Saturday, June 25, 2022
Weatherford, Texas – After more than 5 years of construction and over $3 million in fundraising, the new Main Building – Phase I will open to the public on Saturday, June 25, 2022, with a dedication ceremony, open to the public, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Activities include presentations by city and state leaders, senior officers representing the U. S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, keynote speaker Troy Evans, and a ribbon-cutting at the end of the program.
After the ribbon cutting, the new 2-story, 20,000-square-foot building will be open to the public for viewing. Parking on-site will be limited to invited guests, board members, vendors, and museum staff. Special parking arrangements for the public will be available on the VF Outlet parking lot on Hwy 180 in Mineral Wells, with overflow parking at the Mineral Wells Airport. Free shuttle buses will be provided from both places.
It is recommended that the public arrive earlier than usual, allowing 30 minutes to an hour to reach the seating for the event. The public parking areas will be available beginning at 8:00 a.m. on June 25. The museum’s grand opening has been over twenty-five years in the making.
The idea of a creating a national museum to serve as an educational facility to provide accurate information about the Vietnam War was first discussed by a small group of retired Army helicopter pilots back in 1994. The group formed a nonprofit corporation and elected a board of directors in 1997. The group decided the best location for the museum would be near the former Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas. During the Vietnam War, most of the nearly 40,000 helicopter pilots were trained there. Helicopters were extremely important in the war, justifying its name as the Helicopter War.
In 1999, the museum board purchased a twelve-acre site on Highway 180 west of Weatherford and just east of Mineral Wells located at 12685 Mineral Wells Highway (U.S. 180), Weatherford, Texas 76086. Fundraising to develop the museum began shortly thereafter, and work began on the site in 2006. Six gardens and two parking lots were built over the following 10 years, including one containing a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Wall located in Washington, D.C The wall is unique, in that it is the only replica wall that is updated annually so that the names match those on the wall in Washington and the garden includes a computer kiosk where names can be searched by last name, city, or state to determine their location on the wall.
One of the facilities located on the George W. Bush ranch during his presidency was acquired in 2011 and renovated to serve as the initial Visitor Center for the museum. In 2017, the board began national fundraising in earnest and, with the help of many donors, began planning the museum’s Main Building. The facility will be built in four phases, each phase having galleries with varying exhibits representing key activities during the war. Fundraising continues to support the construction of Phase II.
The three galleries in Phase I are named Introduction to the Vietnam War, The Home Front, and Fort Wolters/Camp Wolters. The museum has several interactive exhibits, allowing museum visitors to examine many artifacts up close, rather than just seeing them behind glass.
For details about the museum’s upcoming events and exhibitions, please visit the website at www.nationalvnwarmuseum.org, and also follow the museum on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/nationalvietnamwarmuseum.
The museum will be open on Wednesdays through Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. after the June 25 ceremony.
The National Vietnam War Museum
12685 Mineral Wells Hwy (Tx Hwy 180)
Weatherford, TX (1 mile east of Mineral Wells, TX)