Ruckersville is home to the Viet Nam War Foundation, a small private collection of military equipment. This is less than a mile from my house & was holding an open house over Memorial Day weekend. I hadn’t been to see their collection before, so I headed over on Monday once I had unpacked my truck from the SLR Belle Grove Rendezvous.
Several items were set up outside in the field just for the Open House. Yes the tables & chairs are vintage military equipment.
The sentry post only gets a sentry for events.
The Foundation has over a dozen vehicles, including a helicopter. All are in running condition.
I found the equipment of daily life in a field unit the most interesting part of the displays.
The interior of a transport – infantry support vehicle
There were also small displays on the south Vietnamese army & the Viet Cong equipment.
Even a vintage VW with newspaper articles on the war protests at UVA in Charlottesville.
The event was well attended, it was actually hard to take photographs that didn’t include visitors. The owner of this collection is himself a Viet Nam war vet.
I learned of my government’s involvement in Viet Nam when I was just shy of 10, I would be almost 25 before it was finally over. A close childhood friend died there, several of my adult friends served there. It’s a war that shaped me as an adult in ways that are actually rather complicated, conflicting and very difficult to talk about .
But it was a good visit and a good way to spend a Memorial Day afternoon.
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