Vogt: Camp Dodge dates back to April of 1909, named for Major General Grenville Dodge of Council Bluffs.

Museum has been here for 40 years this last June.

We tell the story of Iowa veterans, Iowa units, Iowa's military past within the larger context of U.S.

and world military history.

Typically for families, you can usually find somebody that's served in the military.

That's a commonality of the American experience.

And so objects are memory triggers.

Veterans come in, and so oftentimes they'll, "I carried one of those when I was in basic training," or, "Those are just like the boots that I wore in Vietnam."

Being able to elicit those stories from visitors based on what we've put on exhibit oftentimes results in a very educational experience for me and others.

Courtier: As everybody should know, Camp Dodge is the Army National Guard.

I was not in the Army.

I was in the Air Force.

I was a medic years ago.

And the Gold Star Museum.

And what does that mean?

At the very front, we've got six pictures of individuals who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

They're all Iowans, and they've all -- they're all Iowans that have been in different conflicts throughout the years.

It's a great history lesson to just walk through and take your time and look at everything that's on display here, 'cause it's been all very carefully put together.

Vogt: One of the museum's prized possessions is a Civil War Medal of Honor that was donated by the family of Edward James Bebb.

Bebb served in the Civil War in the 4th Iowa Cavalry, fought at the Battle of Columbus, Georgia, in April of 1865, and we have a 100% complete Civil War Medal of Honor that was awarded to private Bebb.

Iowa plays a major role in the Civil War, serving mostly in the western theater.

One of the most costly battles that Iowans ever fought in was the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, in April of 1862.

More Iowans were lost, killed, captured, reported missing than any other -- any other battle in the state's history.

So we have a diorama here showing Iowans of the 7th Iowa Volunteer Infantry defending an area known as the Sunken Road.

Courtier: I think I love the fact that a lot of people didn't know that this was up here, and it's been rewarding to have people, when they leave, tell you, "Oh, this is really well done."

One of the things that's really fun to let the kids know about -- there is, around the corner over here, a mock-up of a conning tower.

That's -- That's something you would actually see on a -- you know, a submarine.

And in that tower, yes, there's a fully functional periscope.

It goes right through the roof, and they can walk in 360 degrees and see what's going on outside.

So it's a lot of fun to let dads and moms know about that, and the kids' eyes just light up.

Vogt: The exhibits that they like are the submarine control room.

They enjoy entering the armored personnel carrier.

It looks like a tank.

It's not a tank.

It's an armored personnel carrier.

But to them, it has tracks, and it looks like a tank, so they climb in there.

And the World War I trench is a favorite just because of the -- the light and sound experience that we deliver.

But we have an F-16 cockpit simulator.

When they visit, we can put them in the cockpit.

They can roar down the runway, fly in the air, shoot the guns, fire some missiles, learn some aerobatics.

In the early 1920s, Japanese scientists discovered the jet stream, so they devised a method of constructing balloons with an intricate system of barometers to maintain the altitude.

They had to travel 5,500 miles across the Pacific.

They would be over the continental United States, and then the last four, five fuses would drop four incendiary bombs and one demolition bomb.

They were, for all intents and purposes, the first intercontinental weapons.

They manufactured about 10,000.

Atmospheric conditions contributed to three of them coming down in northwest Iowa one at Laurens, one near Holstein, and one near Pocahontas.

Most people that walk in here say, "I have never heard of this story," but a few of them came down.

One came down intact.

The ones that were found in Iowa, they were debris.

Museum work is a field where you're always learning.

We've had volunteers that have served for years and will come to me and say, "How long has that been on exhibit?"

"About four or five years."

So there's a lot to see here, a lot to experience, and so, yeah, if you're interested in military history, pay us a visit.

We can help you out.