I think I mentioned on the day that I visited the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City that I had visited two museums that day; this is the other – The 45th Infantry Division Museum.

The other thing I mentioned is that I was so moved by the first, that I could not share the second in the same post. I’m just getting around to it now. The museum is housed in what used to be the division’s officers club; pretty nice building for the brass! The division is essentially Oklahoma-born, having probably its most notable achievements in 1945. It was raised in 1923 with a unique division shoulder patch that it had to change in 1939. The original shoulder patch was a swastika, which is in fact quite an ancient and honourable native totem. It would have been insanely common around these parts at that time. But as events were unfolding in Europe in the late 1930s, more and more people failed to recognize either the native totem or the American army uniform and thought “hey, are you German?” The division called a public contest for the design of a new shoulder patch, and as you can see above, the Thunderbirds were born. The museum is not a large one, but it is crammed with division history and related artifacts. The first picture is of the fireplace in the great room, now the lobby or welcoming room of the museum – mortars in the fireplace, ceremonial flags ringing the room, The world war one scenario of picture two is off in the background of picture 1. The division has several claims to fame, including several Medal of Honor winners, but in terms of actual events, the 45th is the division that stormed Hitler’s own apartments in Munich in 1945. Pictured are Der Fuhrer’s own personal standard; some German regalia and in the bottom picture, Hitler’s personal tea service, glassware, cutlery etc. It often seemed on my travels that if you were going to have a museum in the west, you’d better have firearms. This may be an exaggeration, but I often thought “not so much…” So it is with the 45th Museum. There is a huge display of arms from pre-revolutionary war days up to the present. The pictures of the World War I machine guns is actually from a different display, but the legendary “Peacemaker”, the Colt six-shooter, is in the arms display. I had to take a picture – I have just heard so much about this pistol through all of my youth, including all the 1950s television that I so enjoyed! This museum is famous for the Bill Mauldin connection. Mauldin was perhaps the formost cartoonist of the Second World War; like writer Ernie Pyle, he lived with the troops, endured what they endured, but captured it in pencil drawings and send it back home for publication. I may have spent more time with these cartoons than almost any other single element of the museum; it is a rich, rich treasure! I especially like the first cartoon; read the message – a clever reminder of the Brooklyn Dodgers losing the World Series and relating it to fighting the enemy in Europe! He was good!There are rooms in this museum observing the hundredth anniversary of World War I; there is a room dedicated to the divisions Medal of Honor winners. By the way, this is also the American army division that liberated Dachau, the infamous death camp. I took no pictures there. Outside the museum are artillery pieces, aircraft, helicopters, variety of military vehicles and more. Inside the museum or more rooms with jeeps, small aircraft and a variety of related military paraphernalia.

If you remember my post from the date of the cowboy Museum, I hope you can see now why doing the two museums on the same day was probably not the best idea. For one thing, it was Sunday, and both museums were operating on more limited hours. But really, they are so culturally and emotionally different; if you find yourself in Oklahoma City, give each museum its own day. I should note there are other museums in the state capital as well that you may want to enjoy.

Believe it or not, there is still more from this trip that I have not shown you, but want to. We’ll get to it, in the luxury of time…