One of my trip planning notes included information about a military museum at the Camp
Shelby Joint Forces Training Center near Hattiesburg Mississippi. Since we were exploring around the area, we
decided that this would make a great stop on a hot day…air conditioned comfort,
except for the military hardware on exhibit next to the museum…
Bonnie
and Laurie paused on the museum’s walkway and Bill was already up by the doors
when I took this photo. We were impressed
with the size and appearance of the building that houses the Mississippi Armed
Forces Museum.
The
museum is designed to honor the servicemen and women from all branches of the
military who either were from Mississippi or were trained here in times of
war. The goal is for the exhibits to
tell the personal stories of American heroes while serving to educate future
generations about the price that is paid for our freedom and prosperity.
The
ceiling of this hall just inside the entrance to the museum displayed a
colorful array of flags. I’m guessing
that the flags are from the many units and/or states from across the USA as
this camp is where many, many of our soldiers have trained during wartime. I noted a flag from Illinois among those
close to where I was standing.
During
World War II members of the 45th Women’s Army Corp (WAC) Detachment
trained at Camp Shelby. Other WAC’s
served as nurses at the camp’s hospital.
I noted a
special display for WAC Geraldine Horne from Lucedale Mississippi. She was assigned to Lt. General Mark Clark,
commanding General of the 5th Army.
She served the duration of the War in Italy and reached the rank of
Sergeant. Sgt. Horne was awarded a
Bronze Star for her service.
Although
Camp Shelby wasn’t established until World War I, the museum has exhibits showing
Mississippian’s involvement in earlier conflicts. As you can see above, these included the
American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The museum’s exhibits follow a time line from
the earliest days on through current conflicts.
The
state’s actual military history began in June of 1799 when it was still a
territory. That is when the 155th
Infantry, aka “Mississippi Rifles” was formed.
It is the state’s oldest National Guard Unit. A squadron of light dragoons (cavalrymen) was
formed in 1814. Both the Mississippi
Rifles and the Mississippi Dragoons served under General Andrew Jackson at the
Battle of New Orleans.
The Camp
Shelby military post was established in 1917 to support the mobilization and
training of US forces during World War I.
Today the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center occupies over 134,000
acres just a few miles south of Hattiesburg.
The size
of Camp Shelby allows for battalion-level maneuver training as well as field
artillery practice and Abrams M1 tank operations. As the normal annual training location for
National Guard and Reserve units from Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, the
camp hosts about 100,000 personnel each year.
It was very quiet when we were there.
The base is the largest state-0wned military training facility in the
USA.
The Camp
is named after Issac Shelby (1750 – 1826), a hero of both the Revolutionary War
and the War of 1812. He later became the
first governor of Kentucky. To be honest
I’d never heard of Issac Shelby before but given his personal history, I should
have! To learn more about this American
patriot, go to Isaac
Shelby - Wikipedia.
On to a
sampling of just a few of the displays in the museum… If you are into weapons
as well as history, the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum satisfies both
interests.
The
revolver to the left is a Colt 1860 model.
This single action revolver fired a 44 caliber bullet with an effective
range of about 50 yards. These revolvers
were issued as a pair with a single stock that could be attached or detached in
a few seconds. The stock was either
attached to the soldiers mount or to his person and it greatly improved the
revolver’s accuracy. About 200,000 of
these weapons were manufactured.
The
revolver at the lower right is a Whitney 6-shot single action pistol. Introduced in 1857, it was the first
successful solid frame revolver that was adapted to military use. 33,000 of these revolvers were built. Consider this…both the Colt and the Whitney
revolver weigh 2.68 pounds. Try holding
something that heavy and pointing it, hoping to hit your target…
Throughout
the various conflicts exhibited in the museum, artifacts, including weapons,
uniforms and other period equipment is shown.
Parts of the WWI or “Great War” gallery provides the feeling that you
are walking across a battlefield into the trenches of the Western Front.
Details
of the conditions experienced as well as the people who served in WWI are part
of this gallery. They include animal
warfare, ‘trench foot, and the stories of black Mississippians who served under
French and Canadian commands. Early in
the conflict, black Americans weren’t permitted to serve in combat units and
later, they were assigned to fight with French forces.
By way of
example, one soldier who is honored in the WWI exhibit is James Howell
Grantham. He was a hospital apprentice
first class and he was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery. Grantham was killed in action in the Battle
of Argonne Forest on November 1, 1918, just 10 days before the war ended.
This is a
WWI German muzzle-loading trench mortar that was built in 1917. It had several advantages over many mortars
of its time. It could fire a variety of
ammunition, it could be converted from indirect to direct fire, it could be
fired from its base or when it was mounted on its wheels. It could even be used as an anti-tank weapon
in an emergency.
In 1977,
this light tank was found abandoned and decrepit in Mississippi at a former
training facility. As you can see it’s
been meticulously restored. It is the
only M2A2 Light Tank known to exist.
Only 134 of these tanks were built at the Rock Island Arsenal in
Illinois. With its crew of 4 and its
weight of 19,100 lbs., this tank was severely ‘under gunned’ and too lightly
armored. When it was built, the thought
was that tanks would only be used as mobile infantry support units and its
armament consisted of 2 machine guns… Because of these deficiencies, they were
relegated to training facilities.
On to
World War II… In addition to German weapons, the museum has an interesting
display of German military uniforms and other related items. I found that ornate dagger and the Hitler
youth knife in the first photo and the carved wooden shoe as well as the
tropical field cap of particular interest.
During
the WWII Camp Shelby, was expanded to cover 310,000 acres with an additional
400,000 acres leased to allow for more space for military maneuvers. It also served as a prisoner of war camp.
When the
famous or infamous “Afrika Korps”, which fought under the command of German
General Erwin Rommel, was forced to surrender, British and American forces
found themselves with 275,000 German and Italian POW’s to take care of. It was determined that it would less
burdensome and less costly to house and feed these prisoners in the USA than in
North Africa. Plus we could put them to
work…
In the
last 4 months of 1943, prisoners began arriving in the USA from teirh compounds
in North Africa. Four major POW base
camps were established in Mississippi.
Camp Shelby itself housed 5,300 prisoners. Many prisoners were sent to one of the 15
branch camps and were assigned jobs such as working in cotton fields or in the
forestry industry.
Note:
·
At its
peak, there were over 425,000 mostly German POW’s being held in camps across
the USA.
There was
a section of the museum that paid homage to the famous Tuskegee Airmen from
Mississippi. Imagine being black and
discriminated against at every turn, but still wanting to fight for the USA
despite the obstacles encountered… In total there were 992 Tuskegee Airmen who
graduated from this famous flight school.
Here is a little information on just 4 of them.
· Captain Edward L. Toppins flew 144 missions
in his P-51D Mustang during WWII. He
shot down 4 enemy aircraft. Sadly, he
died in a training exercise after the war when a B-52 bomber crashed for
reasons unknown…
· Lt. Colonel Alva N. Temple flew 120 missions
during the war and continued to serve in the Air Force when the war ended. Colonel Temple died in 2004 at the age of 86.
· Lt. Colonel Herbert E. Carter was one of the
33 original Tuskegee Airmen and after WWII he stayed in the Air Force. He flew 77 missions during the war. He was the last surviving Tuskegee Airman who
was from Mississippi when he died in 2012 at the age of 93.
· Lt. Quitman Walker was assigned to the 99th
Fighter Squadron in the 332nd Fighter Group. He was flying his 29th mission
when he was shot down.
Almost
every Japanese soldier received a flag like this one. Made of silk, family, friends and comrades in
arms would autograph the flag, sometimes just with their names but often
including messages encouraging loyalty to the Emperor. Since most Japanese were expected to fight to
the death, most of these flags were taken from them after being killed in
action. Note my image in the reflection...poor photography!
There are
displays of Japanese uniforms, weapons and other items which give visitors a
sense of what the US forces were dealing with.
Japanese swords are always interesting.
The most unusual piece of equipment in this case is the trench periscope
at the right center. The rifle shown is
a sniper’s rifle. The Sergeant’s jacket
was a standard issue garment for that rank in the Imperial Japanese Army.
The light
machine gun at the bottom left could fire 850 rounds per minute…but each magazine
only held 30 rounds of ammunition. Just
above the machine gun is a so-called ‘knee mortar’. It got this nickname due to the erroneous
belief that these grenade launchers could be fired by propping its plate
against a soldier’s leg. In reality, the
recoil could break the user’s leg if they tried to fire the weapon in this
manner.
A large
display memorializes Mississippi’s Medal of Honor recepients. These men went on and above expectations to
save others or to accomplish their objective.
These first 3 examples include:
Master
Sergeant Hubert L. Lee (1915 – 1982). In
the Korean War, Lee’s unit led an attack to retake a vital position. His commanding officer was wounded and Lee
took command. Despite being seriously
wounded 3 times, he led his group forward taking the objective. In the last assault he was so badly wounded
he actually crawled forward firing as he went.
Major Ed
W. Freeman (1927 – 2008) Ed “too tall” Freeman was a helicopter pilot in the
Vietnam War. In the midst of a major
conflict, and in an effort to assist a trapped American battalion, “too tall”
flew numerous missions bringing in supplies while taking out the wounded…this
despite taking a hail of gunfire from the Viet Cong surrounding the trapped
ground unit.
Pvt. 1st
Class Milton L. Olive III (1946 – 1965) Pvt. Olive selflessly threw himself on
a Viet Cong grenade, covering it with his body and saving the other troops who
were with him. He was only 18 years old…
Here are
3 more examples of Mississippi’s Medal of Honor Recepients:
· Air Force Captain Hillard A. Wilbanks (1933 –
1967) Captain Wilbanks was serving as a forward air controller in Viet Nam when
he flew over some advancing US Rangers.
He could see from the air that they were walking into a Viet Cong
ambush. He used his phosphorus rockets
to mark the enemy’s position and to slow their advance. When he determined that air support would not
arrive in time and despite heavy ground fire directed at his Cessna O-1E Bird
Dog, he used his M-15 to strafe the Viet Cong and slow them down. In the process, he was shot down just as the
F-4 Phantoms arrived on the scene…
· Marine Corporal William Kyle Carpenter (1989
- ) is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient. Under attack by Taliban insurgents in
Afghanistan, he threw himself on a grenade saving the life of his fellow
Marine. He was medically retired and has
undergone many surgeries to repair the damage done to his body. He lost one eye as well…
· Marine Lance Corporal Roy M. Wheat (1947 –
1967) He and 2 other Marines were providing security for a construction unit
and he was about 10 feet from the other Marine’s position when he heard the
hiss of a Viet Cong Mine. He called out
and threw himself on the mine to protect his unit.
As with
all of our other wars, there was a representative sampling of material and
weapons that were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
One of
the Viet Cong’s ubiquitous ‘black pajama’ uniforms is shown in the upper right
portion of the display. In normal times,
this was what was commonly worn by South Vietnamese who lived in rural
areas.
The rifle
is a Chicom 7.62 caliber SKS weapon with an attached bayonet. Right under it is a Chicom AK-47 assault
rifle. That long narrow tube is an RP62,
a single shot reloadable rocket launcher.
It was both popular and effective in combat.
There are
a few full scale vignettes here and there throughout the museum. In this case, there is a scene from Vietnam
showing a Huey helicopter with its medivac team arriving to evacuate a wounded
American soldier. One of his army
comrades in arms is helping him to the aircraft.
Now…on to
the outdoor exhibit.
There is
a large and impressive display of armor and support aircraft lined up just
outside the museum’s entrance.
That big
helicopter in the first photo is a CH-54 Tarhe…nicknamed the “Sky Crane”, these
choppers recovered more than 380 downed American aircraft during the Vietnam
War. In addition, a transport pod could
be attached underneath the CH-54, and it could carry 87 combat loaded soldiers. Other Army helicopters as well as a fixed
wing forward observation airplane were also on display.
That line
of Armor in the second photo includes a wide variety of historical military equipment,
ranging from light to heavy tanks, troop transports, mobile artillery and
anti-aircraft vehicles. Yet another line includes a series of field
artillery pieces…
What
follows are a few samples of the armored vehicles on display.
In
addition to the American hardware on display, there were a number of Soviet
armored vehicles, something I hadn’t seen before. This is a ZSU 23-4 “Shilka” anti-aircraft
gun. It was the first mass produced
self-contained anti-aircraft gun system with its own onboard target acquisition
radar and it could fire while in motion.
About 6,500 of these vehicles were built…
This is
an M-7 “Priest” self-propelled gun. In
WWII the US Army realized that they needed mobile artillery to support our
troops in battle. The “Priest” is equipped
with a 105 mm howitzer. Its nickname
came from the British Army due to the M-7’s pulpit-like machine gun ring. I was surprised to learn that one of the M-7’s
builders was the American Locomotive Company.
About 3,500 “Priests” were built and they’ve been in service with 15
countries in addition to the USA. This
is one of the few examples of this armored support vehicles that remains…
This is
an M-60 ‘Patton’ Medium Tank. This tank
was never officially named after the earlier M-48 Patton Medium Tank but
informally the designation stuck. With
its rifled 105 mm gun, this was our ‘Main Battle Tank’ throughout the Cold
War. It last saw action in the 1991 Gulf
War and the last of the M-60’s were retired from the US National Guard in
1997.
Several
different versions of the M-60 were built as technology changed but over 15,000
of these tanks were built. As of 2015,
over 3,200 M-60s were still in service in Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Several
other early American tanks are on display at the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum. They include the M-4 Sherman, the M-5 Stuart
Light Tank and the M-48 Patton Medium Tank.
The top
photo is of an M1 Abrams main battle tank on exhibit. The second photo is of an M1 Abrams in desert
camouflage near what looked like a barracks at Camp Shelby.
This
third generation main battle tank was designed by Chrysler Defense…now General
Dynamics Land Systems. It was named for
General Creighton Abrams. This is one of
the heaviest tanks in service, weighing about 68 tons, and it introduced
several innovative features. These
include a multi-fuel turbine engine, Chobham composite armor, a computer fire
control system and separate ammunition storage in a ‘blow-out’
compartment. The early versions of the
M1 were equipped with 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 guns but later variants feature
a Rheinmetall 120 mm L/44 gun.
Many
countries have developed their own comparable versions of a Main Battle
Tank. However there are 7 countries that
use the M1 Abrams. Production of the M1
began in 1979 and variants of this tank are still being built today. Over 10,000 of them have been built.
To learn
more about the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, just go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Shelby. To find out more about the Mississippi Armed
Forces Museum, go to https://armedforcesmuseum.us/.
This fine museum is open Tuesday through
Saturday and admission is free although they do accept donations.
I hope that all Americans enjoy their Fourth of July Holiday...and remember what its taken to gain and to keep our freedoms!
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
