Pass In Review   "Shedding Light On Idaho’s Military History"
1st Quarter	March 2000

MEMBERSHIP MEETING ANNOUNCED

The next quarterly membership meeting will be held on 25 April at 7:00 PM at the NEW LOCATION of the Idaho Military History Museum, 4748 Lindberg, Bld 924, Gowen Field.

We are honored to have as our guest speaker Brigadier General Cozine who will recount some of his experiences during his service in Viet Nam where he was awarded the Bronze Star.

A video of his unit was made during that time period so this will be a very interesting and enlightening evening. Please join us, again, that is 25 April at 7:00 PM. A map showing the new location of the museum is just below.

NEW MAP TO MUSEUM

Click here for a map to our new location!

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Well, we did it. We moved the Museum from Building 303 to Building 924! Many members and volunteers put in long hours to make this happen. We also have many other individuals and organizations we need to say a special thank you to as well.

Marie Crandall made a donation to our Endowment Fund in the name of her husband John Crandall, former State chair of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn.

Thank you to Commercial Glass. During our move, 2 large glass panels on display cases were broken. Commercial Glass replaced them at no charge and also arranged for a truck and driver to move them for us!

Thank you to Kwal Howell. During our sprucing up of Bld 924, Kwal Howell donated 10 gallons of paint to aid our efforts.

Thank you to Fred Heywood. He and his wife donated 15 display cases. Several new displays have been erected using them and the Gift Shop benefited as well. You need to see the results to truly appreciate it.

Thank you to Gordon Trounson. He arranged and paid for a complete steam cleaning of the carpet in Bld 924.

Thank you to Parnassus Books. They donated in excess of 300 books and documents on Military History to us.

Thank you to Wayne Mitchell, Commander of American Legion Post 136 for all his efforts in the January Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser. Thanks to his efforts, we raised close to $1700. In appreciation for all his hard work, the Board awarded him an Honorary Membership!

Thank you to SFC Ric Holmes for the photographs of the Museum and Gift Shop. Those photos are now on our webpage and the Gift Shop is now an on-line mail order catalogue!

Thank you Marie, Commercial Glass, Fred, Gordon, Kwal Howell, Parnassus Books, Wayne, SFC Holmes, we deeply appreciate all your efforts.

- Ken Swanson

"May the courage and heroism of which this Medal is a symbol always remind us of our debt to these men, and clearly point to the personal responsibility which every American has today to share in the work of helping to build a healthy and peaceful world." -President Harry Truman, July 10, 1948

IDAHO FILE INTO HISTORY

Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Headquarters Company, Shore Battalion, Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment. Place and date: Near Finschafen, New Guinea. 17 October 1943. Entered service at: Preston, Idaho. Birth: Grace, Idaho. G.O. No.: 17, 26 February 1944.  

Citation:"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Finschafen, New Guinea, on 17 October 1943. When wounded late in September, Pvt. VanNoy declined evacuation and continued on duty. On 17 October 1943 he was gunner in charge of a machinegun post only 5 yards from the water's edge when the alarm was given that 3 enemy barges loaded with troops were approaching the beach in the early morning darkness. One landing barge was sunk by Allied fire, but the other 2 beached 10 yards from Pvt. Van Noy's emplacement. Despite his exposed position, he poured a withering hail of fire into the debarking enemy troops. His loader was wounded by a grenade and evacuated. Pvt. VanNoy, also grievously wounded, remained at his post, ignoring calls of nearby soldiers urging him to withdraw, and continued to fire with deadly accuracy. He expended every round and was found, covered with wounds dead beside his gun. In this action Pvt. VanNoy killed at least half of the 39 enemy taking part in the landing. His heroic tenacity at the price of his life not only saved the lives of many of his comrades, but enabled them to annihilate the attacking detachment." (End of Citation)

"Junior was born at Grace, Idaho August 9, 1924." "Junior, a student of the Preston high school, entered the service of his country …in February of this year. He was stationed at Ft. Warren, Wyoming, in March and was sent overseas with the army engineering corps in June with headquarters in Australia." --Preston Citizen, Volume Forty-Three, October 28, 1943.

According to the Preston Citizen, Nathan K. (Junior) VanNoy was 19 years of age. Junior had been previously wounded in action on September 20 but his wounds had been slight and he returned to duty on September 22. He was killed in action on October 17^th and is buried in Grace Idaho.

Nathan K. (Junior) Van Noy's medal is one of the 8 accredited to the state of Idaho.

Special thanks to the Idaho State Historical Library and Archives for their assistance with this article.

VOLUNTEER OF THE QUARTER

Cynthia joined the IMHS in December 1996, shortly after she donated the photos her father took at Gowen Field during World War II.

She began volunteering her time at the Museum to help set up an exhibit of the photos she had donated and soon began spending more and more time at the Museum assisting with other projects.

In October 1998 she was elected to serve of the Board of Directors and accepted the challenge of becoming the Treasurer.

What started out as a day or so now & then has turned into 3 full days per week. To say that Bob and Gayle would be lost without her is an understatement!

In addition to her Treasurer duties, she also assists in display development and labeling, conducting Museum tours, routing information inquiries, acquisitioning artifacts, and anything else that needs doing.

O Charles W. Brandeberry    O Marie M. Crandall

O Marjorie M. Davis         O Loren Grout

O Mehrle Jennings             O The American Legion of Idaho

O EE-DA-HOW Long Rifles Inc.

O Gena Mills                     O Tom Mills

O Wayne Mitchell                O Howard 'Tad" Tadlock

O Lucile Westby

¶ We are planning a Grand Re-opening of the Museum in May in conjunction with the anniversary of VE Day.

Our plan is to hold a breakfast similar to the one we had in January and then hold a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday the 6^th of May after the breakfast.

We will need some extra help to be able to do this. We won't be holding any kind of contest but if your family keeps telling you that you are a flap jack flipper extraordinaire, we would like to hear from you.

Send us an e-mail or give Bob or Cynthia a call at 422-6128.

· We have been invited to have a booth at the upcoming Twin Falls airshow at the Twin Falls Airport in July.

This type of events is a lot of fun! Not only do you get to help the IMHS, you get to meet lots of people and see the show. We are planning on taking the dog tag machine this time so we can make tags along with selling items from the gift shop.

If this sounds like something you would enjoy doing, let us know. Again, send us an e-mail or call Bob or Cynthia at 422-6128.

We are in the process of acquiring an outdoor static display courtesy of the Army Guard. Some of the items now on display include an M548 Ammunition Carrier, an M59 Armored Personnel Carrier, an M106 Mortar Carrier, and a CEV. We will also be getting an M60 tank, a 155 Howitzer, and a M110 8" gun.

We also received a segment of armor plate from the quarterdeck of the USS Boise. It depicts the Japanese ships it sunk during the WWII battle Esperance.

WEB PAGE UPDATE

We are now a hotlink on Zidaho.com, the newest "What is Happening In Idaho" Web Page. We are listed under the Non-Profit Organizations and they added a link to our Website!

A new feature on our Web Page is our Online Museum Gift Shop. It includes updated photos of the items available as well as order forms.

You can now mail order a birthday present to Uncle Charlie or even order a set of dog tags for him, yourself, or your kids.

There are also some photos of the inside of the Museum. They were taken while the move was still in progress but they give a good indication of how much space we gained by the move.

JUST IN CASE

If you misplaced the membership application you picked up at the Museum or if you haven’t had a chance to send in your renewal for 2000, here is your chance. Just clip the enclosed application and send it in with your TAX DEDUCTIBLE contribution. The form can also be used to make a donation or an endowment pledge. If you aren’t  sure what your renewal date is, check the address label on your newsletter, it lists the month and year your renewal is due.