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Most people who visit the Regional Military Museum in Houma are interested in the military equipment and apparel of the brave men and women who have defended the freedoms of the United States.
Other visitors come to learn more about the military history of their families or work on school projects in the museum’s expanding library.
Since opening in 2008, the museum has given visitors the opportunity to stop by and consume the living history of the museum where the military vehicles remain in working condition and the weapons can still fire if necessary.
“We’re a regional military museum so we have people coming in from everywhere,” said Will Theriot, vice president of the museum, mentioning visitors from Germany, France and Ukraine.
A piece of history that draws the most attention at the museum is an airplane owned by President Dwight Eisenhower, Theriot said.
The VP and volunteer at the museum said Eisenhower needed a smaller airplane when he flew between smaller airports, and whenever he was on board the plane it was considered Air Force One.
“Whenever the president is in the air, there are always two Air Force Ones so that you don’t know which one the president is in,” Theriot said. “The sister ship to this one is in the air force museum in Dayton, Ohio.”
After Eisenhower finished with the plane, it was given to the Air Force Academy, Nebraska Civil Air Patrol and then to the Louisiana Civil Air Patrol. When it became too expensive for them to maintain, the aircraft was put into a museum in Patterson, La.
Theriot said the museum in Patterson shifted its focus from military to civil aircrafts, which is when the former Air Force One began its journey to the Houma museum.
But getting the airplane into the current museum was no easy task as construction crews had to tear down the back wall of the museum. Once the plane made its final landing at the museum, crews reconstructed the wall.
For that reason, Theriot said the airplane would not move to its new, additional facility under construction next door, with an estimated completion date set for March.
C.J. Christ, president of the Regional Military Museum, said the new building opens the opportunity to showcase memorabilia stored away because of the lack of space in the current museum.
“The most exciting thing is we’ll be able to display more of the artifacts we have stored all over Terrebonne Parish in warehouses and garages,” he said.
The new building will showcase a World War II TBM Torpedo Bomber extended from the ceiling, along with existing displays of a Vietnam era Jeep, Korean era jeep, WWII Jeep and 50 caliber machine gun.
And with the opportunity to display more of the military history preserved by the museum, Theriot and Christ are hopeful for an influx in visitors.
The Regional Military Museum is currently hosting a membership drive to help the museum grow and allow the community to be a part of honoring veterans.
“The membership drive is important because we are about to open our new facility and as we pay tribute to our veterans we want people to come in and join us in honoring those who preserved the freedoms we enjoy today,” Theriot said.
The museum has military vehicles on rotation at three locations throughout the area, with membership applications available at those businesses. Those locations are: Home Hardware on St. Charles, H & H Marine on Highway 311 and Uneeda Cleaners on Mystic Boulevard.
There are four levels of membership, which last the duration of a year.
A $25 bronze membership entitles members free admittance into the museum plus one guest. The $50 silver membership admits a family of four and the $100 Gold membership admits a family of six. The platinum membership at $1,000 can be renewed each year to support the museum or serve as a lifetime membership to admit a group of people.
Christ said added membership and their new building exemplifies the confidence the community has in the military museum.
The scope of community support does not stem solely from surrounding parishes, but across the United States, he said.
“We call ourselves regional, but that can mean a lot of places,” Christ said. “We don’t have any geographic boundaries to the regional military museum.”
President Dwight Eisenhower’s plane is pictured at the Regional Military Museum in Houma. The museum is offering four tiers of membership plans.
