The Arizona Military Museum is a lesser known museum in Phoenix that many Arizona residents
are unaware even exists. The museum is located just outside Papago Park within the Papago
Park Military Reservation, a facility of the Arizona Army National Guard, near 52nd Street
and McDowell. Papago Park nearby is known for its uniquely shaped buttes and as the
location of the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens. Since the museum is located
on an active military facility, the area is fenced off and visitors will need to enter
through the base’s main security check point. An armed guard will check your identification
before you are able to enter the complex.
The actual museum is located in the Arizona National Guard Arsenal building that was constructed
by the Works Progress Administration in 1936 for the state’s quartermaster regiment.
The original hand carved wooden doors, now displayed inside, were created by a WWI veteran
and feature images from the Great War and the influenza epidemic. The history of the
National Guard’s use of this land for military purposes began in 1909 when the northwest
portion of Papago Park was withdrawn from the public and used by the 158th Infantry
Regiment of the Arizona National Guard. Uses over the years have included a small arms
target and rifle range, a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp between 1933-1938, a training ground
for an infantry regiment at the beginning of World War II, a prisoner of war camp during
WWII between 1942-1946, an Army Reserve Center since 1952, and as the headquarters for the
Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs since 1975.
Upon entering the museum, there are a number of exhibits displaying Arizona military history
from the Spanish colonial period to the present. Uniforms and weapons fill the display cases
and offer an intriguing look into the role that Arizona has played within the various
wars that the United States has been involved in. These include the Mexican-American War,
conflicts with Native Americans, the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam
War and more recent efforts against terrorism. Several weapons, including machine guns and
German armor, reveal insights into America’s involvement in WWI. A number of displays covers
Arizona’s involvement in WWII and includes uniforms, weapons, and flags from American,
Japanese, and German soldiers. Special attention is given to the Native American code talkers
that helped to safely communicate messages during the war.
As mentioned before, this area of Papago Park was used as a prisoner of war camp during
WWII and on December 23, 1944, 25 German navy officers and sailors escaped through a 178
foot tunnel they dug after an elaborate plan they devised. Several hundred soldiers, FBI
agents, and Native American scouts were mobilized to locate the escaped Germans. All of the
prisoners were eventually captured, but some almost made it to the Mexican border. The
Great Papago Escape was the largest escape of prisoners from a POW camp on American soil
during the war. An exhibit on the second floor of the museum covers this widely forgotten
event from Arizona’s past. Original photographs of the prisoners, as well as paintings and
other items that prisoners made while at the camp are on display.
In an additional exhibit room downstairs, several items from the Vietnam War are available
for viewing, including a number of uniforms, weapons, photographs, and miscellaneous items
such as the “Down with Ho Chi Minh” banner seen here. Items from both American and Vietnamese
soldiers are included. The U.S. fought alongside the Republic of South Vietnam against communist
North Vietnam during the war and a large yellow and red flag of South Vietnam hangs on the
wall above a U.S. Army helicopter from the period. A U.S. Army Jeep from the war is parked
beside that as well.
The final exhibits in the second story gallery cover such topics as the First Gulf War, the
War in Iraq, the global War on Terrorism, and women’s involvement in the military.
While relatively small, the Arizona Military Museum offers an interesting look into the
state’s military history from the earliest Spanish explorers to the present. The museum
is free to the public, but does accept donations. Run entirely by volunteers, the museum is
currently only open on Saturdays and Sundays between 1 to 4pm, so be sure to check the
hours before you arrive.
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