Bombs Everywhere

Hawthorne, Nevada
Whiskey Flats RV Park

What can I say about this town?  As we were driving into town on highway 95 there were sections of the roads honoring World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian War and Global Terrorism veterans.  I wish I would have taken a photo of some of the signs.

Today the Hawthorne Ordinance Museum was open and we wanted to check it out.  

Parking was along the main street of town but when we pulled up there were many people visiting the museum.

I must say I didn't think I'd care for the museum, but I thought Bill would enjoy it.  Once we walked through the door, I knew it was going to be an excellent experience.  One of the docents was going to be 90 years old.  

The docent told us that the townsfolk decided to preserve all of this discarded ordinance in a museum.  The building was a former automobile dealership. 

These kids were having fun "driving" the jeep and wearing the military clothing.  It's truly a hands on museum.

I have never been in a museum where you could touch everything and there were no barricades.

Needless to say, Bill enjoyed every bit of the museum.

The guns were all in a rack, where you could pick them up and feel the weight of them.

There were some showcases of collections of a certain war time period.

Here's a cluster bomb.

You really understand it better when you can hold the cluster in your hand.  It was heavy.

I don't know what my fascination is with this 1917-1920 cash register that was used in the Officer's Club.  Maybe because it hold money.

There was so much to see, that a place like that needs a second and third trip.  The bottom two are 1960's anti-submarine missiles.  The top one is a MK 17 nuclear depth charge.

I didn't realize mine's were this large.  

There were a lot newspapers depicting important events in our history.

I was surprised to see USMC beer.  Dennis never mentioned that to me before.

The Marine barrack had Navy blankets on the bed.

The museum was huge and there was so much to see.

Napalm bomb Vietnam era.

I have no idea what this was, but if you know, please let me know.

Everywhere you turned, you found a different bomb.

This is just small corner of the museum.

These same kind of bombs are located at the entrance to the cemetery.  

I'm sure any veteran would enjoy visiting this museum.

Notice Bill is still playing with the guns.

Hard to believe this museum in the middle of nowhere has had so many visits from all around the world.

The gift shop sells the metal ammo cans for $5.00.  We saw a lot of people purchasing them.

There's just as much ordinance outside as inside.

I thought these were cute.

There is a lot talented artwork on some of these bombs.

Can you see me on the tank?

I tried to lift the hatch but it was heavy and dark inside.  Kids were having a blast in it.

These mines are placed right next to the sidewalk.

Across the street was a USO that had a lot visitors.

The whole town is into the ordinance as evidenced by the local hardware store.  

The city park found another use for these bombs.

From a distance this looked like a flower.

It was a very nice park with other ordinance too.

Hopefully, I'll remember to get a picture of the bombs at the entrance to the graveyard before we leave town.  

Turtle Safely.......