Museum exemplifies military commitment

by Marilyn Loeser

The size of the museum is deceiving from the outside, but once you begin your tour — a tightly woven maze of uniforms, photographs, maps and dioramas — you begin to understand its scale in both size and importance.

The 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum is located in Fort Bragg, just west of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Fort Bragg hosts America’s only airborne corps and airborne division, the Green Berets, and the Army’s largest support command — 82nd Airborne Division soldiers.

The museum was filled with guests this Friday morning as my husband and I entered the unassuming beige building. Standing back and listening as families, couples, and fathers and sons followed a narrow hall past the gift shop, it was immediately clear, in many cases, this was a journey back for those who had served in the 82nd and the family and friends they wanted to tell about their experiences.

The museum follows the development of the 82nd Division from World War I to 1940 with the development of the airborne forces and on to present day. Because division members came from all 48 states in 1917, they were nicknamed All-American — the basis of the AA shoulder patch.

Created in 1946 at the direction of Major General James M. Gavin, 82nd Commander, the 82nd Airborne Division Museum exhibits were housed in a wooden building. The new museum was built in 1957 and over the years, the museum has grown to include a theater and research facility.

Exhibits include donations from soldiers who served in the 82nd Airborne, vintage aircraft, large field artillery pieces and other important 20th Century artifacts — all bringing history into focus.

The museum spans the All American Division from its birth in 1917, the airborne battles of World War II, the campaigns in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama and the Persian Gulf, and the men and women serving today around the world.

The museum also is an airpark with seven aircraft.

The museum is located at Bldg C6841, Ardennes Street.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. Open federal holiday Mondays.

Admission is free; donations are accepted.

For more information call (910) 432-3443 or 5307, or check the website https://82ndairbornedivisionmuseum.com/.