VERMILION PARISH, La. (KLFY)- A South Louisiana museum hopes it can be a destination for servicemen and women to meet and share their experiences in the military.
“You can go to any warehouse in the country, or to any army surplus place and find this stuff. We want to find the stories that explain why this stuff matters,” says Elista Istre a historian with the Louisiana Military Museum. The museum features a Bell helicopter, tanks, a World War II Jeep, and other military equipment.
It also displays personal items from veterans that tell more personal stories, she said.
“Like letters to your sister from war or letters to a mother or a pillowcase cover that was carried somewhere,” says Istre. “What’s neat about this place is that they are not just artifacts from anywhere it’s all Louisiana related. These are things that our veterans brought home or sent home or carried back with them, that has some kind of meaning to them that is all Louisiana related.”
The museum hopes to become a place where veterans can share their stories.
“For the community around this area, I think it’s really important that you bring your things. You don’t leave it in the attic, you don’t let it rot, or Heaven forbid let a hurricane take it,” Istre said. “Bring it to a place where it can be preserved and restored and remembered. In the grand plan, we are going to completely re-design us to wear when you walk through the stores do a walk-through a timeline of Louisiana history from the military perspective.”
No other museum offers that, she claims, which also makes this self-funded museum unique. “So it will not just be a place of things and cool objects, it will be about stories that have meaning so that when you see this object you know why this person carried it into combat, why this person brought it home, or whatever the story is with it,” Istre explained.
By: Caroline Marcello of KLFY
Original Story can be found here.