Interested in learning more about the exhibits you can expect to see when you visit the Regional Military Museum? Check out our showcase below! This page will be updated regularly with new exhibits.
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Showcase
In the 1950s, Phenix City was a hotbed of illegal gambling, prostitution, and organized crime. Soldiers training at neighboring Fort Benning, Georgia happily made the 15-minute car ride across the Chattahoochee River to take advantage of the city’s nightlife. The neon-soaked 14th street (bottom left photo) housed the majority of the city’s gambling dens, brothels, and bars.
Patterson’s murder caused unrest in the city, to the point where Alabama Governor Gordon Persons ordered in the National Guard under the command of Major General Walter J Hanna. Originally brought in to aid the local police, Hanna soon realized that Phenix City’s police department was rife with corruption. Governor Persons declared martial law on July 22, 1954, which allowed the Alabama National Guard to assume law enforcement duties (first three photos, from left to right). The National Guard completely decimated the vice syndicate in Phenix City, destroying gambling devices (two bottom photographs to the right) and purging most of its public officials from office. The city’s first “free” election in decades took place in November 1954, and with a new government elected, martial law was ended in January 1955.
Further reading:
HAWK Missile Launcher
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When the United States sought an option for a medium range, semi-active surface-to-air missile during the early 1950s, what resulted was the HAWK missile system, targeted toward low-flying aircraft.
The Regional Military Museum in Houma is proud to display an exhibit showcasing the HAWK missile system, including a tractor used to load the launch trailer that would ultimately fire the missiles in combat.
Honoring the Black Sheep
/On Jan. 6, 2005, as the Iraq War raged on, a roadside bomb destroyed a Bradley fighting vehicle on a routine patrol near Baghdad, immediately sending the vehicle into flames.
Occupying the vehicle were six members of the Louisiana Army National Guard’s Second Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Infantry Brigade. The deaths of these six members blindsided residents of the Bayou Region…
Read MoreBernice Pontiff
/On July 28, 1945, Houma native Bernice Pontiff headed into work for what likely seemed like any other shift at Longchamps, a high-end restaurant stationed in the Empire State Building. Little did she know then that July 28 would mark an infamous day in the history of the famed New York City skyscraper…
Houma Naval Air Station
/It can be hard to believe that little Houma, Louisiana, could have played a such a significant role in the United States’ efforts during World War II. Yet, Houma’s name will forever be in the country’s history books as one of only 10 Naval Air Stations (NAS) constructed as hubs for patrol blimp operations along the coast of the U.S. during the war…
Trench Art
/From the earliest days of wars in American history, soldiers sought out an escape from the pressure, exhaustion, and cruelty of the battles around them.
Sometimes, that escape came in the form of creative, artistic outlets that served a twofold purpose: to make the most of one’s free time, and to produce souvenirs to bring back home to the United States as a reminder of one’s service to the nation.
Read MoreLocal War Efforts
/World War II proved to be a lucrative time for production in the United States, with even the smallest states and cities getting the opportunity to be part of valuable efforts that contributed to the U.S.’s large-scale success in the war…
Purple Hearts
/Terrebonne Parish is the proud home of numerous local Purple Heart recipients, and the Regional Military Museum is honored to display some of their badges within its walls for visitors to view…
Charles Davidson: A Survival Story
/If there is anyone who represented his country, state and city with the utmost honor, it is late Terrebonne Parish native Charles Henry Davidson, a former World War II pilot and longtime public servant of Houma whose story of survival in the jungles of New Guinea has sealed his legacy as a local hero…
Read MoreAir Force One Aero Commander
/President Dwight D. Eisenhower left behind a legacy as an American icon when he passed in 1969, immortalized in history as both the five-star general during World War II who oversaw the famous Battle of Normandy and the 34th Commander-In-Chief of the United States…
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