Blog
September 26, 2022
Wow - another tremendously successful Open House! We had the honor of having Medal of Honor recipient Major General James Livingston join us and share some inspiring words about our great nation, the nature of sacrifice and military service of our brave men and women, first responders, and the mission of the Americans in Wartime Experience. We were blessed with beautiful weather both Saturday and Sunday and we were host to over 12,000 visitors. Our Open House had participants and volunteers from all across America. Each year, the Open House is a strategic outreach opportunity for event visitors and the Washington Metro area as a means to “educate, honor, and inspire” all those who have served our great nation. We want to thank everyone who participated and made this great event possible especially our devoted volunteers, reenactors, vendors, scouts, donors, and members! None of this would be possible without your support. Every donation and membership go to making the Open House at the Tank Farm possible and to bring Americans in Wartime Experience to a reality.
February 9, 2022
The M3 Lee Tank
The M3 Lee was built by Chrysler Corporation at the Detroit Tank Arsenal in June 1942 as US Serial Number W-3,058,035. Not much is known about her wartime service, other than she was turned over to the Commonwealth -- most likely Australia -- and was assigned the British serial number T-25984.In 1988, Bob Fleming, a well-known "tank finder" for the Budge collection in the UK, locates a Lee in a field in the hilly part of Ararat, Victoria, Australia. The Lee is fairly complete but is missing the turret. To Bob’s surprise the Wright-Continental R975 EC2 radial turns over!!!! The Lee had been used as a bulldozer and had a large steel plate to cover the the hull roof where the turret had been removed.
January 11, 2022
On 17 January 1990, a coalition of 35 countries led by the United States embarked on a mission to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait which they had occupied since invading on 2 August 1990. For five weeks, coalition forces conducted an air campaign which was followed by a ground war on 24 February that lasted just 100 hours. The operation, code named Desert Storm, was the first major military action taken by the United States since the Vietnam War. Economic sanctions failed to persuade Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to pull his troops out of Kuwait prompting the use of military force.
December 7, 2021
“Tora! Tora! Tora!” At 7:49 am on December 7th, 1941, forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy receive the command to begin the attack. At 7:55 am, the first of 353 Japanese aircraft reach their targets at Pearl Harbor. 8:10 am, the USS Arizona explodes and begins to sink killing over 1,100. By 10:00 am, the assault was over with the Japanese claiming victory and the lives of over 2,400 US military and civilians lost. The United States had now entered the war.
December 4, 2021
In what many would say has been yet another challenging year, you have never stopped amazing me with your support of our veterans and the Americans in Wartime Experience. With your continued support, we accomplished a lot together.
November 11, 2021
Several United States Air Force Airmen were asked during a leadership school, what is the mission of the military. The airmen thought about it, then attempted to answer the question. Most gave answers they got off a recruiting poster or out of a training manual, but none gave the correct answer, at least not the answer the instructor wanted.After hearing the answers the instructor came back with this; the mission of the military is to kill people and break things. Not the answer the airmen expected to hear!
September 11, 2021
Honor our heroes at the Americans in Wartime Open House, Sept 25-26, by viewing FDNY Squad 252 Engine and the pieces of mangled steel from the upper floors of the Twin Towers that collapsed in the unprovoked attack on our citizens that took place on September 11, 2001. The museum acquired several artifacts from the New York and New Jersey Port Authority; and these will serve as a reminder that war affects not only the men and women of our armed forces, but also those on the home front.
September 2, 2021
Joseph L. Galloway, longtime American foreign correspondent died August 18th at the age of 79. Galloway was a tremendous advocate of the Americans in Wartime Experience and more importantly loved the men and women of the military and his country.
August 16, 2021
The United States Coast Guard was formed on August 4, 1790 as the Revenue Marine. On January 28,1915, the modern day Coast Guard was formed with the merger of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life Saving Service. Today, the Coast Guard acts as the country's coastal defense and conducts maritime search and rescue and law enforcement activities.
July 14, 2021
The Voices of Freedom kicked off the summer 2021 event season in Reading, PA at the 30th Annual World War II Weekend. This was our first use of the new truck and trailer/studio and they performed flawlessly. Everyone who saw the truck and trailer loved them! It was great to finally be back in Reading after last year's event had to be canceled.
