Posted by Brian in Oregon on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 6:13PM :
Our worst governor ever, Dr. John Kitzhaber (aka "Dr. No") has decided to hold the Oregon Military Museum and other small State of Oregon institutions hostage in his attempt to get the people of Oregon to jack up their taxes.
The Oregon Military Museum, located just SE of Portland at the Camp Withycomb National Guard base, was dedicated to those who served in the Oregon National Guard, the Sunset Division, during the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, and Desert Storm.
The collection consisted of various artillary pieces, half tracks, armored cars, tanks, softskin vehicles, motorcycles and other military vehicles. Also a PT Boat. The museum also served the people of Oregon with an extensive library of military manuals, some dating back to well before WWI. Many reinactors and military vehicle restorers and model builders perused this library. In addition, the Oregon Military Museum has one of the finest military machinegun and rifle collections in the United States. Almost any example of a military machinegun could be found there, including some prototypes. Also uniforms of the Oregon National Guard members from each war, as well as Japanese uniforms and artifacts from WWII (the Oregon NG Sunset Div having fought in the Pacific).
All this is in jeopardy of being divided up and being sent to other museums, since much of it is in the "federal" system. This is a collection that has taken several decades to amass. All because the Governor of Oregon felt a small museum that only had utility bills and one employee (the curator) would save the state budget if it was eliminated.
In addition, local volunteers have put in over the years thousands upon thousands of man-hours helping run the museum and restoring exhibits and vehicles which may wind up leaving the state. Two of the projects are, or were, a 1941 Dodge WC 1/2 ton 4x4 Closed Cab Pickup and a Dodge M37.
If anyone wishes to lodge a complaint with the governor for this rather petty political decision, here is a link to his contact page offering phone, postal and electronic contact. If you are from out of state (or the USA for that matter) then you may to say if you were considering vacationing here and if the Oregon Military Museum was one of the reasons why.
http://www.governor.state.or.us/contact.htm
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