HISTORICAL COLLECTION INTO A MUSEUM ARCHIVE.
MUSEUM ARCHIVE. AS A YOUNG BOY, BRIAN MUNDELL
LISTENED TO HIS GRANDFATHER
RECITE STORIES ABOUT A TIME
SERVING IN WORLD WAR II.
THE TALES INSPIRED BRIAN'S
LIFELONG FASCINATION FOR
MILITARY HISTORY.
MILITARY HISTORY. BUILDING MODELS, READING BOOKS,
AND COLLECTING WAR PEOPLE DELIA.
DELIA -- MEMORABILIA.
TODAY, THE IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION
FEATURING OVER 1,000 ITEMS
ACROSS MULTIPLE MILITARY
CONFLICTS SITS ON DISPLAY FOR
TERRE HAUTE VISITORS.
>> I WENT TO NORMANDY FOR THE
D-DAY LANDING ANNIVERSARY.
I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, WHAT I WILL
START COLLECTING THIS STUFF.
I STARTED LOOKING FOR HELMETS
AND UNIFORMS AND ALL OF THAT,
AND THAT'S KIND OF HOW THE
COLLECTING STARTED.
COLLECTING STARTED. THEN THAT KIND OF PARLAYED INTO
COLLECTING WORLD WAR I AND
VIETNAM AND ANYTHING I COULD
GET.
GET. AT SOME POINT I WENT FULL BORE
WITH IT.
WITH IT. I DON'T KNOW.
I GUESS I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS
REALLY NEAT TO HAVE SOME OF THE
THINGS THAT HAD MAYBE BEEN THERE
AND DONE THAT, AND, YOU KNOW, I
JUST SLOWLY BECAME A PASSIONATE
HOBBY OF MINE.
I WAS TRYING TO TRACK DOWN THESE
THINGS.
THINGS. YOU KNOW, IT'S ALWAYS FUN TO GET
SOMETHING WHEN IT'S HARD TO GET.
EVERY YEAR, THERE WOULD BE MORE
AND MORE STUFF IN MY BASEMENT
AND SOME OF MY FRIENDS WOULD BE
TELLING ME, HEY, WHY DON'T YOU
START A MUSEUM?
AND AT FIRST I'M LIKE, I'M NOT
GOING TO DO THAT.
I'M NOT GOING TO START A MUSEUM.
>> WITH THE EVER GROWING
COLLECTION, AND AN EVER
SHRINKING STORAGE SPACE, BRIAN
REALIZED IT WAS TIME TO GIVE THE
ITEMS A MORE PERMANENT HOME.
AS THE OWNER OF A CABINET
COMPANY IN DOWNTOWN TERRE HAUTE,
BRIAN ALREADY POSSESSED A
BUILDING IF A HIGH TRAFFIC AREA
OF UP TO.
OF UP TO. SHIFTING HIS BUSINESS TO ONE
SIDE, BRIAN CONVERTED THE
REMAINING SPACE, ALTERING THE
STORE FRONT, BUILDING CUSTOM
DISPLAY CABINETS AND CATALOGING
ITEMS AND CREATING TERRE HAUTE
FIRST MEMORIAL MUSEUM BEING
HONORING MILITARY SERVICE.
>> MY GOAL WAS TO GET TO A POINT
WHERE PEOPLE COULD COME IN HERE
AND MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF AN
EXPERIENCE OF WHAT VETERANS WENT
THROUGH, HOW THEY DRESSED OR HOW
HEAVY THEIR COATS WERE.
JUST ITEMS THAT THE AVERAGE
LAYMAN WOULD NOT THINK ABOUT.
I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING
SUBSTANTIAL FROM ANYTHING FAMOUS
BUT I HAVE A LOT OF STUFF FROM
THE COMMON SOLDIER AND THE
COMMON SOLDIERS ARE THE ONES
THAT DO THE DIRTY WORK AND THEY
ARE THE ONES THAT WIN THE WARS
AND HAVE TO FIGHT THE BATTLES.
>> THE MAJORITY OF ITEMS ON
DISPLAY HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED
LOCALLY AND BRIAN TAKES EXTRA
CARE TO GATHER AS MUCH
INFORMATION ON THE HISTORY OF
EACH ITEM AS WELL AS THE
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE
ITEMS' OWNER.
ITEMS' OWNER. >> YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GO THROUGH
THE MUSEUM, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT
OF EVERYTHING IN HERE, WHETHER
IT'S A PACK OF CIGARETTES FROM
WORLD WAR II OR THE RATIONS THAT
THE GUYS HAD TO EAT OR THE
TRENCH COATS, THE GUNS.
I MEAN, I WANTED TO TRY TO
ENCOMPASS EVERYTHING, JUST TO
GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE
APPRECIATION OF WHAT THE GUYS
HAD TO GO THROUGH.
I JUST FELT LIKE IT WAS MY
MISSION TO HONOR OUR VETERANS
AND THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY I
COULD DO IT.
I NOTICED THAT THERE'S BEEN --
THERE'S BEEN A HANDFUL OF IRAQI
AFGHANISTAN VETERANS WHO HAVE
COME IN HERE.
ONE EVEN ADMITTED THAT HE CAME
IN HERE BECAUSE IT WAS HEALING
TO HIM, WHICH I CAN'T COMPREHEND
BECAUSE I HAVE NOT BEEN IN HIS
SHOES.
SHOES. BUT HOWEVER -- HOWEVER IT HELPS
ANYONE, THAT'S GREAT WITH ME.
IN FACT, ONE OF THE BOYS AROUND
HERE WHO WAS KILLED HIS DAD HAD
COME IN AND HE CAME IN TWO
WEEKENDS IN A ROW ONE TIME.
THIS WAS A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO,
BUT HE SAID IT WAS A HEALING
PROCESS FOR HIM.
I NEVER ENVISIONED THAT PART
WHEN I STARTED THE MUSEUM, BUT
IF THAT'S WHAT IT DOES, THEN,
YOU KNOW, GREAT.
SOME GUYS FROM THE
503rd PARACHUTE REGIMENT
FOUGHT IN THE PHILIPPINES.
THEY MET HERE IN TERRE HAUTE AND
I THINK THERE WERE 11 OF THEM
THAT CAME.
THAT CAME. ANY TIME YOU CAN GET 11 WORLD
WAR II VETERANS TOGETHER, THAT'S
PRETTY RARE BUT THE NEAT THING
TOO IS THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH
THEM COMING TO THE MUSEUM, THERE
WAS ALSO A CUB SCOUT PACK THAT
CAME.
CAME. SO WE HAD SIX, SEVEN,
8-YEAR-OLDS THAT WERE HERE WITH
A BUNCH OF 90-YEAR-OLDS, AND ONE
OF THE THINGS THAT WAS REALLY
NEAT WAS THE CUB SCOUTS WENT
THROUGH AND SHOOK ALL THE HANDS
OF THE VETERANS, YOU KNOW BEING
AND THEY SAID THANK YOU.
YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T GET ANY
BETTER THAN THAT FOR ME.
THERE'S SO MANY MEN AND WOMEN
WHO HAVE SERVED IN THIS AREA,
AND PEOPLE JUST TAKE THAT FOR
GRANTED.
GRANTED. I GUESS ANY TIME YOU CAN TOUCH
AND FEEL AND SEE SOMETHING UP
CLOSE, IT'S EASIER TO GET AN
APPRECIATION FOR IT WHEN YOU CAN
GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL