Jamieson R. Steele, right, of Morristown's Gateway Museum, discusses several types of bayonets as historical re-enactor and former Army soldier, Luis I. Matos, left, looks on. Getting a peek in the background is Gateway board member and co-chairman of Saturday's opening day festivities, Rich H. Bzura.
MORRISTOWN - To hear a passionate veteran remember his or her war-time experience is enough to make any U.S. citizen appreciate the men and women who fought and died to preserve our freedom.
From verbal history and re-enactors, to service-time pictures and memorabilia ranging from the common to the rare, Saturday's opening day at the Gateway Museum, which included a special World War II veteran's appreciation program, had something for everyone to appreciate.
"Its nice to see the museum, which was once an eyesore, dusted off and now one of the centerpieces of our community," said Gary Alford, Gateway board member and co-chairman of the opening day events.
Patrons toured dozens of exhibits featuring everything from guns and ammo, to medals, uniforms and scrapbooks. Veteran Mike Cousino even brought along some of his handmade diaramas depicting scenes from his tours of duty in Vietnam.
The museum's current World War I, World War II and Korean War exhibits are also on display and were expanded for Saturday's opening day festivities, with the majority of the materials being provided by another Gateway board member, Jamieson R. Steele.
Mr. Steele says he has spent the past 15 to 20 years, "seriously and actively collecting" memorabilia.
"I'm a historian by heart," said Mr. Steele, a Syracuse native who relocated to the Morristown area about five years ago. "First it was old airplanes, then round engines. Then, at an auction many years ago, I bid on what I thought was one military jacket, but ended up getting a bunch."
The rest, as they say, is history. Today, Mr. Steele's collection boasts hundreds of military-issued jackets and uniform pieces, hundreds of pictures, pins, medals, guns, bayonets and other interesting and authentic artifacts.
And, if you talk to Mr. Steele, every piece in his collection comes with a story.
"This one is nine-and-a-half pounds, empty, not counting eight rounds of ammo. Plus they used to jump out of planes carrying these," he said, hefting a vintage, World
War II-era, M-1 Garand. "This won World War II for us," he told Luis I. Matos, a military re-enactor and former Army soldier from Tennessee.
Local veterans like Dick Davis, Charles Foster, Allen Bogardus, Bob Shelato, Arthur H. Colburn, John Lee, and Robert L. Smith were also featured, giving the event some very close-to-home ties. Many showed up in person to meet and greet fellow veterans and others in attendance.
"Its a nice way to kick off our summer season," said Rich H. Bzura, Gateway board member and the other co-chair of Saturday's events. "We have a number of events planned at the museum this summer, and this is just a great way to get things started."
