Military enthusiasts and historians streamed through the Civil War Museum Saturday to take in memorabilia and artifacts dating as far back as the 1870s.

The free event, sponsored by the Southern Wisconsin Airborne Chapter, 82nd Airborne Division, was part of the museum’s Veterans Heritage Day. The event also included a military and veterans brick dedication accompanied by patriotic music and a reading of veterans honored with bricks.

The displays ranged from battle-bruised weapons to military-green communication devices, such as a Fullerphone that dispatched Morse code signals during World War I and II.

More than 300 people had come to the free event by early afternoon, museum officials said.

“My father was in World War II and my grandfather was in World War I, and I wanted the kids to see history,” said Lee Kramer, of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., who brought her children Tom, 11, and Blythe, 13. “You don’t get a chance to do this kind of thing and talk to people that lived it. It’s very fitting since Veterans Day is (Wednesday).”

German Army

artifacts shown

Jack Gibbons of Kenosha had an abundance of stories about his collection, mostly from the German army, including medals, patches and Nazi arm bands.

He also displayed a sergeant’s size 38 coat given to him by a World War II field police officer while he was serving in West Germany.

Gibbons, who began collecting the artifacts in the late 1960s, served in the U.S. Army and comes from a long line of military descendents. His father served in World War II; his grandfather served in World War I, and his great-grandfather was a member of the Confederate cavalry.

“They actually sent back stuff or carried some stuff back themselves,” Gibbons said. “As with all things, when they’re getting ready to move, they said, ‘Are you interested in this? If not I’m throwing it out.’ I latched on to it.”

Gibbons’ collection expanded after he joined the Army and was assigned to an artillery unit in Germany. His first sergeant was a World War II veteran, and his neighbor was a former U-boat commander. Those encounters helped seal his interest in German artifacts, he said.

Among his favorite pieces is a Knights Cross of the Iron Cross awarded to a German SS major who defended the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen against the Allies. For members of the Nazi German Army, the medal is the highest award recognizing battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II.

“It’s the one and only bridge that (the Allies) were able to capture over the Rhine River, which allowed us then to go ahead and break into Germany,” Gibbons said. “He lost his legs there, but for his defense of the bridge ... he was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, basically the equivalent of the Medal of Honor.”

Gibbons also showed off a Nazi arm band that had been worn by a man his father shot — only to learn later the man was an innocent postman — and a string of German and Austrian medals awarded to a German flier who fought against the British in Palestine.

The oldest piece in Gibbons’ collection is an Iron Cross awarded to a soldier in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.

Keeping history alive

John Gustin of Kenosha displayed a group of Viet Cong weapons and paraphernalia he collected while serving in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 with the First Italian, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division.

He told stories about knives and bayonets he’d collected, as well as a case that held buttons, patches and clippings from the war protests that were occurring in the United States.

Then there was the monkey feces.

“They took monkey turds, rocks, artificial bamboo leaves and stuff like that,” Gustin explained. “They put sensors in them and they spread them out in the jungle. When that sensor went off, artillery would shoot in that area.”

On Kenoshan Dave Ireland’s table, visitors could see weapons used by the Japanese Army during World War II. Ireland had a rifle with holes that had been blown through it by a grenade, and a leather map case with a burn mark left by shrapnel.

Ireland said he started collecting military memorabilia in 1976 after becoming fascinated with the stories his father told him.

“When G.I. Joes came out, that was one of my favorite toys,” Ireland said. “But this is the real stuff, and it’s just a great way to honor the veterans who served and keep history alive.”