Corporal Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum

The historical landmark I have chosen to research and write about is Corporal Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum. The museum is located in Orlando, specifically next to UCF, just off of colonial road. It is surrounded by neighborhoods and is a convenient drive from any direction. The Vietnam war has always been an interest of mine in history as it is incredibly important, and my grandfather was drafted into the war. Fortunately, he is still with us here today, but I know that that is not the case for many people, so I believe this Museum deserves the attention. The museum is in a good location and has a bunch of amazing features to really give an in-depth and fascinating experience.

The reason the museum is named accordingly is because of Larry Eugene Smedley. He (Mr. Smedley) was a local kid to the Central Florida area that attended the local schools as every kid in this area did. He enlisted in the United States Marine corps on March 8^th, 1966. It wasn’t until a year later he arrived in Vietnam. Eventually he was promoted to corporal, and unfortunately on December 21st of 1967, as he was killed in action.

The Museum itself offers many exhibits and artifacts from the war. The museum has a US Navy patrol river boat known as the river rat. It is essentially a speed boat that patrolled the rivers of the Vietnam area. It also has a 4B Skyhawk aircraft which is a jet like plane. Additionally, it has a dust-off helicopter, which is a helicopter that was typically used to drop troops off and pick up injured ones. It also has numerous artifacts such as a room size fire base re-creation (a room where soldiers took shelter from fire and other hazards), that took over 11 years to complete. So, it has everything from large to small exhibits, and recreations and actual artifacts from the war.

Understanding what the museum has and how it came to be is really important. The museum was originally called the National Vietnam Veterans War Museum but was later changed to Larry Eugene Smedley National War Museum because of the Orlando native, Larry Eugene Smedley. This took some time as many Vietnam veterans came together and wanted to build something that had such rich history, and such a great meaning to them. They wanted it to be named after Smedley as he won the Nobel prize in the war and was a local town hero. The museum also encourages veterans to come by for learning experiences and to remember the events.

Corporal Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum. Museums - The World Museums Network. (2014). Retrieved February 23, 2023, from http://museu.ms/museum/details/15828/corporal-larry-e-smedley-national-vietnam-war-museum

This website provided an overall explanation of what the museum is and why it came to be. It really showed why the war was important and why this landmark is a great tribute to our history. It is a website made by various historians that go around and indulge on many museums around the world. The title led me to assume the site would talk about what the museum is and what it entails, and that is exactly what I got from it. I would be okay using this is my research paper as I went through and looked at some of their other articles about other museums and they are very well written and do a great job explaining the museum and what it has to offer.

I accessed this site though google, and more specifically through searching the name of my chosen museum into the websites database.

Larry Eugene Smedley: Vietnam War: U.S. Marine Corps: Medal of honor recipient. Congressional Medal of Honor Society. (2018). Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/larry-e-smedley

This article explained who Larry Eugene Smedley was and what he did in the Vietnam war. Considering the museum is named after him I believe it is of utmost importance to know more about him and his accomplishments during the war. It is an article written by a journalist that describes Mr. Smedley’s Vietnam encounter. The title led me to believe that the article would focus on him rather than the museum itself, and that’s exactly what I got. I would definitely use this article as it as an organization ran website and gave some great insight as to why the museum is called what it is.

I accessed this article through google in an attempt to understand the museum more, but I am incredibly happy I dug a little deeper and stumbled onto this as it provides a great background for the reason the museum is named what it is.

Cpl. Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum. Cpl. Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum, Orlando, Florida at museumsusa.org. (2021). Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/21479

This article explained a bit more about Mr. Smedley’s life before the war, and how he was a local kid to the Central Florida area. It also talked about the museum itself, so it did a great job covering all aspects. It is website from an organization that once again specializes on museums all around. The title led me to believe it would be all about the museum, but I was surprised and excited when it started talking about what he did in high school and life before the war. I would use this article in my research as it covered many things that I find to be important and also very fascinating about Mr. Smedley, and the museum itself.

I accessed this article through google, and more specifically through a websites database. From the main page of their website, I was able to find great information about the museum.

Medal of honor Monday: Marine Corps Cpl. Larry Smedley. U.S. Department of Defense. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2449818/medal-of-honor-monday-marine-corps-cpl-larry-smedley/

This article went into detail about Mr. Smedley and why he was granted the medal of honor, and why the name of the museum was changed in his honor. His courage acts in the war got him his Nobel prize, and created a respect that nobody could deny. These acts led to a decision to ultimately change the name of the museum to honor a hometown here.

I accessed this article through google in an attempt to learn more about his Nobel prize, and how the museum got its name.