A trip to the Harold L. Bradley American Legion Post 584 in Marion this weekend takes visitors into history.
“I want to feel like they go back in time to get an idea about the Vietnam War,” Chuck Van Voorhis, 74, said. “This is the way I remember it.”
Van Voorhis, who is a Veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, spent 13 months in Vietnam, and his memories are a central part of the Vietnam War Experience Traveling Museum on display in the Legion’s banquet hall.
The museum showcases a wide variety of memorabilia, including uniforms from all U.S. military branches, weapons, and photos, along with more than 18 displays featuring scenes ranging from Marine boot camp to the experience in the jungle and encounters with the Viet Cong fighters.
Students from several schools have taken free tours this week, which is the first time Van Voorhis and his wife Annette have set up the annual museum since the pandemic.
The idea started as a Vietnam Awareness School involving school visits and talks with a local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America in the 1980s, but when that chapter closed, Van Voorhis said he took it over with some sponsorship from the Legion.
“This is the 35th year we’ve been doing (this). We’ve put thousands and thousands of kids through this school,” Van Voorhis said. “It’s easier to talk to kids about something as harsh as war when you can show them things.”
He and Annette have accumulated their extensive collection through personal items, donations, military surplus stores, thrift stores, and a recent trip back to Vietnam, Van Voorhis said.
“It’s our life, I guess,” Annette said with a smile. “It’s therapy for him. I support him 100%.”
While the focus has always been preserving and sharing the history of the Vietnam War, Van Voorhis said it’s also become a way to help with his PTSD.
“Some Veterans when they were in Vietnam, they’ve seen different things, like you see around the room, like munitions and guns, and they haven’t seen anything since. I see it all the time,” he said while also crediting his wife for her help.
“She keeps me kind of going on the on the straight and narrow,” Van Voorhis said.
The Ohio Department of Veterans Services has recognized his commitment to educating more the 35,000 students. He was inducted into the Ohio Veteran Hall of Fame in 2015.
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