The Military Museum in Kissimmee is about five miles north of our house on route 192 and it was about time I stopped in to see the place.
The museum has just experienced a redo and is still in flux, but the visit was well worth my time. The lobby serves as the admissions desk and gift shop.
The attendant behind the counter was very knowledgeable and very busy answering the phone, I assume due to the closeness to Veterans Day when I arrived. I paid the entry fee and began the tour through America’s military history.
The museum contained uniformed mannequins,
newspapers,
photos,
posters,
maps,
models,
dioramas
weapons,
a G.I. Joe collection,
and the usual lighters and unit coins.
All items were in excellent condition and displayed in a neat and orderly manner in an IKEA style layout.
The Revolutionary War display inside the entrance door gave me pause when I spied the posters for the movie “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson.
My questions were answered later by the knowledgeable attendant.
There was no Florida during the Revolutionary War. Well, there was no Florida like we know Florida today, so it is not easy to find military artifacts from that war. The long time Spanish territory was ruled by Britain during the Revolutionary War years and the region remained loyal to Britain. The New England states are very protective of their Revolutionary War materials so the museum in Kissimmee had to come up with some other means to represent this period in America’s military history. One enterprising person on the staff obtained some items used in the movie for the display. I was informed that Keith Ledger wore the coat on display shown here.
In earlier blogs we discussed the Seminole Wars (1816-1858) a uniquely Florida affair highlighted by Andrew Jackson’s racist attempt to exterminate the original residents of the land.
Of course, discussions of this white racism are illegal in the ‘free’ state of Florida because the discussion might make some white person uncomfortable.
I wandered into the library and was impressed by the number of books about the military I haven’t read.
It must have been in the library where I by-passed the Civil War exhibit. I didn’t realize I missed this war until I was driving back home.
A brand-new WWI trench draws the visitor into the display about The Greatest War that killed 9.7 million military members and 10 million civilians. Tanks and machine guns rendered trench warfare obsolete. I told Jane the only thing missing in the display was the mud and rats. I was glad those were missing.
“The War to End All Wars” was the flash point for WWII due to the unreasonable demands the Allies made on the German people.The return of the black G.I.s from WWI also exacerbated the Jim Crow assault on the black communities in America. In the ‘free’ state of Florida we are not allowed to discuss racist history because it is too much like CRT.
The WWII section included a spot for the history of the segregated Tuskegee Airmen.
These Black Airmen flew more than 15,000 sorties between May 1943 and June 1945. Bomber crews often requested to be escorted by the “Red Tails.” Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat, one of the lowest loss records of any escort fighter group.
The black fliers earned eight Purple Hearts, fourteen Bronze Stars, three Distinguished Unit Citations, and 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses. They were still denied G.I. Bill benefits for education and housing freely granted to white G.I.s after the war. In the ‘free’ State of Florida sharing this information about the segregated military is probably considered CRT and cannot be discussed in classrooms. We wouldn’t want a white person to be uncomfortable learning about this American history.
A visit to a military museum is a sorce of tension for one who advocates for peace. But, ignoring our violent history does not make it go away. Here in lies the fallacy of prohibiting the teaching of history in Florida schools. The past doesn’t go away because we don’t talk about it. The past is part of who we are. Learning about our past is the only way we can change the way we move forward today to build a better future for every American.
Visits to a military museum also hold a different significance for me as you will learn in the rest of this story.
See you next time.