VFW POST 3331 PLEDGES $18,000.00 TO AAHS
VFW Post 3331 presents members of the Ashville Area Heritage Society with an $18,000 pledge.
Terry Brown, Trustee VFW 3331 and Bill Culp, commander; the late Michael Lon Cummins, Past President AAHS;
Andrew Hite, Treasurer; and Charles Cordle, founding member of the AAHS.
VFW Post 3331 in Circleville has
made an $18,000 pledge to the Ohio Small Town Museum in support of the
museum’s goal to expand its programs and improve its collections—especially
that part of the collection that honors the contributions of local men and women
who served this country in war and in peace.
One of the major pieces in the collection is an extremely rare 17-star
U.S. flag (also known as the Ohio Statehood flag).
Ohio militiamen carried flags bearing this design into battle during the
War of 1812. Another important
artifact is a crushed metal buoy from the U.S.S. Maine.
The destruction of the Maine was the incident that sparked the
Spanish-American War. The
buoy in the collection still is encrusted with coral from the harbor in Havanah,
Cuba.
The museum also features
displays honoring Eugene Lacey Wheeler, Pickaway County’s high profile Vietnam
MIA, as well as double purple heart designee from World War II, Master Sergeant
Elmer Neff who died at Iwo Jima. There
is an extensive display on the life of Vice Admiral Harlan H. Christy, from
Pickaway County. Christy was
identified as a naval hero during WWI for his actions on the ill-fated U.S.S.
San Diego. Others include:
Rick Brown who was killed in action in Vietnam and World War I Supreme
Commander-General “Black Jack” Pershing.
The Circleville VFW Post’s pledge is the first in an upcoming campaign to raise at least $250,000 for the future development of Ohio’s Small Town Museum in Ashville.