Finally a museum for us men!…read more
What was the highlight of my visit to Salt Lake City: the Mormon Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake Temple, Capitol building, Cathedral of the Madeline? We visited all of these and they were the highlights for my wife, but nothing memorable for me!
The wife has to drag me out to visit these rose gardens, horticultural exhibits, art museums, fossil museums, churches, and religious artifacts museums.
The wife was attending a conference at the Salt Lake Palace Convention, when I snuck away and took the light rail from downtown to the University of Utah, 3 miles away, to see the Fort Douglas Military Museum.
Imagine the following historical scenario:
American M4 Sherman tanks, covered by Browning heavy 50 caliber machine guns, each bullet can rip off an arm, advancing against German PAK high velocity 75 mm long barrel anti tank guns, with American 155 mm Long Tom heavy artillery firing from 10 miles away.
This is recreated at the Fort Douglas Military Museum on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. The Sherman tank, the 50 caliber machine gun, the 75 mm PAK anti tank gun, and the 155 mm Long Tom are all here, non operational, but the real thing!
The Fort Douglas Military Museum is one of the very few military museums with actual World War II armor and artillery pieces - a dream come true for a player of historical board and video games!
Fort Douglas was originally built in the 1862 as a fort to protect the pony express routes, and later the railroads. Washington sent a cavalry of several hundred men to man the fort and deter any potential Mormon insurrection. They were housed in these very log cabin like barracks.
The fort has actual armor and artillery from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the 1973 Arab Israeli War. Huey and Cobra Helicopters from the Vietnam War are here. There is an American built Israeli armored personnel carrier, with a TOW missile launcher, and a six barrel Gatling anti aircraft gun mounted on the top, in desert tan camouflage, and Israeli markings.
They were in the middle of a move and remodeling, with the entire World War II Pacific Theater of Operations room packed up.
Very few military museums on the West Coast -there is the aircraft carrier Midway in San Diego, with WWII carrier aircraft, and an aircraft museum in San Carlos. World wide, I've visited the Imperial War Museum in London and Bovington tank museum in southwest England, and a military uniform museum in Monterey CA.
Place is closed Sunday and Monday, and open noon to 5pm Tuesday-Saturday. Entrance is free, manned by World War II or Korean War veterans volunteers. Probably the last time we will be able to converse with these veterans, as World War II ended in 1945, 70 years ago almost to the day of my visit. I let them do the talking, and it was incredible listening to them recall history.
My only regret is that my grandkids were not here to enjoy this museum -they would have gone bonkers climbing over the artillery pieces! Highlight of my visit to Salt Lake City.