THE BUNKER
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Entrance
Inside
Yard
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Larry E. Smedley Vietnam war museum is located at 3400
N. Tanner Rd
Orlando, FL 32826. It is a Vietnam war museum dedicated to Mr. Smedley for
receiving the medal of honor and for his amazing acts within the Quang Nam
Province, Republic of Vietnam according to originalbunker.org. The reason for
this museum was also to tell about the tragic war that went on within southeast
Asia and to not let people forget the valiant sacrifices that were made against
the war on terror.
The Museum was established in the early 2000s and is operated by the Vietnam and All Veterans of Central Florida, Inc while also being supported by a non-profit organization founded in 1982 dedicated to also helping all service men and women of all kinds of branches within the military. The significance of this museum is to make sure that the events of the Vietnam war don’t go forgotten to recognize what soldiers did to protect people against terror and recreate events and what it was like within this war to show what soldiers had to go through. It also serves to make sure people who pass in and out of the museum will have a better understanding of past and present military conflicts according to museumsusa.org.
Within the time period before the Vietnam war broke out America and the Soviet Union were in a Cold War with each other as the United States opposed Soviet spread of communism. Out of fear that many places would fall under communism, America announced that they would come to aid any country threatened by communism and Vietnam was one such country. Many presidents during this time saw it fit to help such countries such as Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Nixon. Though not everyone was for the war efforts. A movement to protest the Vietnam war was put in place to oppose it. People would burn draft cards. Though the movement would turn a bit violent when the leaders started to state that if they didn’t withdraw the soldiers from the war they would need troops to stop a revolution from going on in the home front of America. About 503,926 soldiers deserted the war effort, questioning its purpose. Opposition to the draft appeared among college students and the hippie movement. Most college students were not actually drafted because they could avoid it by obtaining a deferment.
The Museum though focuses on the events within the war. They even collect artifacts from the war to make it more authentic. They have Vehicles such as a Navy Patrol Boat River, Douglas A-4B Sky Hawk aircraft, and a Bell UH-1 (Huey) Dustoff helicopter. They even have a recreation of Firebase Bastogne in Vietnam which took them about eleven years to re-create. The firebase was the first ever established within Vietnam ever. The Museum even has traveling shows that they do at schools and more to make sure that everyone knows about this even that took place in history.It also has its own Vietnam memorial which is the first one here in Florida to remember all of the veterans who are from Florida who served in the Vietnam war. This museum has its own website which helps people know about the war and how the efforts were fought and how they are helping all kinds of vets and also how they are educating people about this war and what went on within it not only with soldiers but the places the soldiers were stationed and how they lived and way way more. When it opened, The Bunker included the first monument in the state of Florida dedicated to fallen Vietnam War Veterans, with many names of men and women from the state of Florida and now every American can came to see it.
Sources
“Bunker Florida.” Bunker Florida, originalbunker.org/.
“Corporal Larry E. Smedley National Vietnam War Museum.” Museums - The World Museums Network, museu.ms/museum/details/15828/corporal-larry-e-smedley-national-vietnam-war-museum.