A gallery dedicated to the military history of the United States and Marietta is the newest edition at the Marietta Museum of History near the Square at 1 Depot Street.
"There were so many veterans in town that had a lot of things they captured that they wanted preserved," Dan Cox of the Marietta Museum of History said. "We started developing a large collection and we decided we would build a military gallery to honor our military veterans of all wars."
The gallery begins with the American Revolution and includes artifacts from the Georgia Military Institute, where the Marietta Conference Center on Powder Springs Street is now located, Cox said. "The gallery covers all wars, including a large Civil War collection, World War I and World War II."
The collection covers wars chronologically including Vietnam and Korea, Desert Storm and the present day war, Cox said. "There is a small case in the corner dedicated to September 11, 2001, which includes small pieces of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon," Cox said. A piece of the Oklahoma City building is also in this case.
The veterans, Cox said, don't talk much about their experiences, "but the gallery sets their minds at ease and they start to talk about things like the pieces off the battleship Oklahoma."
The local Lockheed plant has made Marietta a military area, more than other areas, Cox said. "We grew up in the Bell aircraft days."
Cox hopes the gallery will make new residents feel at home in Marietta. "We have a large, growing vibrant community and one of our thoughts was if we could tell people where we came from, maybe they would have a little more roots here in town."
Cox hopes Marietta's residents remember the sacrifices of our veterans when they come to the gallery. "When you look at all the casualties, freedom is not free. It is very, very expensive."
For more information, call the Marietta Museum of History at 770-794-5710.
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