Remembering Those Who Served

Remembering Those Who Served

Ardmore Veterans Museum a success

Although William Kelley, a World War II pilot, went through many battles unscathed, he eventually did meet an unfortunate end while flying. He had returned to the United States, and during a parade commemorating the end of the war, he died in a plane crash.

His personal effects, which went back to his family in a trunk, remained unopened for years. When Kelley’s son — 18 months old at the time of his father’s death — learned a group of veterans hoped to establish a museum and were requesting veterans’ artifacts, he donated the trunk.

Now, the pilot’s razor, shoes, rifle, metal tin and hundreds of pictures of him and other wartime photos sit among the displays at Ardmore Veterans Museum. “His wife never opened the trunk, and his son brought it to me,” says Ken Crosson, president of the Ardmore Veterans Group, which established the museum in 2018. The museum features many unusual artifacts, including a coconut that local veteran James Butler addressed to his wife and mailed during World War II.

Mannequins are used to display uniforms, overcoats and other clothing people have donated to the museum. “There’s one overcoat that must weigh 20 pounds,” Crosson says.

A man’s Air Force uniform hangs alongside the uniform his daughter, also an Air Force veteran, wore. Memorabilia from a brigadier general from Pulaski fills one corner. He served two tours in Vietnam and had all kinds of items, including coins, medals and pictures. “He donated everything he had, and it fills up one corner,” Crosson says.

Hundreds of local veterans and their families have contributed service uniforms, photos and other keepsakes from their time in the military.

A VISION TO HONOR VETERANS

The museum, fulfilling Crosson’s vision, started as a veterans memorial with three flag poles placed on a concrete base for the public to see as they drove through Ardmore. There were memory rocks, each with the name of a local military member, their branch of service and other information. The display began with 30 rocks, and now there are more than 400 rocks at the memorial. But Crosson felt Ardmore’s veterans from Alabama and Tennessee needed more. “I thought, ‘If we could have a veterans museum, that would be wonderful,’” he says. Crosson served 20 years in the Army, from 1958 to 1978, and worked at Redstone Arsenal until he retired in 1996 and moved to Ardmore. He and others formed the veterans organization, and he has also served on the city council of Ardmore, Tennessee.

HOME FOR THE MUSEUM

As ideas for the museum took form, Crosson approached officials with the City of Ardmore, Tennessee, and they agreed to provide space for it. They refurbished a building for the museum’s home on First Street. “Word got around that we were seeking items for the museum, and people started bringing memorabilia from all over,” Crosson says. “People had stuff in closets and drawers.”

The museum’s 3,500 square feet is filled with memorabilia from the World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam eras, along with items from present-day veterans. A library in the museum includes books, maps and other war- or veteranrelated information. “It has been successful beyond my expectations,” Crosson says. “I never dreamed we’d have that many items donated. We’re able to keep it going by people making donations.”

The Ardmore Veterans Group’s annual fundraisers — including a pancake breakfast, Vidalia onion sale and concession sales at both the city’s annual tractor pull and rodeo — help pay for the startup costs and continued expenses.

“We want people to come and look,” Crosson says. “It’s a great place to bring your kids and show them things that were their granddaddy’s or other relatives’. It gives a glimpse into the history of our veterans. I believe to know where you’re going, you have to know where our country has been.”

Ken Crosson and other volunteers have put many hours into arranging the displays at the Ardmore Veterans Museum.

One display depicts a VE Day celebration, commemorating victory in Europe.

On Veterans Day each year, the Ardmore Veterans Group hosts a chicken stew luncheon, which also features a guest speaker, at the Ardmore Community Center in Tennessee. The museum opens up for the day.

The museum normally operates from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Group tours are available and can be scheduled for other times. Call Ken Crosson at 256-874-4821.

Located on Hamlett Street, behind the Piggly Wiggly at 36100 Main St., Ardmore, Tennessee. “You can’t miss it,” Crosson says.