Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial opens military museum

PERRYVILLE, Mo. (KFVS) - The Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial had a grand opening of their James M. Eddleman Military Museum on Saturday in Perryville.

Visitors from around the area and beyond came through to see the new museum which feature various exhibits including the Jungles of Vietnam, Jim Eddleman's story, the American Timeline and more.

The Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial’s Operations Coordinator DeAnna Klunder said it’s great to be able to tell the stories of Vietnam soldiers during their conflicts.

"The education aspect is very important to us," Klunder said. "We want to make sure the people that do come are reached in some way, whether it they are a soldier and something that they see here sparks memories or gets them talking. Or, whether it's school kids or families that come, we want them to take away many things once they're here."

Klunder said she even spoke with one of the first visitors who had one of the items they had displayed but didn't understand what it was about.

"They realized that they had one of the items at home but they didn't know the story behind it and so this way these items will just tell people to make connections and start having conversations," Klunder said.

This is just phase one of the military museum. Crews are already working on building and collecting items for the second phase.

Copyright 2020 KFVS. All rights reserved.