A new exhibit opens today in the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum at Camp Dodge near Johnston. Museum curator, Mike Vogt, says the new exhibit tells the stories of Iowa servicemembers who became prisoners of war or where missing in action from the U.S. Civil War through the Vietnam War.
Vogt says they have a variety of artifacts on display, ranging from P.O.W. relief kits from World War Two to prisoner of war medals. Vogt says they also have lots of pictures and video. He says they have motion picture footage of American captives from World War Two, along with interviews of captives from that war and the Korean and Vietnam war.
Vogt says Iowans played key roles in all the wars and thousands were held as prisoners, including some prominent names from the Vietnam era. Medal of Honor winner, Bud Day of Sioux City was shot down in North Vietnam. Also highlighted is Commander Larry Spencer, who was shot down as a Naval aviator over North Vietnam and spent seven days shy of seven years in captivity, making him Iowa’s longest held prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Vogt says with all the cold, rainy weather, it’s a good time to come out and see the museum. He says the museum is open from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except for holidays. The museum is free and open to the public.