A Visit to the South Carolina Military Museum

My wife and I spent an enjoyable Saturday visiting the South Carolina Military museum with my father, who is a healthy and robust 90.   The museum is focused on the history of the South Carolina militia and National Guard and is located behind state headquarters.  I, of course, was interested as a former guardsman, but I was very excited and surprised by the size of the collection and its presentation.

If you are ever in Columbia, it is worth the stop.  Here are a few snaps from our visit, click to enlarge.  The collection is much larger than this but this will give you an idea.

My dad examining the list of Medal of Honor recipients (3 of whom are from our home town of Camden and buried in Quaker Cemetary) 

A list of engagements fought in South Carolina during the AWI with a 2nd SC Regiment uniform

My wife in the chronological gallery of SC Militia Uniforms

SC Militiamen hunting protecting Texas from Villa in 1916

The museum has an array of Great War artifacts, including these

An MG08 dated 1918 on the feed tray.  Now I have a better understanding of why the crew as so large

My grandfather was in the 81st Division, but was in New York on Armistice Day in 1918 and did not make it to Europe.

A nice diorama, I am sure some fo you guys can ID the figure manufacturer

M1917 Machine gun, a mainstay of the US Army through the Korean War

A BAR in the WW2 collection

My dad was 12 during the Carolina Maneuvers in 1941 and our home town was at the center of some of the fiercest "fighting."  He remembers huge convoys of trucks and tanks passing the farm.

I want one of these for my library at home

Indoor vehicle collection.  They also have a separate area with artillery, but I did not get a good picture

A PaK36 with Stielgranate charge cut away to show interior

A Desert Storm diorama made with I believe GHQ models

In the 80's we used to have a battalion of 8-inch guns, here is one of those monsters

And here is an M42 Duster with an M-48 Tank in the background

I'd like to end with thanks to all of my comrades in the SC Guard past, present, and future, but especially to the instructors at my last unit, the 218th Regiment (Leadership).  I spent the Global War on Terror in a nice classroom delivering instruction, but almost every other member of the cadre was a veteran of one, two, or even three deployments to a war zone.  Ttheir willingness to sacrifice as true citizen soldiers is an inspiration to all.