Military Museum Bursting with Artifacts of War

In the heart of Naples, you can view – up close and personal – an actual Union Army officer’s uniform and cap from the Civil War; A U.S. Army .30 caliber machine gun, complete with ammunition case and cleaning kit; An eight-foot-long replica of the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt, with Navy warplanes flying off its deck; A model of the USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” with nails from the copper sheathing taken from the original tall ship in Boston harbor; A set of black pajamas and cartridge belt taken from a Vietcong prisoner; A German army Schmeisser machine pistol, used by the Wehrmacht in World War II; A yellowed copy of the Washington Post, reporting on the battle of Gettysburg; and an instrumental panel salvaged from a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter, the iconic chopper of the Vietnam War, with a diorama illustrating its story. And thousands upon thousands more weapons and war memorabilia.

The military museum at the Naples Airport has all the exhibits needed to be a serious player in the display of military artifacts. Their problem is they are trying to cram thousands of dramatic exhibits – weapons, uniforms, aircraft and ship models, insignia, and medals – into just 800 square feet of space, smaller than a typical school classroom or a single wide mobile home. The mementos and display cases are packed in tightly, without space for context. It’s the classic case of ten pounds of stuff in a five-pound bag.

America’s Military & 1st Responders Museum, to give the facility its full name, occupies a single room at the Naples Airport, inside the terminal across from a wall of rental car offices. The space used to hold a café back when the airport still offered scheduled airline service, said Dave Hinds, president of the museum. 

“We used to be across the hallway, in another space. When the airport was remodeled, they let us know they were using that for a pilots’ lounge,” he said. That space was no larger but did include some additional room for displays out front. 

Hinds was quick to thank the airport authority for giving them a space rent-free. He noted that the Naples airport itself is something of a military relic, as it began during World War II as a training facility for aircrew in what was then the Army Air Corps, still a branch of the army and not yet an independent branch of the armed forces. 

“We have had a lot of proposals about different locations, but someone’s gotta do something to make it happen,” said Hinds. “The airport has 16 acres, but it’s all wetlands. It would take six feet of fill dirt before a foundation even goes in. There is talk of making this part of the county museum system and possibly a stand-alone building at the sports park at City Gate. 

“But there’s no place to put things – we’ve had to turn down unique items because we have nowhere to put them. We’ve had to rent a temperature-controlled space to house uniforms, weapons, and records.”

Operating from the airport since 2011, the museum displays a mind-boggling array of artifacts, insignia, medals, and models of military equipment, much of it donated by area veterans. Some of those veterans serve as docents at the museum, and they count as additional exhibits, repositories of living history with their individual experiences of combat and life in the armed forces. 

On a recent Friday, Bob De Diemar, a former sergeant major in the US Marine Corps, was manning the fort at the museum. He served in combat in Vietnam, including being up near the DMZ – the ironically named “Demilitarized Zone” between North and South Vietnam – during the Tet Offensive in 1968.

“My father was in World War II, but he never talked about it. I talk about it all the time – it’s like my therapy for PTSD. People ask me what combat is like, and I say there’s no way to describe it.” He said he had been a deer hunter, but after the war, he had no desire to shoot creatures that could not shoot back.

Hinds is also a USMC Vietnam veteran, as well as a retired deputy sheriff and firefighter. He sponsored a display case full of artifacts from his service, including M-14 and M-16 rifles, hand grenades, a K-Bar knife, C rations, dress and field uniforms, and medals that he was awarded, including three Purple Hearts for being wounded three times. He made the point that all weapons at the museum have been deactivated and cannot fire. “The ATF insists all guns are inoperable and demilitarized,” he said.

The museum brings memories and family connections for many who see it. 

“This was fascinating. My father’s father was at Guadalcanal (one of the first battles as US forces island-hopped across the Pacific in World War II). He won a Purple Heart,” said Barry Seymour, visiting the museum with family members. 

This reporter’s eye went to a beautifully detailed scale model of a B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber, similar to the one my own father flew over Germany in 1945. It is tucked in behind ship models, battle flags, Confederate uniforms, medal cases, gas masks, Nazi flags, cavalry sabers, helmets, posters, and arm patches from all centuries of our military history. In all, Hinds estimates they have something like 12,000 artifacts, fewer than half of which are on display. 

“Look at what we’ve got and how everything is so jam packed,” said Hinds. “We need a building.”

The museum, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is open seven days a week, and there is no charge for admission. To learn more about America’s Military & First Responders Museum, make a donation, or volunteer your time, go online to www.AMFRM.org.