawford has loaned memorabilia to the exhibits, including a photo of her father on the wing of his WWII P51 plane he’d named “Biscuithead.”
“I think it’s wonderful (the DAR chapter) is doing this. I was really happy to hear it,” she said. “I know how active the DAR members are and that they can do justice to it.”
“More power to ’em,” echoed Air Force veteran Jim Helton of Columbus. He served in 1966-67 during the Vietnam War and donated a Viet Cong flag to the displays. “It needs some tender loving care and somebody to stay with it.”
The goal is to give the collection attention it deserves and continue to honor the contributions of Lowndes County veterans.
“We want to do it so the community can be proud,” said Hairston. “So they can see what has happened and learn about those from Lowndes County who went to war.”
Editor’s note: For more information about the war museum project, contact Hairston by email at [email protected].
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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