1250 Weiss Street,
Frankenmuth, MI 48734 __Phone: 989-652-8005
Open 7 days, 10 AM-5 PM, March through December
Admission: $6 Adult, $5 Senior, $3 Student (6-17 yrs.)
Private/group tours and rates available with advance
reservations
"Memories
Must Be Fed"
Without nourishment,
they wither and fade into a vague, uncelebrated,
unappreciated thing we call "The Past."
Certain memories are
particularly deserving of continued feeding and
appreciation. Foremost are the memories of those men and
women whom fate thrust into armed struggle on our behalf.
The Michigan's
Own Military and Space Museumexists
to nurture the memories of people from Michigan farms,
offices and factories who heeded the summons to military
service during America's seven foreign wars; from the
Spanish-American War to the War on Terrorism. Michigan's
Own is unique in the United States in that
it is the only repository devoted to the wartime
experiences of one state's people. The museum includes a
section devoted to Medal of Honor recipients and this
collection includes more Medals of Honor than any other
museum in the United States.
However, it is not a museum of war, nor an archive
dedicated to the strategies or the killing machinery of
battle. It is instead, a shrine to ordinary lives caught
up in - sometimes ended by - the extraordinary experience
of war. It is also an eloquent statement about the
passing of time, and the debt subsequent generations owe
to those who preceded them to preserve our Freedoms.
The museum, located in Frankenmuth, Michigan, holds over
400 exhibits, each devoted to a Michigan soldier, sailor,
or airman. Youthful faces peer at a visitor from
photographs on the walls and display cases, some
accompanied by pictures of the frail old men the young
soldiers became. Other faces - of those who fell - are
frozen exclusively and forever in young adulthood.
A powerful sensation of bygone times, distant places and
desperate struggles clings to the fabric of the old
uniforms on display. The garments, the sundry accessories
of brass and leather the soldiers used, the battle
souvenirs and citations they received - all leave
visitors pondering the men and women more than the war.
The artifacts communicate a sense of connection to the
soldier: that our present freedom and well being are
attributable to these men and women.
Visitors wonder if the soldiers were able to do what they
did because somewhere in their souls they understood they
were doing it for future generations.
The displays at Michigan's
Own reflect American military adventures
and tragedies of the last century through the personal
histories of people who, in the inexorable press of day-to-day
life, might have otherwise been forgotten.
Michigan's Own focuses not just
on the past or on combat, however. The museum honors the
peacetime bravery of Michigan astronauts, including
Commander Roger Chaffee of Grand Rapids, who died in the
Apollo 1 launch-pad fire of January 27, 1967.
Most of the artifacts were diligently researched and
acquired by museum director Stanley Bozich. They are
weighty with the emotion of those who contributed them.
Many a widow saddened to think the remnants of her
husband's military service might end up ignored in an
attic after her death, have entrusted them to Michigan's
Own, confident they would be preserved and
honored. The museum's collection is rooted in the
cherished memories of hundreds of Michigan families.
In 1985, eight months before his death at 93, Henry Duff
of Troy, Michigan, was reminiscing about his experiences
in northern Russia as one of the 'Polar Bears'. The troop
movements and outcomes of battles nearly 70 years in the
past flickered in his memory, while the faces of the men
he fought alongside still burned brightly. Mr. Duff said,
"More than the deed, I remember the people."
His words could stand as a motto for Michigan's
Own.
