Volk Field, Wisconsin -- “It came back from Vietnam in 1970 for a factory overhaul but we didn’t have a lot of history on it before that,” Eric Lent, Wisconsin National Guard Museum Curator recalled. “Several years ago, a guy from Florida contacted us and confirmed he had flown the Huey helicopter in 1967 in Vietnam. Their primary mission was supporting special forces troops. In October 1967 as they were coming into a landing zone they began taking ground fire. His left arm flew off the collective and his left leg flew off the rudder pedal and that’s when he realized he was shot. The special forces sergeant sitting behind him was struck and killed. The helicopter was shot up badly, but they were able to make it out of the landing zone. He assumed, after that, the helicopter was destroyed but instead it was fixed and went back into service until eventually it was placed on static display here. The guy came to visit and sat in the same seat he was in shot in for the first time and the holes lined perfectly with the damage in the airframe and the scars on his arm and leg. It was an anonymous artifact until we found out the deeper story behind it. And that’s kind of with everything, everything has a history, a story, and some of them we know some we don’t. That’s what makes it interesting.”
The Wisconsin National Guard museum was first built in 1896 as an officer’s club and wasn’t used as a museum until 1986. Even then, it was only used during special events.
“It would be open during special events, but in 1990 it was remodeled and opened as the museum it is now,” said Lent.
While they focus on the Wisconsin National Guard during World War I and II, when the unit was first activated, they face the issue of having much more history than the building can hold.
“We have a relatively small building and there’s so much history. So, there’s an awful lot of stuff that gets shunted off to the side, but we try to rotate things,” said Lent.
One unique artifact is the jacket of Staff Sgt. Smokey, a Terrier puppy that was picked up as a mascot and traveled to the Battle of Buena with the soldiers.
“You’re dealing with boys in their late teens, early twenties, who are away from home and for a lot of them she represented a sense of home,” Lent said.
The museum is free and open to the public all you need is a valid ID for entry.
“It’s always interesting meeting a lot of different people especially when you have different units here and people visiting from all over the country. They get a chance to really see Wisconsin and Volk Field,” Lent added while smiling.
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.08.2023 09:17 |
| Story ID: | 450912 |
| Location: | MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, US |
| Hometown: | VOLK FIELD AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 70 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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