Visitors from around the world have traveled to Germantown to visit the Veterans Memorial Museum on South Main Street.
The museum, housed in a 12,000 square foot building that has served as a church, a tobacco warehouse and a Masonic Temple, is run by the Veterans Memorial Museum Foundation and a dedicated group of volunteers.
The museum features uniforms, equipment, medals, art, and even war trophies from conflicts and military service dating from the Civil War to present.
The entire first floor is dedicated to World War II artifacts, with materials and uniforms from local heroes like Dale Shafer, an ACE pilot, and Donald Blair, who served as a Medical Technician on D-Day.
Watch this video for a glimpse of the Veterans Memorial Museum and the amazing history of local and regional veterans.
The display includes this 1962 flight suit from Gene Winglewich of Germantown, who was a fighter pilot in the Navy and retired in 1965 as a Lieutenant Commander.
Winglewich flight suit
The museum includes memorabilia from thousands of veterans and uniforms from nearly every branch of service.
The second floor includes uniforms, photos and artifacts from the American Revolution, the Civil War, Vietnam, the Cold War era and more recent conflicts in the Middle East.
There is also a substantial display on the Miami Military Institute, a military preparatory school founded in Germantown in 1892 that remained open until the Great Depression.
Miami Military Institute uniform from 1919
The museum holds an extensive collection from the family of Germantown native and Civil War veteran Joseph Van Tilburgh. He served in the Ohio Infantry in the Union Army. Van Tilburgh fought in the 1862 Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history. He died in 1916.
Van Tilburgh and the Company G, 12th Ohio Volunteer Infantry
The museum is open Saturdays 12-4pm and Sundays 2-6pm. Learn more at their Facebook page. Admission is free for veterans with donations accepted from all other visitors.
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