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Last Chance to see WWII Exhibit at The Rockpile

Photo courtesy of Rockpile Museum

The “Dear Folks: Letters Home from WWII” Exhibit is closing this Saturday, Sept. 21. The Campbell County Rockpile Museum exhibit features the letters and stories of eight WWII servicemen from Campbell County with two special Saturday presentations.

Old-timey telephones hang on the wall at the museum under the photos of each serviceman as their letters are read on the other end, most by their own sons and nephews. Arranged around the photos are military memorabilia specific to each serviceman with additional letters nearby for visitors to read.

“This is your one opportunity to hear these letters, to read the letters, and to learn about our local men who went off to war,” said Campbell County Rockpile Museum Director Robert Henning. “These stories are important. If we don’t tell them, they will be lost.”

To commemorate the exhibit’s final day, the museum is offering two additional presentations of “Black & Yellow Theatre: Voices of the Powder River Basin from the Black Hills to Yellowstone” at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The interactive experiences will each last 30 to 45 minutes and will tell the complete story of Campbell County and WWII, according to Rockpile Museum Educator Stephan Zacharias.

“These are the people who helped build the community to what it is today, so we are really honoring them and their sacrifice during the war years,” said Henning.

”Dear Folks” opened in February of this year and was set to close in May; however, it was extended. According to Henning, after the exhibit closes, most of the memorabilia will be going back to the families of the servicemen.

Zacharias noted that a new temporary exhibit that highlights the Campbell County Women of WWII will be unveiled in the spring of 2020.

A video on the making of the exhibit can be found here. Photos below provided by the Rockpile Museum.

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