Search is on for Vietnam memorabilia

Monday, March 27, 2006

BLOOMFIELD -- Mementos and trophies brought back by soldiers from the Vietnam War are now historical artifacts - and the Stars and Stripes needs them.

The Stars and Stripes Museum/Library is planning a dedication ceremony for its new Vietnam War exhibit on July 22. In addition to officially opening the exhibit, the event will include guest speakers, re-enactors and a Vietnam War Living History Day.

In the meantime, museum officials are doing their best to find all they can for the exhibit.

Memorabilia from the Vietnam War was just never as plentiful as that from World War II, according to Stars and Stripes Museum curator Paul Arnold.

"In World War II, we captured millions, literally," he said, adding this was not the case during the Vietnam War. "The ratio is not even close."

Vietnam War firearms in particular are hard to come by, Arnold said. "Post

-1968 gun laws are totally different than the 1940s," he noted.

The museum has arranged for an M-60 machine gun from a private collection to be at the Stars and Stripes for the Living History Day but has not yet been able to track down some of the war's most commonplace weapons.

"We're having problems with the M-16; very few originals survive," Arnold said. "The M-16 of today is totally different from the M-16 of Vietnam. The sites are different, the stocks are different now - they've just advanced it, made it lighter. I even think the caliber is different now. Original M-16s are very rare - and very expensive as well."

While AK-47s in general are "a dime a dozen," Vietnam War-era AK-47s are also rare, he said.

"We have an original one but its been 'de-mil'd,'" Arnold said. "It's welded up - can't fire anymore. Nothing but a club now."

The museum is hoping to find other miscellaneous equipment as well for the exhibit.

"Uniforms - that's what we need. Everyday jungle wear. I need field gear - belts, canteens, packs, helmets - everything like that," Arnold said. "Stuff that would have been worn in the field."

Arnold said the museum is also interested in "bring back" items typically carried home by soldiers as trophies such as North Vietnamese flags and hats.

Photographs are also needed, Arnold said. "We don't have enough of those," he said.

Arnold said he started doing research and gathering materials for the exhibit in February.

"It's going to be a quite large exhibit," he said.

Some items will be featured in permanent displays while others will be rotated in and out.

"We might focus on the TET offensive for six months and then focus on Danang or Cu Chi," Arnold said.

Pam Pierce, assistant director of the Star and Stripes Museum/Library, said the exhibit's opening will also be marked by an Order of the Silver Rose presentation ceremony.

The award is given out by the Vietnam Veterans Association to those who qualify and apply, according to Pierce.

"When President Kennedy went into office, he said they could no longer get the Purple Heart unless they were actually wounded," she explained. "The Silver Rose medal is given to Vietnam veterans who were in any way affected by Agent Orange. If they have died, it's given to their families."

The museum has on display the first Silver Rose medal given to a Missourian in the state of Missouri on Oct. 14, 2000. "It was issued to me for my husband," Pierce said.

So far, roughly 2,700 Silver Rose medals have been awarded, according to Pierce. "I can tell you first hand it is a very emotional ceremony."

Individuals interested in an Order of the Silver Rose medal or who are willing to donate or loan items to the museum from the Vietnam War era are urged to contact the museum at 573-568-2055.

"If we have any vets that would like to participate or just let us record them, just contact the museum," Arnold added.

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