How YOU can help preserve our veterans history:

Each day, more and more of our veterans are passing away - there is only ONE (1) veteran from World War I alive today in the United States, and our World War II veterans are dying at the rate of approximately 1,000 a day. Unfortunately, many times when a veteran dies all of his or her history dies with them, and the mementoes they kept end up in yard sales, or worse, the garbage. We've witnessed this first hand: We were able to acquire a WWII Army Captains' footlocker with some of his souvenirs and other paperwork from his service time, along with literally hundreds of V-mails sent between him and his family. The entire lot was going to be thrown away after his widow moved into a nursing home. On another occasion, a neighbor gave us several hundred photographs and some insignia that had belonged to her neighbor's father. Again, they were going to be thrown out because no one wanted "that junk". Another time, a group of documents from a man killed in action during the Battle of the Bulge were being sold off piece by piece. Fortunately, we were able to convince the seller not to break up the group so that we could keep it together. Our veterans' history deserves a better fate than the trash heap or the auction block!

Your donation will ensure the museum's continued growth, preservation of our veteran's memories, and support exhibiting traveling displays. For many younger people, even conflicts as recent as Vietnam seem just to be "old war movies". We want to bring to life the stories of those people who served in America's wars and provide a tangible link to our veterans. All donors will be credited on the musem's web site. Click here to see the list of contributors.

What types of things can you donate? We're always seeking new and unique items to add to the museum or for use in traveling displays and educational trunks. We're also trying to expand the amount of coverage for each of the conflicts represented, to include the addition of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. We always need items such as uniforms, insignias, medals, photographs, newspapers, captured trophies, etc. - anything that will help tell our veteran's stories, especially those from Ohio. Nothing is too small or insignificant. We can also use items that you may feel are too damaged or worn out, to restore other pieces.

Specific items on our "wish list" are:
Civil War: Anything!
Spanish-American War: Anything!
World War I:
German or Austrian uniform tunic
German "Kratchen" soft hat with insignia
German enlisted or officer's artillery picklehaube ("Spike helmet")
German, Austrian, or Hungarian medals and insignia
German Model 98n/a ("Butcher") sawback bayonet with teeth intact
German Mauser Model 98 rifle
German P08 "Luger" pistol
United States Air Service uniform
United States Navy uniform, any style
Model 1903 Springfield rifle
American or German "hate belts"
World War II:
German helmets
German uniforms
German medals and insignia
German M24 stick grenade (inert only)
German P08 (Luger) pistol
Italian uniforms
Italian headgear of any type
Italian medals and insignia
Italian Carcano rifle
Italian Berretta pistol
Japanese uniforms
Japanese Imperial Navy helmet
Japanese soft hat, any branch
Japanese "last ditch" bayonet and scabbard
Japanese medals and insignia
Japanese "Rising Sun" (rayed) flag
Japanese Nambu or Type 94 pistols
US Marine herringbone twill uniform
US Marine M1 helmet with cover
Army Air Forces flight suit
Army Air Forces A14 oxygen mask
Army Air Forces leather flight gear
Nuremberg Trials items
US field gear
US medals and insignia
M-1 carbine
M-1 Garand
Model 1911 .45 pistol
Korean War:
North Korean or Chinese uniform
North Korean or Chinese headgear, any type
North Korean or Chinese flag
North Korean or Chinese medals and insignia
US uniforms, any branch
US Air Force jet pilots flight helmet
US headgear, any type
US medals and insignia
Photographs
Vietnam:
NVA or VC uniforms
NVA or VC headgear, any type
NVA or VC field gear
NVA or VC medals and insignia
NVA or VC weapons
NVA or VC photographs
NVA or VC SKS rifle
Viet Cong flag
South Vietnamese flag
"Ho Chi Minh Slicks" (sandals)
"Beercan" insignia
Zippo lighter with insignia
US claymore mine and/or "clacker", inert only
US "tiger stripe" uniform
US Army Green Beret with insignia
US field gear, any type
US helicopter crewman's helmet
US medals and insignia
US photographs and award documents
Cold War:
Soviet officer's uniform, any type
Soviet Bloc medals and insignia
Soviet Bloc field gear, any type
East German officers brocade belt and buckle
East German officers dress dagger
US Berlin Brigade uniform, any type
Persian Gulf War:
Iraqi uniforms, any type
Iraqi medals and insignia
US uniforms, any type
Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM:
Iraqi uniforms, any type
Iraqi medals and insignia
Saddam Fedayeen helmet
Iraqi beret, any branch
Large Iraqi flag with gold fringe
US Marine Corp "marpat" battle dress uniform, desert pattern
US field gear, any type
Monetary donations are always welcome. Donations of as little as one dollar help defray the cost of maintaining the web space, as well as the materials used for the construction of displays (Please note that although we are located on federal property, we receive NO funding from the Veterans Administration - we operate entirely "out of our own pockets" and with the help of unpaid volunteers). And we always need mannequins (complete or only torsos, legs, arms, etc), styrofoam heads, wig stands, etc.

If you would like to contribute to preserving, honoring, and publicly displaying our veterans histories please e-mail us at mvmhm@yahoo.com. Thanks for your support!

Mark Conrad
Curator

Donate to the Miami Valley Military History Museum via PayPal!

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