Astray Fish

A surprisingly extraordinary collection of American military historical pieces, housed in a large American Legion annex building.

Maine Military Museum and Learning Center

American history buffs, take note! Hidden off a side street in South Portland, Maine, is an extensive military memorabilia collection. Covering over 6,000 square feet, it packs in THOUSANDS of authentic artifacts. Every single wall is covered in interesting items. Definite WOW around every corner!

Looking for a way to honor our veterans and also educate yourself and family on American history? Consider stopping at the Maine Military Museum. We visited during Memorial Day week as a way to acknowledge our veterans’ sacrifices and achievements. The admission is FREE! But PLEASE consider a donation if you are able.

Highlights include rifles, grenades, swords, helmets, flags, propaganda, scale models, POW relics, and over 50 mannequins in full military regalia! They also have hundreds of new and used books for purchase.

The museum is staffed by a few veterans who engage visitors and answer questions. It is not a guided tour, visitors are able to wander through the multiple rooms at their own pace. But the Veteran staff add context to the artifacts, and recite personal stories that enrich the educational and emotional experience.

The museum’s curator is Lee Humiston, a 50 year career (now retired) Air Force veteran. He has made it his life’s work to recover and conserve the historical pieces, and educate future generations. A definite labor of love. He often is at the museum giving personal tours, very approachable, and greets guests personally. Ask him what his USAF nickname was!!

The walls are LINED with small gold plaques honoring individual military personnel. See “Tips” below on how to order honor your loved one in this manner.

While my sons were interested in the 1800’s rifles and extensive collection of fighter pilot helmets, I was blown away by some the historical items on display. They hold large collections from EVERY SINGLE American War. Authentic representative pieces from the Army, Air Force, Marine, Navy, National Guard, Coast Guard.. they have something from every branch of service.

Pre-Revolution

They have an original 300 + year old New England flag with the Maine State Pine tree on it! This red flag was used by the colonies prior to the American Revolution. This was honestly the first time I had ever even seen this flag. It is an extremely rare specimen and I was humbled to see an original in this hidden museum. Many Revolutionary War items are also on display.

Our veteran tour guide also demonstrated in detail how a musket rifle would have been loaded and fired. For this he used an actual antique rifle and let us feel the weight of it!

Civil War

Astonishingly, the Maine Military Museum houses the original Civil War flag that was planted in Texas by the 15th Maine Regiment.  See their webpage for a description of it’s raising in 1863 during the Civil War.

Remember the Maine!

Spanish American wartime relics are plentiful. There is an interesting plaque commemorating the sinking of the Maine. The plaque was made from recovered metal off the sunken USS battleship Maine.

World War 1

I was surprised to see how many hats survived 100 years!

World War II

There is an entire room dedicated to WWII Pacific theatre. On display are captured flags, POW remnants, Japanese military items, newspaper clippings, etc.

Another room houses the European theatre relics. Many Germans Nazi relics are contained here but I chose not to show photographs of the Nazi emblem on this page. They have concentration camp items and photos. It was very humbling and sobering.

Vietnam:

The museum has an extensive collection of Vietnam war memorabilia. Some of the staff are Vietnam veterans themselves, and give amazing context to the display items.

Iraq and Afghanistan:

An extensive collection of Iraq and Afghanistan theatre items are displayed. My kids really enjoyed the scaled down tanks and aircraft carrier models.

Don’t miss the collection of female military member uniformed mannequins. It is rare to see and  I really appreciated seeing our female vets honored this way.

My father was a veteran and would have loved visiting this museum. The veteran staff were familiar with places my father was stationed, and the aircraft he worked with. It was a great way to better understand that part of his life (and the many other veterans in my family). Consider bringing your veteran relatives here and learn from their recollections while you tour the museum together.

TIPS:

Maine Military Museum and Learning Center – Google Maps

The admission is FREE! But please consider a donation if you are able. It would be crime for this museum to be broken into pieces in the future.

Call ahead/check website to be sure of updated hours.

Teachers take note – this place is perfect for elementary and high school field trips!

We planned on spending 30 minutes here, but spent almost 2 hours with still more to see on our next trip!

There is a free parking lot onsite.

No food or drink allowed in the museum, give your kids a snack in the car before going in.

Keep younger kids occupied by asking them to find USA flags that predate our 50 states.

There are clean bathrooms on site.

View their extensive website prior to or after your trip. I wish I had read through it a bit before we visited! Lots of interesting history to give context to the exhibits. Great for teachers!

Consider supporting the museum and honoring your veteran loved one by purchasing a small plaque with their name and military details. There are hundreds of these plaques, and they give a personal touch to the displays. I am going to order one for a veteran in my family that has passed on and would have loved to visit this museum. Memorial Plate Order Form

Kids hungry and antsy after the tour? Consider extending the day with a visit to Broadway Bowl, 5 min away. They serve great smashburgers. Stay tuned for a future blog on Broadway Bowl

Note: All images and descriptions within this blog are historic in nature and not meant to qualify actions of war on either side, but meant for educational purposes and to honor the sacrifices of our veterans and families.

Have you visited the Maine Military museum? What was your favorite part? Email me at:

kit@astrayfish.com

Unless otherwise stated, all photos throughout this blog are my own and cannot be printed or distributed without my permission.