Military museums

May 23, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

McClatchy Newspapers

FRANKENMUTH, Mich.

When war calls, American men and women respond. It’s their stories that Stanley Bozich wants you to remember.

“When people say they don’t like to visit military museums, I like to tell people that nobody hates war more than the guys who fought it,” says Bozich, owner of Michigan’s Own Military & Space Museum in Frankenmuth, the private museum he has devoted his life to since 1980. “In this museum, there are almost no weapons. It’s personal.”

The strength of this small museum is its focus on the human side of military history.

Each display case is devoted to one service member and his or her story. It includes a photograph, immaculate original uniform, biography, ID cards, commendations, medals, dog tags and, sometimes, personal articles such as POW bracelets, letters and diaries.

The displays show the ambiguity of conflicts. In 1954, long before the U.S. was supposed to have had any troops in Indochina, Pvt. 1st Class Donald Morgan of Flint was captured and held for three months in a cage as a VietCong POW. His display shows the yellowed and vague Western Union telegram explaining to his parents that their son had been captured — and the joyous later telegram: “DEAR MOM AND DAD HAVE BEEN RELEASED AM FEELING VERY WELL AND AM BEING TREATED VERY GOOD WRITE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE — DON.”

Visitors likely will find the War on Terror gallery most poignant. Devoted to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, it rotates soldiers’ showcases. Here’s Army PFC Holly McGeogh of Taylor, killed in Kirkuk at 19. Here’s Sgt. Michael Pedersen, 26, killed in a helicopter crash in central Iraq in 2003.

Why does he devote so much time to his museum? “Somebody has to do it,” he says. “These are the people who have paid the price for our freedom. Of all the veterans, few are professional soldiers. Most just went. They served.”

So with Memorial Day on our minds, here are four Michigan museums devoted to military history.

Michigan’s Own Military & Space Museum, Frankenmuth: Low-tech but interesting private museum concentrates on Michigan’s service men and women, including their diaries, uniforms, photos and artifacts. For more information, visit www.michigansmilitarymuseum.com or call 989-652-8005 .

Great Lakes Naval Memorial & Museum, Muskegon: Home of the 1941 USS Silversides WWII submarine and 1927 U.S. Coast Guard Cutter McLane, this is both a museum and ship tour. The coolest part? Groups can stay overnight on the vessels, sleep in the bunks and eat in the galley. Although most are scouts or student groups, “We’ve had everything from Harley Davidson groups to church groups,” says Bryan Hughes, its executive director. A new museum building has artifacts relating to the Silversides’ service in the Pacific and exhibits on the contributions sub technology made to civilian life, such as radar and batteries. For more information, visit www.glnmm.org or call 231-755-1230.

Selfridge Military Air Museum, Mt. Clemens: Many people may not know that the base has a museum open to the public. Inside are military aviation artifacts, weapons and memorabilia relating to Selfridge’s history and the units that served there. Outside, 30 aircraft are on display. For more information, visit www.selfridgeairmuseum.org or call 586-239-5035.

Air Zoo, Portage: This phenomenal museum has two giant hangar facilities in which amazing military and civilian aircraft are displayed in attractive settings. Highlights include the F-14 Tomcat (“Top Gun”) and the slow-slung, massive SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, but the history of flight is told in an entertaining way, showing how airplane design advances made modern aircraft like the Blackbird possible. For more information, visit www.airzoo.org or call 269-382-6555.