27 Jun
Very busy day! We started out this morning at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum here in town. They opened at 0900 hrs and we were there when they unlocked the doors. I believe this is the first place we have visited on this trip where they still require masks and the gift shop was still shut down. Ugh! It was sort of deja vu here. A very young Doreen and Ed stole away from Norwalk in March 1979 for a fifth wedding anniversary getaway! We would have been 24 years old with Michelle (almost 4 years old) and Jennifer (a month and a half old). We came down to Kansas City and stayed in a hotel just across the road from the Royals stadium. One of the places we visited was the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, and I have proof!
That's me standing behind the 1941 Chrysler Royal Club Coupe in 1979. We tried to reproduce the picture the same but they would not flex the rules and allow me to go behind the barricade
A 24 year old Doreen
The museum is very well done, laid out chronologically starting with Truman back in Missouri as a farmer, a Veteran in the Guard, a failed business owner, county judge, Senator and Vice. His tenure as the 33rd president of the United States began on April 12, 1945, having just been Vice President for 82 days before FDR passed away in office. Some pictures:
Marker from the USS Missouri where the Japanese surrender was signed.
Some really nice displays
Recreation of his office in the White House
Television in his office
Downstairs are three of his automobiles. Two of them are shown above and then there is his 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan. It was one of the fleet cars designed by Ford for the Truman team. It has seating for seven, and a high compression V-8 that developed a whopping 152 horsepower!
Another item that caught my interest was a corded switchboard used in the Muehlebach Hotel, which is where Truman set up shop when he returned to Missouri while in office. One of his accomplishments while here was to enact the "Truman Doctrine", an effort to assist countries that were in danger of falling under communist control.
Outside the museum we toured the Gravesite where Truman, his wife and their daughter are buried.
The Courtyard and Gravesite
From the Gravesite area we entered a display of his office which is connected to his library. His office is as if he locked the door last night. Everything remains as he left it.
Finally, the Eternal Flame of Freedom. This flame is "Dedicated to the memory of President and Legionnaire Harry S. Truman on the 72nd Anniversary of the American Legion. March 15, 1991"
From here we headed back to the RV Park but we decided to cruise the downtown Independence area as we has some time to spare. It looks like a thousand other Midwest downtowns. We noticed it was very clean and well-maintained. We plan to visit this area in more detail later in the week.
Downtown Independence MO
1827 Log Courthouse was the temporary home for Jackson County Government and was operational as late as 1932 under Judge Harry S. Truman
We headed back to the RV for lunch before heading out for the afternoon adventures , first stop "The Money Museum" which is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. This was an interesting display of newly minted Negro League baseball coins, the Truman Coin Collection, various displays about our money, and Gold Bar and the Cash Vault!
The Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues
The Negro League Teams
Doreen and Jackie Robinson
The Truman Coin Collection
A history of the Federal Reserve Bank includes a Thompson sub machine gun, standard equipment at the bank back in 1928
Some history of the Federal Reserve Police
We were able to view the Cash Vault but we could not take any pictures. In the vault we could see literally racks after rack after rack of cash money being stored. Pilotless fork lifts were moving the money around. In another room we saw workers sorting and counting cash bills, all done by machine of course. No pictures allowed there either.
Should have likely been on a $2 bill but we will take a C-note!
Next stop, the National World War I Museum and Memorial which was not far at all from the Money Museum. The memorial towers (literally) above the museum, like 217 feet above the museum! And it is a tower, complete with elevator for quite a ways then stairs which reminded us of climbing lighthouses!
As we approached we entered the "Walk of Honor" which leads you up to the Museum entrance. Above that is the Tower.
The Walk of Honor
We entered the museum and purchased our tickets and then was suggested we tout the tower first as it shuts down earlier than the museum. Four 40 ft tall Guardian Spirit (Courage, Honor, Patriotism and Sacrifice) watch over the Memorial.
We entered the Tower quickly and rode the elevator by ourselves all the way up to base of the stairs and then ascended the 45 steps to the observation deck. We exited the doorway and found ourselves looking out 217 ft over Kansas City.
Doreen climbing the stairs like a boss!
A little pano from the top
Looking back south at the Walk of Honor
We toured the tower at just the right time as we had no wait. When we got back down to the bottom, there was a significant line, considering only eight at a time can go to the top.
Exhibit Hall
There are two structures on either side of the Tower. The one to the west is the Exhibit Hall and the one to the east is the Memory Hall. We headed to the Exhibit Hall first and there we found an exhibit entitled "Empires at War - Austria and Russia". There were many displays relating to Austria and Russia's involvement in World War I .
Exiting the Exhibit Hall we passed the base of the Tower and then headed over to the Memory Hall.
The Memory Hall was occupied by a Virtual Reality display entitled "War Remains". That was an additional cost which was not included in our tickets, so we took the elevator down to the main museum and entered there.
I took many, many pictures inside the museum and will not attempt to post all them here, but here are a few. Summarizing, there were displays on all aspects of World War I. Much of the beginning of the War did not directly involve the United States. Later the United States involvement was covered. We saw the history, uniforms, artifacts, gas warfare, artillery, a tank, a motorcycle, etc. There were displays on trench warfare, the medical aspects, aircraft, submarine warfare. There was a replica bomb crater. Many video displays, etc. This was an outstanding museum and documentation of World War I. If you were to read every display you would need to be there a week or more. So, a few pictures:
Global War - how did World War I get started and who was involved
A display of trench warfare
Many displays of weapons from various countries
a Trench mortar - check out the diameter of the projectile!
More weapons
The detail of their recreations was incredible
World War I Air Aces - Many familiar names here. Von Richthofen, Hermann Goering, Billy Bishop
Naval involvement
A torpedo
A panoramic movie with display in front
A 1918 Ford Model T Truck Light Delivery Body
Trench weapons
A nice example of the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) and a 1917 Browning Machine Gun
British Tank
1917 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle. Over 20,000 saw duty over seas
This is Henry Johnson, a member of the all-Black unit called the Harlem "Hellfighters". Salute to Service. Zoom in on this digital photo mosaic and see it was created with hundred or thousands of other pictures.
This was an outstanding museum and like others, you could spend days here. Tomorrow we tour the Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals.
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