Our Heroes Military Museum in Lincoln spans all wars
WRITTEN BY ANNE GABBIANELLI
If the 25-foot scale model of the USS Independence aircraft carrier doesn’t catch your eye on the Route 2 roadside of the Our Heroes Military Museum in Lincoln, just wait until you walk inside.
“While many, if not most, military museums that I’ve visited have their primary focus on the wars themselves, this impactful museum places the center of the attention squarely on the veterans,” said veteran Joseph Acquisto of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, when visiting this past summer.
The volunteer-operated museum was founded three years ago.
“I saw a vision,” said Army veteran Brian Hamor, formerly of Bar Harbor. Using his personal funds, he purchased the building that once housed an assortment of businesses, including a bakery and pawn shop. Hamor knew he “couldn’t do this on my own,” so working alongside a fellow veteran, retired Marine Bob Richford, social media became a strong recruiting tool.
In a short time, the pair secured a board of directors and donations of items that range from the Revolutionary War to the Iraq War. There is something unique at every turn with donated articles including uniforms, medals from Russia, and countless pictures and documents. Other items are on loan, such as a mortar launcher that came from North Korea and vintage weapons. There is even a silk flag reading in Japanese, “Fight for your country.”
“We have true original artifacts in this museum,” Hamor said.
Pointing out his uncle’s uniform, and standing alongside his own Army uniform, Hamor said, “Most of the uniforms have been donated by relatives, and the picture of an ambulance corp was found in a garage sale in Massachusetts, where the guy actually found a relative in the picture.”
Another set of Marine uniforms was donated by a couple from Florida, who now live in nearby Burlington. The display comes with a novel, “Core Values,” written by Master Sergeant Dr. Janice Brooks. Collectively, she and her husband, Command Sergeant Major Carol Brooks, served over 50 years.
When Nadine Volatile visited the museum while on vacation from Rhode Island, she said she was “most impressed that such a small building can be packed with such an abundance of veteran memorabilia, from a personal letter written to a mom from her son to model airplanes made of Legos donated by a local lady.”
The museum even includes a library which is used daily.
Continuing with the tour, Hamor admitted in his younger days, “I hated history because it was all about dates and had no significance. Now I love it. I never expected the museum would grow to where we are today.”
That’s why settled behind the building is a storage container overflowing with donations, in hopes funds can be raised to construct a larger building on the property.
The museum is also overflowing with volunteers, like Army veteran John St. Pierre.
“I moved here five years ago from New Hampshire,” St. Pierre said, “and at my son’s urging, I joined the VFW where I met all these guys.”
St. Pierre took on the task of revitalizing the dilapidated military Roll of Honor memorial once housed in the neighboring town of Chester.
“It literally came to us in pieces,” said St. Pierre, while reviewing close to 30 names listed.
Non-veteran Bill Mitchell of Springfield is also among the troop of volunteers.
“I like history, I like the people involved, and I never had the opportunity to serve, so I like doing my part now,” Mitchell said.
The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/OurHerosMilitaryMuseum.
Paying a visit should be on your to-do list. As Acquisto said, “This museum actually lives up to its name: Our Heroes.”
