Museum unveils new Cold War exhibit

  • Published
  • South Dakota Air and Space Museum
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. --  The South Dakota Air and Space Museum officially unveiled its new Cold War display Sept. 1, making it available for public viewing. 

The display features Cold War-era items including: uniforms, reference material, flags, a piece of the Berlin Wall, insignias and weaponry. 

"The goal of this new display is really aimed at marking other aspects of our Cold War heritage as Airmen," said Tech. Sgt. Steven Wilson, SDASM director. "We have a large part of our museum dedicated to the nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile mission we used to have, but the Cold War was much more than just that."

The museum worked in combination with Ellsworth and the local community to pull the project off.

"What's really significant about this display is that it came from a combination of Ellsworth's active duty Airmen and other veterans in the Black Hills community," Sergeant Wilson said. "This was truly a joint effort, and it couldn't have happened without the support of the base and our neighbors in the local area."

The director and others are now working toward their next project -- a display dedicated to Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

"Our active duty Airmen and our community neighbors are invited to donate or loan whatever memorabilia they have, so they have a chance to tell their story," he said. "America's servicemembers are making the very history our descendants will read about one day, and it's important to mark their contributions toward the conflict we continue to face. When all of the contributions are gathered, we plan to open the new exhibit, Sept. 11."

To contribute to any display or find out more information, call the SDASM at (605) 385-5188.