Come see our newest addition to the Vietnam War exhibit - the F-105G Thunderchief. Read the latest post from Owen Myers: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/2024/07/the-legacy-of-the-f-105-thunderchief/
We are very excited to see 102 year old WWII Pacific War Veteran Mr. Caster Salemi this Saturday. Mr. Salemi trained in Paris Texas before being sent to the South Pacific. He was first stationed in New Guinea from Mar.1944 to Jan.1945 and then made the landing in Luzon, Philippines as part of the 251st Field Artillery battalion- company B. Caster was a T4 (Tech)Sergeant responsible for setting up communications between companies. He was in the Philippines fighting the Japanese from Jan.1945 through Dec.1945 seeing action in Dagupan, Pangasinan, Bayombong, Balette Pass, Cagayan Valley, Iguig, and Manila. Caster Salemi received the Philippines Liberation Medal and Asiatic Pacific Service Medal. ![]()
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He will be here through Saturday during our Pacific War re-enactment. A very rare opportunity to talk with a Pacific War veteran who was in the thick of it.
We are getting ready for our first WWII Pacific Theater Re-enactment and living history event - This weekend! 7/13-7/14.![]()
More information and tickets see: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/wwii-pacific-re-enactment-saipan-campaign/
Celebrating our Independence - The American Heritage Museum will be open on Thursday, July 4th, 10 am to 5 pm. We hope to see you here to commemorate this pivotal time in American history. To life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!
Italian Campaign
M3A1 Scout Car – USA | PERSONNEL CARRIER/RECON
M5A1 Stuart – USA | LIGHT TANK
VW Kübelwagen Type 82 – GER | RECON CAR
Schwimmwagen Type 166 – GER | AMPHIBIOUS PERSONNEL CARRIER/RECON
2 cm Flak 38 – GER | ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN
The Italian Campaign lasted from 1943 to 1945. It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, 60,000–70,000 Allied and over 100,000 German soldiers died. The invasion of Sicily in July 1943 led to the collapse of the Fascist Italian regime and the fall of Mussolini who was incarcerated on July 25th, 1943. German forces soon took control of northern and central Italy. Mussolini, who was rescued from captivity by German paratroopers. Hitler assisted Mussolini in setting up a puppet state, the Italian Social Republic, to administer the German-occupied territory. Italy fell into a civil war even as Allied and German armies clashed on its territory.
U.S. and British political leaders hoped that an invasion might knock Italy out of the war. The defeat of Italy would enable Allied naval forces, principally the Royal Navy, to dominate the Mediterranean Sea, securing the lines of communications with Egypt and Asia while forcing Axis divisions to transfer troops from the Eastern Front to defend Italy. This assistance had been promised to the Soviet Union, then facing the great majority of German and also Italian troops.
The land forces involved were the US 7th Army under General George Patton, and the British 8th Army, under General Bernard Montgomery. They started with the liberation of Sicily in 1943. Allied forces continued with the invasion of mainland Italy which precipitated the fall of Mussolini’s government and also provoked a German invasion o the north that blocked the Allies from Rome.
Mountainous Italy was a hard place to fight and mistakes were made by both sides, even before the main focus of fighting in Western Europe shifted to France in June, 1944. The result was that difficult, hardscrabble fighting in Italy lasted almost the the end of WWII.
