WILKES-BARRE — U.S. Army Veteran Ronald Skamanich, volunteer curator of memorabilia at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, said veterans come up to him all the time and say they have never seen this, or that in over 50 years.
“It’s unfortunate that three quarters of the memorabilia we have, as the case in most museums, is in storage, we just don’t have the space for it all,” Skamanich said.
But the memorabilia section at the VA does have quite a lot of military artifacts on display and visitors have been fascinated by all that is there.
The medical center construction of the VA’s memorabilia area started in 2005.
Russell E. Lloyd , Director at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, said the memorabilia display is a visual reminder of the service and sacrifices of veterans through time.
“It’s a consolidation of history, which invokes memories, stories, struggles and camaraderie within the many men and women that served our county,” Lloyd said. “I think it’s a perfect representation of our mission to fill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our military and for their families, caregivers and survivors and why I consider it an honor to work for the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
When Skamanich volunteered to become curator of VA memorabilia at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center it came with many challenges. His first order of business was to organize the ever-growing military related items into eras.
Skamanich, who in the past worked as the Director of Education at the Everhart Museum in Scranton, feels that it is important to have our military history preserved and professionally displayed.
Skamanich, a big history buff, thinks our veterans will be fascinated to see quite a few items that are on display in the 1st floor exhibit area.
“We have an ashtray and a drinking cup that were made from sea ration cans,” Skamanich said. “The cup handle and ashtray rest were made by creatively bending peeled metal can lids. One of the best pieces we have is a piece of a propeller from a Japanese Zero plane that was shot down during the attack on Pearl Harbor. It sits next to a small-scale model of the Japanese Zero Aircraft. We also prominently display an ever-growing veteran women’s section.”
Skamanich said veterans have donated quite a bit of World War I and World War II era items, but he admits that its harder to find a lot of memorabilia post World War II because of the military’s policy on taking things back with you.
“We are currently working on acquiring and building models form the Vietnam era like the Osprey and Apache helicopters and adding a Humvee model from the most recent era,” Skamanich said.
Moving forward, Skamanich can see a time in the future when groups, like scouting troops and school clubs, take an educational field trip to the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center to discover the memorabilia on display.
The VA’s memorabilia collection is on display in the first floor atrium, overlooking the lower level. If you or your family are looking to donate to the VA’s memorabilia collection, contact voluntary services at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center at 570-821-7237.
Memorabilia Area features new displays
If you get a chance to visit the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, you will find some interesting new displays on the first floor.
Coming into the hospital these days usually means you have a doctor’s appointment, prescription pickup, health testing, or all the aforementioned. Many Veterans try to schedule all their stops the same day and may have some down time in between appointments. If you find yourself with the time, head over to the first floor Memorabilia Area and connected hallway to check out some new additions.
David Kline of Wilkes-Barre and a veteran has donated several military uniforms to the VA for display.
Last week, Kline presented two new additions:
• A jacket worn by a soldier in Teddy Roosevelt’s Roughriders at the Battle of Mexico in 1888.
• A jacket worn during World War I by a member of the Dorrance family, for which Dorrance Township is named.
One thing that is hard to miss is the sprawling Civil War display at the entrance to the memorabilia area. The display depicts the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg — Pickett’s Charge, which was the tipping point of the Civil War.
The 1/72 scale display model was the creation of many Community Living Center (CLC) Residents and Wilkes-Barre VA Recreation Therapy Assistant William Roberts. The inspiration to make the Civil War display came from two separate trips CLC Residents made to the Gettysburg battlefields.
“I’m sort of a Civil War nut, so I had a large allotment of soldiers already painted that I didn’t know exactly what to do with” Roberts said. “This became the starting point for the Pickett’s Charge display.”
Roberts said the project started more than six years ago with battlefield woodworking being done by CLC veterans and field parts being made by others. One of the goals was to create realistic terrain and elevation changes that mimic the actual battlefield to demonstrate what the soldiers were experiencing.
“The display turned out to be much bigger than we planned,” Roberts said. “Every one of the over 600 soldiers were hand painted by me and another veteran. Trees where built, Emmitsburg Road fence was erected, and cotton was used to depict the cannon fire smoke.”
The building of the Pickett’s Charge display allowed our CLC Residents to participate as a form of therapy as well as raise the visibility of their creative talents.
In addition to the Pickett’s Charge display, the VA installed a series of military uniform shadow boxes in the connecting hallway coming from the Memorabilia Area towards the Dental Clinic. This collection is composed of uniforms that were donated to the Medical Center by area soldiers.
“Veterans and guests can get a first-hand look at the uniforms of the various eras, it’s a really nice addition to the Medical Center,” Skamanich said.