‘We’re making progress’: Americans in Wartime Experience museum … – Prince William Times

The vision for the Americans in Wartime Experience was hatched by a group of local Vietnam veterans nearly 30 years ago. Over the years, progress has been slow. Now, organizers say they have enough momentum to open the museums first building in about 24 to 30 months.

Thats according to Dennis Brant, who has served as chief executive officer of the nonprofit since 2019. During an event preceding last weekends Tank Farm Open House, the annual fundraiser for the Americans in Wartime Experience, Brant ticked off a list of recent accomplishments.

The museums 70-acre site, donated by the Cecil and Irene Hylton Foundation in 2010, has received more than 500,000 cubic yards of fill dirt over the past few years from area construction sites to help level off its sloping landscape. The site work is creating an upper level for the future museum building and a lower level for its planned, outdoor Landscapes of War exhibits.

An Americans in Wartime Experience volunteer talks to young visitors during the recent Tank Farm Open House held Aug. 26-27 in Nokesville.

Work is set to begin soon on a 4,000-linear-foot-long retaining wall and eventually a bridge that will carry visitors from the museums main building, once it is built, to the outdoor exhibit area.

The main building is planned to have a leadership center, a theater and exhibit space for some of the many artifacts and military vehicles that Allan Cors, the museum founder, has accumulated over the years and keeps at his Nokesville home, which he calls the Tank Farm. The farm is the site of the Tank Farm Open House, which usually raises more than $100,000 for the museum each year, Brant said.

Two re-enactors for the Americans in Wartime Experience sit atop a vintage M4 Sherman tank during the recent Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

A restoration and maintenance facility for those historic vehicles will be the first building to be constructed on the site, Brant said.

Were making progress, Brant said. Weve been working diligently over the last three to four years.

The museum, when complete, aims to honor and tell the stories of all Americans who served and took part in U.S. armed conflicts since the beginning of the 20th century, from World War I to the present.

It will do so through outdoor exhibits dedicated to each major conflict: World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and current conflicts. Each will feature the unique aspects of the conflicts, such as WWIs trench warfare.

A volunteer speaks with a young visitor about a Russian T-55 tank during the recent Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

In 2021, the museum was rebranded as The Americans in Wartime Experience to encompass more than just the warfighters but also Americans who supported the war efforts from home. Toward that end, the museums oral history project has recorded 729 interviews with Americans since 2010 about their wartime experiences, according to Dennis Gill, a volunteer leading up that effort.

Gill takes the Americans in Wartime Experience trailer on the road to air shows and other veterans events to collect the oral histories.

Two reenactors atop a vintage tank during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville on Aug. 26-27.

The people we interview are not just veterans, although that is our focus, Gill said. But its any American who served during wartime. Thats the Rosie the Riveters in World War II, the Donut Dollies from Vietnam. Weve interviewed first responders since Sept. 11. So, anybody who got a wartime story or a wartime connection, we interview.

The restoration and maintenance building is phase I of the project, Brant said. Phase II is the indoor museum. The structure is being designed by Patrick Gallagher, the designer of the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, and many other museums, Brant said.

But bringing that building to fruition will require more money. The Americans in Wartime Experiences Board of Directors has goal to raise about $70 million, Brant said.

Help could come in the way of state and federal funding. Brant said the board recently asked the state General Assembly for $10.2 million to help pay for the museums infrastructure. Another $4 million was requested in federal earmark money from Sen. Mark Warners office, Brant said.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 29, it was not clear if the request from the Va. General Assembly made it into the recent state budget deal that lawmakers will vote on early next month. The fate of the federal money is also unknown.

We dont know. Ive been told it could be a lot less, Brant said of the state and federal requests. Ive been told that we might have to wait a year. Im praying and hoping.

Two re-enactors in period garb sit atop a M50 Sherman tank during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

The U.S. Army flew in a Chinook helicopter from Ft. Eustis for visitors to get a firsthand look during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

Lt. Amato, a pilot of a U.S. Army helicopter, Chinook, of B Co. 5-159, based in Ft. Eustis, flew into this weekends open house at the Tank Farm in Nokesville. Amato is from Richmond.

The Tank Farm Open House had a mix of military vehicles, weapons and military re-enactors dressed in period uniforms.

Flame thrower Thomas Frezza

Cooper Greene, 7, of Woodbridge holds a Soviet Union Ak74 from the 1970s.

Jason Clark, a re-enactor of the 2nd Armored division, 41st Armored Infantry regiment, I & R Platoon, sits atop of a 1940s M18 Hellcat Destroyer tank. The vehicle was used in Operation Cobra, which took place from July 25, 1944, to July 31, 1944, seven weeks after the D-Day landing in Normandy.

Rob Bell, a re-enactor from the 685th regiment, 193rd Rifle Division of the Workers and Peasants Red Army, sits in front of his tank taking a smoke break.

A young boy sits in the cockpit of the U.S. Army Chinook flown in from Ft. Eustis for the Tank Farm open house.

Dennis Brandt and Walt Wood

Re-enactors sit atop a World War II-era Russian T-34 tank as visitors look on during the Americans in Wartime Experience Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

Rob Bell, a re-enactor from the 685th regiment, 193rd Rifle Division of the Workers and Peasants Red Army, sits in front of his tank taking a smoke break.

A period military bike rests against a tank's tracks.

Visitors to the Tank Farm open house examine a military machine gun.

A re-enactor atop a M50 Sherman tank during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

A a steel I-beam from the World Trade Center on display at the Tank Farm.

A steel beam from the World Trade Center debris on display at the Tank Farm.

The remains of a New York Fire Department vehicle that was destroyed in the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center on display at the Tank Farm in Nokesville.

Chance Brown, 8, of Chantilly, receives instruction on bayonet training by Rob Bell of the 685th regiment, 193rd Rifle Division of the Workers and Peasants Red Army, during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

Jason Clark and Tim Murphy, of the 2nd Armored division, 41st Armored Infantry regiment, I&R Platoon, sit a top of a 1940s M18 Hellcat Destroyer tank used in Operation Cobra from July 25 to July 31, 1944, seven weeks after the D-Day landing in Normandy.

A vintage tank on display at the Americans in Wartime Experience Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

Military re-enactor Brian Alexander wearing a British Army uniform used from 1970 to 1990.

A tank kicks up dust during a demonstration at the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

The Tank Farm Open House had a mix of military vehicles, weapons and military re-enactors dressed in period uniforms.

A T-55 Main Battle Tank.

The Tank Farm Open House had a mix of military vehicles, weapons and military re-enactors dressed in period uniforms.

Military re-enactors demonstrate weapons training during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

The U.S. Marine Corps provided a live demonstration for visitors during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

Young visitors to the Tank Farm Open House look at an artillery round with the help of an Americans in Wartime Experience volunteer.

The Tank Farm Open House had a mix of military vehicles, weapons and military re-enactors dressed in period uniforms.

Live tank rides were provided to visitors during the Americans in Wartime Experience Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

David Page sits on his 1941 Indian motorcycle, used in WWII by the New Zealand Military. The vehicle was restored 25 years ago by its owner, David Page, of Arlington. Page rides his bike regularly.

Lt. Amato, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, with a Chinook of Unit B. Co 5-159, based in Ft. Eustis. Amato flew into this weekends Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville. Amato is from Richmond.

Flame Thrower Thomas Frezza demonstrates during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.

The Nokesville Fire Department was called in to put out the brush fire kicked off by the flame thrower demonstration.

U.S. Marine Corps re-enactors

The U.S. Marine Corps re-enactors during the Tank Farm Open House in Nokesville.