DUBOIS, Wyo. - Tucked along U.S. Highway 26 in rural western Wyoming, about 80 miles east of Jackson Hole, the National Museum of Military Vehicles is one of the most ambitious military history projects in the country.
The $100 million, 160,000-square-foot facility houses the world's largest private collection of restored military vehicles and has earned back-to-back TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice awards since opening in 2020.
On Saturday, March 28, the museum will host a daylong ceremony honoring Vietnam veterans, combining two observances into a single event designed to deliver what so many who served in that war never received, a proper welcome home.
The Community Event
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and First Lady Jenny Gordon will arrive at noon aboard a Wyoming Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, accompanied by the state's adjutant general and senior leaders from the Wyoming Veterans Commission. The Black Hawk will remain on site for public viewing throughout the afternoon.
At 1 p.m., the governor will lead a Welcome Home ceremony recognizing several of Wyoming's Vietnam veterans by name, followed by a performance from the Eagle Society Drum Group from the Wind River Indian Reservation at 2:15 p.m.
The afternoon features two film screenings. The first is "Victory on the Battlefield and in Peace," a 14-minute educational video produced as part of a collaboration between the museum, the Wyoming Department of Education and the University of Wyoming's Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program.
The film provides a concise overview of Vietnam's history from French colonization through the war's aftermath. That will be followed by the community premiere of "Home from the Vietnam War," a new Wyoming PBS documentary directed by Mat Hames of Alpheus Media.
The documentary tells the story of U.S. Army Lt. Lee Alley, one of Wyoming's most decorated Vietnam veterans. Alley, from Wheatland, served from 1967 to 1968 with the 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry of the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Soldier's Medal, two Purple Hearts and two Air Medals.
A panel discussion will follow the screening. The event runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is open to the public.
Two Dates, One Ceremony
The March 28 event honors two distinct observances. National Vietnam War Veterans Day falls on March 29, permanently designated through the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, which President Donald Trump signed into law.
The date marks the 1973 departure of the last American combat troops from the Republic of Vietnam and was the first federal statute specifically providing for the recognition of Vietnam veterans. March 29, 1973, was when Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disbanded and the final elements of the infantry security force left the country.
Wyoming Veterans Welcome Home Day falls on March 30. The Wyoming Legislature codified the observance in state law during the 61st Legislative Session in 2011 as Enrolled Act No. 15. The date was chosen because it represents when returning troops would have first begun arriving on Wyoming soil after the withdrawal.
The law directs the governor to issue an annual proclamation honoring veterans of all wars, with particular attention to those from Vietnam and Korea who were never properly welcomed home.
For decades, Vietnam veterans lived with the reality that the country they fought for did not want to acknowledge their service. The federal designation and Wyoming's state law are part of a broader, ongoing effort to correct that failure while the generation that served is still around to witness it.
The Museum and Its Vietnam Collection
The museum is the creation of Dan Starks, a former lawyer and CEO of medical device company St. Jude Medical, who personally funded the entire project. Starks bought a World War II tank in 2014 to drive in the Dubois Fourth of July parade.
That single purchase spiraled into a collection of more than 500 military vehicles and the construction of one of the most comprehensive military museums in the United States. The museum opened its WWII gallery in August 2020 and added its Vietnam and Korean War galleries on Memorial Day weekend of 2021.
The Vietnam War exhibits occupy the 40,000-square-foot General Lewis "Chesty" Puller Gallery, named for the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. Designed and built by experience firm Roto, the gallery goes well beyond static displays. Visitors walk a winding trail through a re-created nighttime jungle with thousands of hand-sculpted bamboo stalks, projection-mapped moonlight and guerrilla fighters emerging from tunnel openings.
A restored M109 155mm Howitzer anchors a firebase display while distant battle sounds and helicopter operations play across an animated mural. Among the Vietnam-era vehicles is a UH-1B Huey, one of only eight manufactured for the U.S. Navy, according to the museum.
Starks has said the Vietnam exhibit is among the most important things the museum does. "Being able to honor these veterans and being able to have their families see their sacrifice remembered and highlighted while they're all still alive is a pretty big deal," Starks told Wyoming Public Media. "We really do our best to indicate how tough the combat conditions were in Vietnam and then how successful Americans who served in Vietnam were on the battlefield, even though the war was so controversial at a political level."
Honoring Vietnam Veterans
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 6 million Vietnam-era veterans are still alive today, 600,000 of which served in Vietnam itself. The U.S. Army estimates more than 500 of them die every day.
More than 58,318 names are etched into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., including 120 from Wyoming. The window to thank these men and women in person is closing fast.
Unlike the generation that returned from World War II to parades and the GI Bill, Vietnam veterans came home to a country that blamed them for a war they did not start. Many were advised not to wear their uniforms in public. Military leaders at the time recommended returning troops travel in civilian clothes.
Some veterans endured hostility from the very communities they had left to serve. Others, like Lee Alley, spent decades wrestling with the emotional aftermath in silence before finding their voices. Many veterans who served in Vietnam went decades without ever being thanked for their service.
The March 28 event at the National Museum of Military Vehicles, located at 6419 U.S. Highway 26 in Dubois, is an opportunity to honor veterans who have overwhelmingly been forgotten for more than 50 years old. For more information, visit nmmv.org.
