An upcoming attraction will allow anyone to view the lives of those who served in the Vietnam War.
The United States Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) in Carlisle, will unveil a new display of United States military history this November, before Veteran’s Day. The new exhibit is titled “Courage, Commitment and Fear: The American Soldier in the Vietnam War.”
“The exhibit will feature real-life accounts of veterans who served in the Vietnam War,” said Nicole Witmer, who is an employee at the USAHEC Information Desk in the Visitor and Education Center.
The exhibit’s function will be to provide a realistic and in-depth view of what American soldiers experienced while serving in the Vietnam War and it will follow the lives of several veterans during their transitions from civilian to soldier and their return to civilian life after the war, Witmer said.
According to the official USAHEC news website, real combat and medical evacuation situation experiences from the featured veterans’ lives will be showcased within the exhibit. Visitors will be walked through an environment that is meant to simulate the jungles of Vietnam.
Witmer said that props and artificial plants will decorate the exhibit, including a bamboo cage replica that was constructed by USAHEC’s Fabrication Facility team, which designs and constructs props and replicas for exhibits. Televisions will be present in the exhibit and will display interviews with Vietnam War veterans, Witmer said.
The exhibit will be replacing the previous display, “A Great Civil War: Battles That Defined a Nation, 1863,” in USAHEC’s Changing Gallery. The gallery has changed over time, but there are also several permanent exhibits and activities that can be visited. Some interactive exhibits are activated through the use of a special dog tag card available at the information desk. These exhibits include a laser-guided gun range and a parachute jump simulator, where visitors are strapped into a seat, raised up and shown a simulated view of a drop-in on a screen below them while they direct their virtual fall.
A variety of larger displays, including tanks, helicopters and replicated structures from past wars are located outside on the 1-mile long walking path. USAHEC’s motto is “Telling the Army story, one soldier at a time,” Witmer said. “Which means that the individual is important to the story and understanding of history.”
To learn more, visit http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec.
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