Military museum dedicated to retired Mississippi general

JACKSON, Miss. -- A National Guard training post with a rich history is also home to a museum where visitors can learn about military conflicts from the 19th century through the war in Iraq.

The Mississippi Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby was dedicated in November to a retired general who helped establish the museum.

"I am tickled to death with it and this is to me a very high honor," said Gen. Emmett H. "Mickey" Walker, a decorated World War II veteran. "We have had many, many museum buffs that have said it is a world-class museum."

Walker, who lives in Jackson, was awarded bronze and silver stars for his service in the Army's 95th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II, and was part of the Far East Command liaison group in Japan during the Korean War. He served as chief of the National Guard Bureau under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1986. He has focused his energy on preserving history since retiring from the military.

"He led the effort to get the museum established," said museum director Chad Daniels. "He's been working on this since about 1989. He lobbied the Legislature and worked with private donors."

The Legislature appropriated $2.5 million in 1995 and $2 million in 1999 to build the museum, which chronicles conflicts involving the United States from the War of 1812 to the Iraq war.

Walker told The Associated Press that he became interested in establishing a military museum because there wasn't one in Mississippi and "young people are not being taught anything about our military or our military actions."

The museum opened four years ago -- Walker's dedication coincided with its fourth anniversary -- and is home to thousands of displays, including an interactive World War I trench that recreates the sights and sounds a soldier would have encountered during battle.

The museum's 17,000 artifacts include an exhibit that honors Mississippi's 26 Medal of Honor recipients and the 44 Medal of Honor recipients that served or trained at Camp Shelby -- a 136,000-acre National Guard base in south Mississippi with a rich history itself.

Camp Shelby opened in 1917, and was named for Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky, when thousands of soldiers from Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia trained there with the 38th Division.

More than 100,000 soldiers trained at the base during World War II, including the Japenese-American 442nd Regiment, which became one of the most decorated units in the war.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, the first Japanese-American to serve in Congress, trained at Camp Shelby with the 442nd. He was awarded the Medal of Honor after charging an enemy machine gun nest in Italy when his unit was under fire. He lost his right arm in the war.

Camp Shelby was also a prisoner of war camp that housed thousands of Germans during World War II.

Today, the camp is training soldiers for duty in Iraq and other crisis areas. Nearly 20,000 soldiers have trained there since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Soldiers train in a mock Middle Eastern city -- complete with blown-up cars and buildings covered in Arabic graffiti -- that has been carved out the rolling hills at the base south of Hattiesburg.