Good Morning Fayette-nam!

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I made it out unscathed. I was shocked to wake up in that God forsaken hotel and not have any problems. The car and I were both fine. The trip there was short as the only reasons to go there were the military museums, Fort Bragg and to visit my cousin, who was recently assigned there (and is currently on leave for a week in Mexico). That left me with the just the Airborne & Special Ops Museum and the JFK Special Warfare Museum on Fort Bragg.

The Airborne Museum is similar in size to the USMC Museum I visited in Quantico. Given that its focus is Airborne and SpecOps, its timeline is obviously very recent. The bulk of the museum covers WWII, especially much of the pursuits of the 101D as seen in Band of Brothers. It also covers the 82D’s role in WWII, and SpecOps’ roles in Vietnam, the Cold War and Desert Storm and currently in the Middle East. There is a simulator that provides tourists the opportunity to experience various types of airborne jumps but it was out of order. I’ll hopefully make it back sometime to try it out. I’d recommend this museum for WWII enthusiasts.

The next stop was Subway for lunch, which amazingly was more expensive than in New York. Apparently they’re not familiar with the $5 footlong.

After lunch, I headed to the JFK Special Warfare Museum. JFK was responsible for the Special Forces (Green Berets) coming into existence. And now a brief tangent… I consider this to be JFK’s top achievement as this move has prepared the US to cope with unconventional warfare as seen in Vietnam and the War on Terror. Units are specially trained in close quarters combat, recon, counterterrorism, force multiplication and psychological ops, all of which have played key roles to limit casualties in a new type of war theatre (no I did not copy this part from anywhere). For a good read on the Special Forces, check out The Green Berets (the book the movie with John Wayne was based upon). It’s by a reporter who stood alongside these men in Vietnam. The methods they use are fascinating.

And we’re back. The JFK Museum was much smaller than the other war museums I had visited since its scope is so concentrated. It’s actually located on Fort Bragg (if I remember right it’s next door to the 1st SF Group) so I had to go through a security clearance. I was surprised I was allowed on the base but after a thorough vehicle search, I was cleared to go. The exhibits largely focus on Vietnam and they’re building up the modern day area. I would imagine it’s still a bit lacking as much of it is probably still classified. But for enthusiasts, it’s another interesting sight.

Tonight I’m in Charlotte. I don’t have any more tours of war museums that I can think of. I’m in NASCAR country so tomorrow will be a trip to Lowe’s Motor Speedway to take a tour. The one in Daytona years ago was fascinating so I’m hoping this one is, too.

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