Great museum, well worth the visit. Not a huge museum but we spent plenty of time there and enjoyed talking to Ben who was friendly and knowledgeable. Thank you!

Excellent exhibit/museum to the Vietnam War. I had the privilege of visiting the Vietnam War Exhibit and Educational Center (Museum) with my brother-in-law in Melbourne, FL near the intersection of US-1 and Pineda Causeway today. It is 3 miles from I-95 exit 188 off FL-404 (Pineda Cwsy). While small, it is nicely and neatly packed and displayed with memorabilia, infantry equipment from USMC and U.S. Army grunts/infantry, historical documents, photos, magazine covers, etc. I learned more about what it was like for a young American Marine/soldier to arrive in country, the equipment and harsh living conditions they had to fight and live in. While a student of history, I learned a lot of interesting facts during our visit and personal tour with Ben, the owner and curator of the museum, and a Marine veteran of Vietnam War. We learned about the uniforms, ponchos, air mattresses, C-Rations they ate from WWII stocks, etc., weapons, radios, equipment, etc. that Marines and soldiers carried. The museum expands on the history of the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. There’s a new display and plaque by The Three Soldiers in DC and we learned additional symbolisms. Nurse Sharon Lane is one of eight women killed in Vietnam and how her face is the face of the nurse at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial (Ben’s wife is a nurse veteran). The memorial depicts another nurse looking skyward for a Huey evacuation helicopter. I learned more about Agent Orange and how Vietnam Veterans from Vietnam are still dying from and getting sick from the effects of Agent Orange today. Maude DeVictor raised the alarm within the VA to get veterans the help they need with the effects of Agent Orange. My brother-in-law is part of a group of folks and meets periodically with two Vietnam Vets in South Florida who are currently suffering the effects of Agent Orange. There’s a wall with many Life Magazine covers from the Vietnam War and many boots from soldiers/Marines. We learned about Apache, a 19 year old North Vietnamese sniper and interrogator who killed 66 US service members, survived being buried alive from B-52 bomber attacks and was finally taken out by sniper Carlos Hatchcock. We learned about James Borawski a friend of Ben’s who was killed in front of him and Ben received shrapnel wounds in the attack. Ben met Ski’s daughter 51 years after her father died. We learned about the Nasty Class PT Boats and Operation 34A initially run covertly by the Central Intelligence Agency. Take the time to read many of the statistics of the Vietnam War. Two that stuck out with me (I’d seen some of the others): the average age of a Vietnam War veteran was 19 where the average age of WWII veterans was 26. The combat soldier in Vietnam saw an average of 240 days of combat, where the average WWII soldier saw 40 days of combat. This museum/exhibit/education center is WELL WORTH a visit and your time to commemorate ALL Vietnam Veterans . . . those who made the ultimate sacrifice (like my cousin, Barry K. Allmond, O-2 pilot, KIA, 11 May 1972) and those that are still with us today. Never Forget!