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Museum plans WWII exhibit

Newspapers, sheets of music, v-mail are just a few of the items that will be on display at the Valley Heritage Museum's World War II exhibition of Valley memorabilia set for Memorial Day weekend. These items are a part of Rick Lloyd's collection. (Liz Kishimoto photos / The Spokesman-Review)
Paula M. Davenport Correspondent
Newspapers, sheets of music, v-mail are just a few of the items that will be on display at the Valley Heritage Museum's World War II exhibition of Valley memorabilia set for Memorial Day weekend. These items are a part of Rick Lloyd's collection. (Liz Kishimoto photos / The Spokesman-Review)

The Spokane Valley Heritage Museum is asking local folks to dig through their footlockers, scrapbooks and memories for an upcoming exhibit honoring the area’s World War II veterans and the region’s contributions to the war effort.

Museum director Jayne Singleton says such artifacts as World War II military uniforms, medals, flags, photographs, letters and diaries are extremely important.

Ration cards, posters, sheet music, records and other ephemera also are on the wish list.

Finally, the museum is seeking veterans willing to be videotaped as they talk about their wartime experiences. Their first-hand accounts may be seen throughout the exhibit, putting names and faces on the sacrifices, suffering and bravery typical of the conflict.

“We’re probably going to discover some very, very touching moments and bring up some memories that have probably been dormant for many, many decades,” said co-curator Rick Lloyd, a World War II buff bitten by the collecting bug in his search for an original U.S. Army Air Force uniform like the one his dad wore in the war’s China-Burma-India theater.

Lloyd says the museum welcomes loans and donations of memorabilia and will photocopy journals and other forms of correspondence so families may hold on to originals.

“We’d also love to find enemy souvenirs, like flags, armbands, uniforms, books, propaganda leaflets, helmets, rings – anything but weapons” to include in the display, Lloyd said.

This may be the first time such an exhibit has been mounted by a museum in the immediate area, Singleton says. Plans call for some items to remain on permanent view.

In addition to the Valley men and women who served in the armed forces, the region boasted numerous facilities vital to the war effort, Singleton says.

“The Valley had a significant role in World War II, from the Velox Naval Supply Depot, now the Spokane Business and Industrial Park, to what now are Kaiser Aluminum factories,” she said.

And of course, there was Geiger Field, a U.S. defense department training facility for B-17 bombers and C-47 cargo planes. Today, the field is known as Spokane International Airport.

“We want to make sure generations to come can look at this exhibit and know we’ve preserved a critical part of our nation’s past during a great global conflict,” said Lloyd.