Oregon Military Museum

The Oregon Military Museum preserves the state's military heritage for future generations. It uses its collection to educate members of the public about Oregon's military legacy. The museum's collection includes objects that tell the story of Oregon's military history from its early militia units through current Oregon National Guard operations and deployments. In addition, the museum's artifacts and exhibits feature all branches of the America's armed forces.[1][2][3]

The Oregon Military Museum has a unique collection of artifacts and documents that highlight the role of the Oregon National Guard and individual Oregon veterans have played in the history of the state and the nation.[1] The museum's multimillion-dollar artifact collection highlights military history and traditions from Native American warriors through today's Global War on Terrorism. The museum has more than 14,000 artifacts in its collection, including 50 vehicles, more than 750 weapons, 1,300 uniforms and five military aircraft. There are also 30,000 volumes in the museum library along with 750 cubic feet (21 m³) of archival material.[4][5][6]

The collection includes tanks, trucks, jeeps, and various field artillery pieces. The museum's extensive military firearms collections include rifles, pistols, and other handheld weapons. The museum's firearms collection is one of the largest west of the Mississippi River. It has smaller items as well, things like bayonets, helmets, uniforms, and unit patches. The museum's insignia collection has rank, branch, and unit patches dating back to the Spanish–American War. The insignia collection by itself has an estimated value of a quarter of a million dollars. In addition, the collection has over 1,000 demilitarized examples of shells, grenades, and other ordnance.[4][6][7]

The museum is surrounded by a 4-acre (1.6 ha) heritage park with an honor garden. There are interpretive panels throughout the park that highlight the state's military history. A historic field artillery horse barn built in 1911 and a quartermaster storehouse are also located in the park. Both structures are part of the museum and are open to the public.[5][6][8]

The Oregon legislature established the Oregon Military Museum in 1975. The museum was given responsibility for professionally maintaining the state's collection of military artifacts. It was placed under the authority of the Oregon Military Department. The museum was created to educate visitors regarding Oregon's military heritage, honoring members of all branches of the United States Armed Forces.[1][3][9]

From 1975 to 2009, the museum collection was housed in three buildings at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas, Oregon. The museum facilities included its main building with a 6,000-square-foot (560 m²) exhibit area, a field artillery horse barn, and a World War II era Quonset hut.[3][9]

A realignment of military installations and facilities in 2005 provided the opportunity to move the museum into the old Clackamas Armory located at Camp Withycombe. The armory was built in 1954 and has 32,000 square feet (3,000 m²) of floor space. With the additional space, the museum plans to significantly expand its display area. However, funding to renovate and reconfigure the building delayed the museum's reopening.[1][3][5] As a result, the main museum has been closed to the public and the museum's collection of artifacts has been in storage since 2009 pending completion of the building renovation project.[4][6]

In 2009, the Oregon National Guard commissioned an architectural master plan along with a landscape plan to guide the development of the new museum complex. The master plan defined the project scope and design elements necessary to transform the old armory building into a state-of-the-art museum.[1]

Thayer (right) with former governor Vic Atiyeh

In 2011, the Oregon Military Museum was renamed Brigadier General James B. Thayer Oregon Military Museum in honor of James B. Thayer, a retired United States Army brigadier general who served on active duty during World War II.[1] In 1945, Thayer's platoon liberated a Nazi concentration camp, saving the lives of 15,000 people who were held at the camp. Thayer went on to serve a full career in the United States Army Reserve. After retiring from the Army Reserve, he was re-activated for service as commander of the Oregon State Defense Force, one of three components of the Oregon Military Department at that time. The museum was named after Thayer to recognize his long and exceptional service to the United States military and the State of Oregon.[1][10][11][12]

In 2013, an updated architectural plan further refined the museum expansion project's scope and content, adding new and innovative design features to the museum layout and landscape plans. In addition, the project team included a full-time person from the Oregon Military Department's installations division. The team that designed the new museum was headed by architect Don Stastny, in cooperation with the Hacker architectural design firm.[1][5][8]

Construction of the new museum began in 2015. The project was expected to take several years to complete.[5][8] When construction is finished, the new Oregon Military Museum and the adjacent historic park will honor Oregonians who have served in America's armed forces. The museum's exhibits will highlight the history of Oregon's military department and its citizen soldiers. It will provide an important educational resource for sharing the state's military heritage through unique artifact and veterans' stories.[5]

The development plan for the new museum calls for three main areas on the 4-acre (1.6 ha) site, a central plaza, an interpretive park, and the main museum building. The central plaza contains visitor entrance and parking areas, an honor garden recognizing all Oregon's veterans, and the tracks and treads pavilion with large vehicle artifacts. The park includes an area of old growth trees and two historical buildings, the Battery A field artillery horse barn and a quartermaster storehouse. The main museum building is adjacent to the central plaza. When visitors enter the lobby, they will find the guest services center and the museum store. From there, visitors can begin to explore the permanent military history exhibits in the main hall, side galleries with temporary exhibits, and the museum's weapons collection.[13]

The new museum will have more educational programs and improved visitor services as well as expanded research facilities. The new facility will include over 13,000 square feet (1,200 m²) of professionally designed educational exhibits that range from displays of Native American warrior traditions to exhibits that explore Oregon's participation in America's global war on terrorism. The new museum will also have a Hall of Valor that recognizes Oregon military personnel who performed acts of great courage while serving in combat.[5][13]

After the old Clackamas Armory became available to expand the Oregon Military Museum, a 501(c)(3) organization called Oregon Military Museum Project was established. The organization was founded by Amy Maxwell, Tommy Thayer, and James Thayer Jr. The goal of the non-profit organization was to raise $20 million to expand and modernize the museum. The project plan called for the development of a 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m²) state-of-the-art museum facility at Camp Withycombe, utilizing the old Clackamas Armory as the main museum building. The project is also raising money for design and installation of exhibits in the new facility. As of 2017, $12 million had been raised from public and private donations.[5]

General Thayer's son, Tommy Thayer, is the lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss. To raise money for the museum, the Oregon Military Museum Project has sponsored several concerts featuring Kiss.[4][6][8] One of those concerts was a private performance held in Lake Oswego, Oregon in 2014. That event raised over $1 million for the museum.[14] In 2017, a Kiss concert in Portland, Oregon raised an additional $1.4 million.[15]

Once the new museum is completed and open to the public, the Oregon Military Museum Project will transition into a permanent foundation that will work with the Oregon Military Department to create an endowment that will provide long-term financial stability for the museum's operations.[5]

Every year in May, the Oregon Military History Museum hosts a living history day at Camp Withycombe. That event is open to the public. It offers the opportunity to explore historic buildings, military weapons and vehicles, and museum displays. In addition, living history interpreters reenact events from World War I through present day military operations. In 2018, the living history day offered a preview of the exhibits inside the historic quartermaster storehouse and the field artillery horse barn.[1][13][16]

• Oregon Military Museum
• Oregon Military Museum Project