On a sunny and cool afternoon last week I took a short trip northwards to the Illinois-Wisconsin border to check out the Russell Military Museum. I remember driving back to Illinois from Wisconsin on Highway 94 for many years and seeing military vehicles off to the west, but I never realized until recently that they were part of the collection of an elaborate historical museum.
For some reason I had had the impression that the museum was a showcase of attractions solely from the Vietnam era, but upon entering found out that the collection consisted of exhibits from World War II to the Korean War, to the war in Vietnam, up to both the first and current Gulf Wars. As I entered the gallery, a display case with old newspapers caught my eye, and I read a headline from the Chicago Herald from December 8th, 1941 announcing "U.S. Declares War on Tokyo". An adjacent glass case held some intact fragmentation grenades and a Japanese sword, along with some Japanese infantry helmets. Also on display was an old U.S. C-Ration labeled "Beef w/ Spiced Sauce" and a circular tin of peanut butter that was probably well past its expiration date. To my right was what looked like an enormous green boat with tank treads underneath, which the sign revealed was an M129C "Water Weasel". The vehicle was an amphibious cargo carrier manufactured by Studebaker in 1945, and I was sure I had seen its likeness before in at least one WWII movie.
Next to the Weasel were two army-green motorcycles that to my surprise were manufactured by Harley Davidson. The placcard told me that the cycles had been equipped with sub-machinegun brackets and were mostly used for reconnaissance, their lighting systems altered to comply with military zone requirements. I moved on to a tank known as an M-5 Stuart Light that was powered by two Cadillac engines. Cases nearby showed a 1941 soldiers' field manual and a box of ammuntion for a 9mm Luger pistol. Also on display were Nazi flags and an embroidered Nazi jacket, which took me back in time to a conflict that I've only read about and seen portrayed in films.
Giant tanks lined the north wall, among them the M-7 "Priest" Howitzer, which had one of the biggest cannons I've ever seen. Nearby was an OH-23 Raven "Light" Helicopter, which looked as though it lived up to its name through its compact design. I read that the vehicle was used mainly for observation and Med-Evac missions during the Korean War, and that the civilian model was the first helicopter to fly from California to New York. I walked among large engines of varying shapes and sizes, and looked through a case of old gas masks and a wide range of artillery shells. I browsed around some Vietnam-era machineguns and smooth "baseball-style" grenades, and came across an interesting specimen known as a "Dog Doo Transmitter". In a decorative case was what looked like waste from a medium-sized animal, but what the sign explained was actually a homing beacon used to signal aircraft. The casing of the device was cleverly designed so that the transmitter would not be removed from where it was planted. A case nearby displayed a hand-made Vietnamese knife with an elaborately carved wooden handle, as well as an M-60, AK-47, and M-16.
An exhibit of memorabilia from the Gulf War included Iraqi money with Saddam Hussein's portrait and stood next to an HMMWV truck (also known as a Hummer), which the sign explained could ford a five-foot-deep river with a snorkel kit and climb a 60-degree slope. I stepped out into the outdoor exhibit and felt as though I was in a land of giants, as enormous tanks and helicopters stretched back towards the horizon. I looked over a vehicle called a "Peacekeeper", which was essentially an armored body built onto the chassis of a Dodge Ram. The information card told me that the truck is also used today by SWAT teams and other police forces. I recognized a Huey (UH-1 helicopter) and PBR (Patrol Boat- River) from the Vietnam era, and made my way across the yard towards an enormous beast of a machine with a hollow underbelly that towered over just about everything else in the yard and looked like something out of Star Wars. The monstrous propellers told me that this was some sort of helicopter, and it turned out that the vehicle was actually a CH-54 Sky Crane Heavy-Lift helicopter, a machine capable of lifting over 27,000 pounds (more than its own weight) that had recovered over 380 downed aircraft in Vietnam.
I strolled around through the yard admiring the many vehicles, among them a British Centurion tank that had been featured in the movie Courage Under Fire with Denzel Washington. There was a lot to take in, and upon re-entering the indoor museum on my way out I noticed a case of interesting-looking rocket launchers that I had passed by the first time. My previous exposure to military machines had been strictly through various war movies, and, after touring the museum, I felt that I had been given a firsthand appreciation for the size, sophistication, and capability of our military technology as well as an interesting retrospective of how it has progressed over the decades.
For some reason I had had the impression that the museum was a showcase of attractions solely from the Vietnam era, but upon entering found out that the collection consisted of exhibits from World War II to the Korean War, to the war in Vietnam, up to both the first and current Gulf Wars. As I entered the gallery, a display case with old newspapers caught my eye, and I read a headline from the Chicago Herald from December 8th, 1941 announcing "U.S. Declares War on Tokyo". An adjacent glass case held some intact fragmentation grenades and a Japanese sword, along with some Japanese infantry helmets. Also on display was an old U.S. C-Ration labeled "Beef w/ Spiced Sauce" and a circular tin of peanut butter that was probably well past its expiration date. To my right was what looked like an enormous green boat with tank treads underneath, which the sign revealed was an M129C "Water Weasel". The vehicle was an amphibious cargo carrier manufactured by Studebaker in 1945, and I was sure I had seen its likeness before in at least one WWII movie.Next to the Weasel were two army-green motorcycles that to my surprise were manufactured by Harley Davidson. The placcard told me that the cycles had been equipped with sub-machinegun brackets and were mostly used for reconnaissance, their lighting systems altered to comply with military zone requirements. I moved on to a tank known as an M-5 Stuart Light that was powered by two Cadillac engines. Cases nearby showed a 1941 soldiers' field manual and a box of ammuntion for a 9mm Luger pistol. Also on display were Nazi flags and an embroidered Nazi jacket, which took me back in time to a conflict that I've only read about and seen portrayed in films.Giant tanks lined the north wall, among them the M-7 "Priest" Howitzer, which had one of the biggest cannons I've ever seen. Nearby was an OH-23 Raven "Light" Helicopter, which looked as though it lived up to its name through its compact design. I read that the vehicle was used mainly for observation and Med-Evac missions during the Korean War, and that the civilian model was the first helicopter to fly from California to New York. I walked among large engines of varying shapes and sizes, and looked through a case of old gas masks and a wide range of artillery shells. I browsed around some Vietnam-era machineguns and smooth "baseball-style" grenades, and came across an interesting specimen known as a "Dog Doo Transmitter". In a decorative case was what looked like waste from a medium-sized animal, but what the sign explained was actually a homing beacon used to signal aircraft. The casing of the device was cleverly designed so that the transmitter would not be removed from where it was planted. A case nearby displayed a hand-made Vietnamese knife with an elaborately carved wooden handle, as well as an M-60, AK-47, and M-16.An exhibit of memorabilia from the Gulf War included Iraqi money with Saddam Hussein's portrait and stood next to an HMMWV truck (also known as a Hummer), which the sign explained could ford a five-foot-deep river with a snorkel kit and climb a 60-degree slope. I stepped out into the outdoor exhibit and felt as though I was in a land of giants, as enormous tanks and helicopters stretched back towards the horizon. I looked over a vehicle called a "Peacekeeper", which was essentially an armored body built onto the chassis of a Dodge Ram. The information card told me that the truck is also used today by SWAT teams and other police forces. I recognized a Huey (UH-1 helicopter) and PBR (Patrol Boat- River) from the Vietnam era, and made my way across the yard towards an enormous beast of a machine with a hollow underbelly that towered over just about everything else in the yard and looked like something out of Star Wars. The monstrous propellers told me that this was some sort of helicopter, and it turned out that the vehicle was actually a CH-54 Sky Crane Heavy-Lift helicopter, a machine capable of lifting over 27,000 pounds (more than its own weight) that had recovered over 380 downed aircraft in Vietnam.I strolled around through the yard admiring the many vehicles, among them a British Centurion tank that had been featured in the movie Courage Under Fire with Denzel Washington. There was a lot to take in, and upon re-entering the indoor museum on my way out I noticed a case of interesting-looking rocket launchers that I had passed by the first time. My previous exposure to military machines had been strictly through various war movies, and, after touring the museum, I felt that I had been given a firsthand appreciation for the size, sophistication, and capability of our military technology as well as an interesting retrospective of how it has progressed over the decades. [+/-] click to show/hide this post
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