HOUMA, La. (WGNO) — Located near historic downtown Houma sits a gem that tells the story of our nation’s conflicts.

Regional Military Museum President Will Theriot explains, “This museum is dedicated to conflict the United States was involved in, starting with the Revolutionary War. All we have from the Revolutionary War is just pictures. We have a few artifacts from the War of 1812 Civil War artifacts, we have WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.”

The museum began when a veteran who fought for our country sought to share his experience.

“One of the veterans said look I got some stuff I brought back from Germany, I got stuff I brought back from Japan. Let’s start a museum. And that’s how the museum got started,” said Theriot.

That veteran, founder C.J. Christ, is also a military history buff, who wanted to explore the region’s contributions to World War II.

Christ said, “Very few people have much knowledge about what happened in Southeast Louisiana during the war, so I thought it would be a good place to start that kind of study.”

The museum showcases dozens of artifacts from the various conflicts and the experiences of the veterans, including that of Christ, who faced many close calls as a fighter pilot in the Korean War, “We had bullet coming from those Soviet airplanes that shot our antenna off and that’s how close we came to being shot down.”

Our military history is on display in the bayou with hopes of appreciation for the men and women who fought for our liberty.

“I want them [visitors] to take away with the fact that ‘Gosh America is great’ and look what America has done for the world,” said Theriot.

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