The Veterans' Museum

Special Exhibits

 World War I - Louis K. Wheatley of Ripley, Tennessee, sponsored this exhibit.  Louis' Uncle and Father were in WWI.  The exhibit includes a complete uniform and field gear of local resident C.C. Sumrow and is from the collection of Tommy Simmons. 

 The Memphis Belle Exhibit - sponsored by Judy Beasley Hutcherson and Don Hutcherson of Nashville, Tennessee,  tells the story of the airplane, its crew, postwar history of the Belle, and a look at the Altus Crew, who flew it to Memphis in 1946.  If you're lucky, the pilot of that crew, Bob Little, just might be at the Museum.  Since we have copies of the Memphis Belle to sell, sometimes he will sign them.

 On the Homefront Exhibit - sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Jerald Daws of Germantown, Tennessee, presents pictures and uniforms of area veterans who served.  Also included in this exhibit are pictures of weddings where local ladies married soldiers in training at the Base.  One of these, Marty LaRoche Murphy, is on the DAAB Board of Directors, and a staunch supporter.

DAAB Newspaper -The Base newspaper was called Vox Prop so-named by Pvt. Erlin Lewis. Vox Prop meant "the voice of the propellers." Thirty-six editions of the newspaper are on display at The Veterans' Museum, located on the former training base in Halls, Tenn. The newspapers provide a good insight to life on the Base and in the surrounding areas as well as their interpretation of the war news.

At Home Exhibit - sponsored by Sonny and Pat Higdon is literally what a living room looked like "at home" during the '40s.  From the radio and the coal stove, to the buffet and other items, it provides a real look at rural homes in the '40s.  Even the wallpaper takes you for a walk down Memory Lane.

Another publication (not professionally published but nonetheless interesting) was published by the Convalescent Training Program at the Base Hospital. It was titled "On the Beam." The editor was Pvt. N. J. Zampella. Volume 1, No. 6, dated 20 November 1944, is also on display at the Museum. No doubt, it was typed on an Underwood typewriter (manual, remember) that needed the keys cleaned.

The following activities were listed for the Training Program for the week of November 20, 1944: Friday--Exercises, Current Events, Group Games, Training Films (Military Courtesy and Personal Health in the Jungle) classes on language, radio code, and plane identification.

The only other publications found to date that tell about Base life are Menus and special programs.
 

DAAB Art - Pictures of at least three murals have been found. Only one mural was left in a building on the sprawling facility that has been preserved in the postwar period. Two were painted on 6' X 16' wallboard in four panels. All were painted by Corporal Ernest Berkowitz (now "Berke").

"Interrogation/Briefing" has only been located as a copy of a picture. At the top of the picture is the following: "330BUCCTSHB. March 8 1945 G-3925 Mural in School Building #5 Army Air Field Dyersburg Tenn."

The mural "For the Want of a Nail" was destroyed when the Base Library burned. It depicts how the industrial community responded to the needs of war. It has been replicated and now is exhibited in The Veterans' Museum on the former base.

The only original mural from DAAB is "Tribute", which depicts combined operations on all fronts. The artist of "Tribute" was located through an article in The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, June 10, 1945, furnished by Mrs. Ruth Baker of Halls during the first DAAB Reunion--Homecoming "86, July 4, 1986.

The mural was, at that time, in the American Legion Building on the former training facility. American Legion Post 161 allowed Reunion organizer Pat Higdon to move the large mural to City Hall where it was restored by artist Ted Lannom of Dyersburg. After searching from July 4, 1986 until March 18, 1987, Higdon found Berkowitz (now known as Ernest Berke) in Scottsdale, Arizona. He returned for a rededication of the mural sponsored by The Halls High CloseUp Club and hosted by The Town of Halls on October 25, 1987 and signed the work of art. It will be relocated to The Veterans' Museum by the summer of 2006.

All three murals now hang in The Veterans’ Museum in Halls.
 

and much more