Sunday, July 13, 2025

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Across the street from the Naval Air Station Wildwood Museum (NASW) Aviation Museum in Rio Grande is a museum that represents a defining event in many Americans’ lives – the Vietnam War. It’s an important time in U.S. history that founder Tom Collins won’t let people forget, even if it was a time of deep controversy. The Forgotten Warriors Vietnam Museum is dedicated to preserving and exhibiting memorabilia from Vietnam War veterans, as well as allowing people to reflect on the cultural and military importance of the war.
Although the museum now displays over 1,000 artifacts, mementos and photographic material, the collection began in a tiny closet at NASW in 2004. At the time, Collins was working at NASW and mentioned that he would like a space to showcase his own personal memorabilia from his time in Vietnam, serving as an 18-year-old helicopter door gunner from 1967 to 1968.
As word spread, Vietnam veterans began donating items and Collins’ collection grew. He purchased a small trailer and took a traveling display case to schools and VFW halls, but the collection eventually outgrew the trailer. He was able to lease a vacant lot owned by the county across the street from NASW, where he moved his collection into a 1960s mobile home.
The Forgotten Warriors Vietnam Museum quickly outgrew this space, so Collins collected funds and built the museum’s current building with the help of two other volunteers. The museum opened its doors to the new space in 2008. Today, it displays a large collection of uniforms, medals, letters, flags, photos, weapons, scale models and dioramas, military equipment and much more from both the Vietnam and Korean wars. With countless items all donated by Vietnam and Korean veterans, the collection has already outgrown its current building, and Collins is making plans for an addition.
Admission to the Forgotten Warriors Vietnam Museum is free. The museum is located at 529 Forrestal Rd., Rio Grande, and can be reached at (609) 374-2987.