The Traveling Fool
Traveling off the tourist path. Talking about those places most tourists just don't know about because, well, nobody ever told them. Also travel tips and news about travel and tourism to make your trip a little easier, cheaper and more memorable.
The Traveling Fool
From Kansas City to Palawan: Forgotten Stories of Valor
Every monument tells a story. Every museum preserves voices that might otherwise be forgotten. As a veteran who served for two decades, I've always been drawn to military history – not for political reasons, but because these sites connect us to our shared human experience.
From the moment you step into the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, you're walking above a symbolic field of 9,000 poppies, each representing 1,000 combat deaths during that conflict. This museum isn't just a collection of artifacts – it's the result of passionate citizens who raised millions in just days following the war to ensure those sacrifices wouldn't be forgotten. The 80,000-square-foot facility houses over 300,000 items that tell the complete story of a war that fundamentally changed our world.
Military sites often reveal surprising stories, like the George Patton Museum I stumbled upon in Pilsen, Czech Republic. Created by a local man whose historical collection was once confiscated by Soviet authorities, this museum stands as a testament to truth – documenting how American forces, not Soviet troops as communist propaganda claimed, were the ones who liberated the region. Or consider the Palawan Special Battalion Memorial in the Philippines, which commemorates both Filipino guerrillas and American POWs who suffered horrifically under Japanese occupation.
American sites like Fort Pulaski in Georgia, with its 11-foot thick walls that proved vulnerable to new rifled artillery, and the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, which now honors perspectives from both sides of that conflict, remind us that military history isn't just about tactics and weapons – it's about human ingenuity, courage, and the consequences of our actions.
This Memorial Day, between barbecues and sales, take a moment to remember those who died while serving. Better yet, plan a visit to one of these remarkable places where history comes alive. As the saying goes, those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it – and these museums ensure we never forget the full human cost of conflict.
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Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where we explore the most intriguing aspects of travel, culture and history. I'm your host, bob Bales, and today, in honor of Memorial Day, we are talking about some of my favorite military-related museums and sites. So stay tuned and we'll be right back. You know, even before I joined the military and spent 20 years of my life there, I enjoyed military history. Whenever I travel anywhere, if there's no military site or museum nearby, I'm going to visit it if I can. And before we start, let me just say I don't care what your political beliefs are or whether you agree or not with their politics at the time. To me, it's history, and I've always found it interesting From the way they defended their forts to the way they advanced in battle, the stories of the soldiers on both sides and what they went through at the time. Now, whether you agree with one side or the other, to me it's history. As much as people want to rewrite history or dispute the facts, it's history. As much as people want to rewrite history or dispute the facts. The bottom line is that it's history. You know, I think I got this view when I was in high school and I had one of the best history teachers ever, mrs Briscoe. She taught history the good, the bad, the uncomfortable, the truth, without opinions on whether it was right or wrong or injecting her beliefs. She just taught history. I've always tried to look at history and historic sites in that light, and I've had the opportunity of visiting museums and sites in several countries around the world, including the Eagle's Nest in Burgess Garden, germany, and Hitler's bombed-out home there, numerous World War II bunkers and tunnels, military cemeteries, old forts and battlegrounds, and I'm going to tell you about a few of my favorite military sites and museums to visit. The first we're going to talk about is the World War I Museum in Kansas City, missouri.
Speaker 1:You know, soon after World War I ended, kansas City leaders formed the Liberty Memorial Association. They did it to create a lasting monument to the men and women who had served in the war. In 1919, the citizens of Kansas City raised more than two and a half million dollars in just 10 days. You know that's the equivalent of more than 40 million today. This staggering accomplishment reflected the passion of public sentiment for the Great War that had dramatically changed the world. In 1921, more than 100,000 people gathered to see the Supreme Allied Commanders dedicate the site of the Liberty Memorial. This was the first time in history these five leaders were together in one place. Construction on the classical Egyptian revival-style monument was completed in 1926, and the Liberty Memorial was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge in front of more than 150,000 people.
Speaker 1:The physical structure of the Liberty Memorial deteriorated and it was closed in 1994 due to safety concerns. But once again, the citizens of Kansas City voiced their support for the Liberty Memorial and in 1998, they passed a limited-run sales tax to support the restoration. In addition to reviving the memorial, plans took shape to expand the site by building a museum to better showcase the World War I-related objects and documents that the memorial had been collecting since 1920. Thanks to the support of Kansas City and the state of Missouri and the United States government and a generous individual donors, more than $102 million was raised for the restoration and expansion. Official World War I museum and construction started on a new 80,000 square foot state-of-the-art museum and a research center underneath the Liberty Memorial. Today, the museum has 80,000 square feet, the main gallery is 50,000 square feet and the museum's exhibition space well. It holds over 300,000 World War I artifacts and I visited this museum several years ago when I was on a trip to Minnesota.
Speaker 1:I spent a couple of days in Kansas City and I want to tell you it is a fabulous, fabulous museum and the volunteers that work there are highly knowledgeable about all the exhibits and all the events that happened during World War I. There's a lot of things there that I did not know, even having gone through a lot of history classes in school. In addition, all kinds of weapons and armaments. There's stories about the soldiers, stories about the conflict, stories about how they lived, the battles and the things that went on that led up to World War I, during World War I and the aftermath. It is a fabulous, fabulous museum and if you ever get a chance, you need to stop by and visit it. I would plan on spending at least four hours there, if not the entire day, because you could spend the entire day there and still not see everything that they have Now.
Speaker 1:Another of my favorite places that I've visited over the years is Fort Pulaski in Savannah, georgia. Now. Fort Pulaski took 18 years to build, from 1829 to 1847. In fact, there was a young lieutenant by the name of Robert E Lee who was in charge of substance and other planning during the early construction of the fort. The fort is surrounded by a moat seven to eight feet deep. Fort Pulaski's walls tower are 22 feet high inside and 32 feet up from the outside moat. There's a parade ground inside Fort Pulaski that stretches out over two acres. The fort's walls average between 5 and 11 feet thick, made out of solid brick.
Speaker 1:After the outbreak of the war, confederate troops occupied Fort Pulaski from January 1861 to April of 1862. And that's when the only battle at Fort Pulaski ever took place. It occurred between April the 10th and the 11th of 1862 between Union forces who were stationed on Tybee Island, which is not that far away, and Confederate troops inside the fort. During that battle, the Union forces used rifled cannons and the US Army compelled the Confederate garrison inside Fort Pulaski to surrender. They were firing from just too far away for the Confederate artillery to reach them, and so they sat there and pounded the fort until the fort surrendered. After that, union troops occupied Fort Pulaski from April 1862 until the end of the Civil War.
Speaker 1:It is a fabulous, fabulous fort, One of the very few examples of Civil War forts still in existence. Most of them are along the southern coastline of the Gulf. You've got some in Alabama, you've got some off of Georgia, and this one is a fine example of the fort, how soldiers lived, what they went through at the time. And Savannah also has Old Fort Jackson, which is a National Historic Landmark, and the 8th Air Force Museum, which both are fantastic as well. And if you want to know about the 8th Air Force, there's an old movie in the it might have been in the 1950s, called 12 O'Clock High with Gregory Peck, and it details some of the exploits of the 8th Air Force. And the 8th Air Force Museum is a fascinating place to visit. It tells you all about the 8th Air Force and everything that's there as well. But Fort Pulaski, if you ever get a chance, stop by and visit it. You'll be amazed at how they built this thing.
Speaker 1:Now I've had the opportunity to travel a lot overseas, and one time when I was in the Czech Republic I don't know what it's called now, they change names of these countries every now and then, but back then it was the Czech Republic I was in Prague and I had decided to visit the small town of Pilsen. Why? Well, because that's where they invented Pilsner beer and I figured well, as long as I'm here, I might as well see where they invented Pilsner beer. After I toured the brewery, I decided to walk around downtown and while I was down there, I discovered the George S Patton Museum. Now why in the world am I sitting there, thinking to myself? Well, they have a museum dedicated to US Army General George Patton. It's in a pretty nondescript building. There was just a banner outside that said the George S Patton Memorial Museum.
Speaker 1:So I went in, walked upstairs to where the museum was at and met the gentleman that was running the place. Come to find out. He was the owner of the museum and we got to talking and he had started collecting memorabilia when he was a kid and sometime when he was in his teens, probably in the late 60s, early 70s, the Russians who were running Czech Republic at the time confiscated all of his memorabilia, or most of it, about 95% of it, and took it from him. He went and joined the military. Well joined, drafted, whatever you want to call it. He spent some time in the military and afterwards he decided to start collecting again when the Russians left the Czech Republic and he had accumulated a massive amount and he told me. He said you know, I wanted to build a museum to tell the story of George Patton because when we were under Russian control, their narrative was that the Russians had liberated the Czech Republic from the Nazis.
Speaker 1:He said that's not true. George Patton actually liberated our town and the Czech Republic from the Nazis, but the Russians tried to rewrite history. His museum is fantastic. It tells about life under Soviet control. It tells about life during World War II. He had some weapons and things, but he also had a lot of things just from early day life in the Czech Republic during that time and also a lot of things about the soldiers' lives, their equipment, what they went through, their manuals, their books, all kinds of things.
Speaker 1:It was a fascinating museum and to find a museum dedicated to the US Army and General George Patton in a foreign country was just absolutely fascinating to me and we had a great time talking. He was a really nice guy and he told me all about the museum and gave me a personal tour of the museum. When he found out I was a retired military and come to find out during the time I was stationed in Germany pretty close to the border, he was stationed sitting in a tower looking at our side. Who knows, maybe we were looking at each other at the time. But if you're ever in Prague, pilsen is not that far away. It's about a 45-minute train ride. Maybe an hour Takes you to the small town of Pilsen. You can tour the brewery, which is a great tour to take, visit the George Patton Museum, and they've also got some catacombs underneath the city, which is pretty interesting.
Speaker 1:Another location overseas that I visited was the Palawan Special Battalion World War II Memorial. It's located on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, and why is it important? Well, the guy that started this museum, his father, was a Philippine guerrilla during World War II fighting the Japanese who had occupied the Philippine islands. The Special Battalion was his unit and they caused a lot of havoc with the Japanese blowing up convoys and ammo dumps and things of this nature for quite a while and just disrupting everyday life for the Japanese. His father was eventually captured and the Japanese beheaded him. So in honor of his father and in honor of the US military, he built a museum and it tells the story of armed conflict in the Philippines from the times of when Blackjack Pershing was there in the early 1900s, through World War II, and also tells the story of the execution of a bunch of American POWs who were on the island of Palawan during World War II, and that's an interesting story in itself because there was a prisoner of war camp not far from the museum.
Speaker 1:Now the location is actually a city park, but at the time it was a prisoner of war camp that the Japanese ran, and when MacArthur was getting ready to come back into the Philippines and liberate it from the Japanese, they were doing bombing runs in the Philippines, getting ready for the amphibious assaults. Well, the Japanese knew he was coming and they decided they needed to get rid of prisoners of war, and so they decided to execute them. And the way they did it on the island of Palawan was they blew an air raid to get all the prisoners of war into these little dugout bomb shelters, which were basically just a little dugout tunnel in the ground. They then rolled 55-gallon barrels of fuel into the openings, lit them on fire and, as the POWs were trying to escape, they gunned them down. And this went on for several hours, and out of all the prisoners there I forget how many exactly several hours. And out of all the prisoners there I forget how many exactly there was something like eight or maybe 13 of them escaped down to the water's edge, swam across the bay, where Filipino prisoners from another prison they call it the prison without walls because there's nowhere to go so they just basically wandered around and grew their own food and there wasn't any place for them to go. They rescued the American POWs that managed to escape and got them back to US lines, and he tells the story of that along with photos of the camp when it was still a POW camp. But the Palawan Special Battalion World War II Memorial is fantastic and the Philippines has a lot of sites from World War II, to include Fort Santiago in Manila, which was built by the Spanish.
Speaker 1:Later it was occupied by the US military. When the Japanese come in they took it from the US military. They kept US military prisoners in the dungeons below the fort and when MacArthur came in and retook the Philippines, there was the Battle of Manila and the final battle took place at Fort Santiago, which is inside the walled city of Intramuros. There's a big, huge wall going all around the city and Fort Santiago sits at the very end of it. So the Americans took it back over again and now it's a big, huge park. It's been there for hundreds of years. It's a beautiful fort. There's also the Manila American Cemetery inside Fort Bonifacio, which is not a fort anymore. It's basically a place where they have a lot of really nice high-rises and condos and shopping centers. But the US Manila American Cemetery is located there and the thing about it is it's run by the American Military Cemetery or Battlefield Commission that runs all the American cemeteries from Arlington, the ones in France, but the one in Manila is actually the largest US military cemetery outside of the United States, which I did not know until I visited the place.
Speaker 1:And of course, off of the bay of Manila Bay, if you cross the bay, you have the island of Corregidor, which is where the Japanese did their attack and Corregidor was the last to fall and they had the infamous Baton Death March after that. So the Philippines has a lot of historic sites. But if you ever get a chance, if you're ever in the island of Palawan, which a lot of people go to, they just go to the northern part of the island where it's absolutely stunningly beautiful to all the resorts. But in the town of Puerto Princesa, which is where the airport is, most people come into the airport and then they take a bus or something to go up to the northern part of the island, where everything's beautiful, but in Puerto Princesa. That's where the Palawan Special Battalion World War II Memorial is located.
Speaker 1:Now, coming back to the United States, another one of my favorite places to visit was the Little Bighorn Battleground in Montana. I visited this place probably three or four years ago, maybe five years ago now, and everybody learns about Custer's last stand in school, about how the Custer was really overconfident and the Native American tribes banded together and pretty much just wiped him out and most of the 7th Cavalry. But the Little Bighorn Battleground is fascinating, visited it, took a tour of the battleground. It's a national park and there is a small museum inside the center and then you walk up the top of the hill where the battle took place and Custer had his last stand. Up. There you can see the battleground. You can see they've got little markers and crosses where various members of the 7th Cavalry fell and where the attacks took place and how they attacked them and finally wiped him out. There's also a Native American memorial there that tells you the story of the Native Americans and there's also a US military cemetery there and it's got graves dating back from that time, although none of the 7th Cavalry are buried there, but other US Cavalry soldiers are buried there. There's Some burials from World War I, world War II and even Korea and Vietnam. Now, because it's a fairly small cemetery, it's closed to any more new burials, but everything there is pretty fascinating to visit that place and it was a highlight that I always wanted to visit the Little Bighorn and I got a chance to, and if you ever get a chance to, you need to stop by and visit it. Plan on spending about two or three hours there, because it's well worth it.
Speaker 1:Another one of my favorite places is in my home state of Texas, the Presidio, La Bahia, in Goliad, texas, goliad, texas Now. The Presidio was established in 1749 during the Spanish colonial period, and it was crucial to the development of Texas. It played a role in the Mexican War for Independence from Spain. The Presidio was also the site of the Goliad Massacre, which happened on Palm Sunday in March of 1836. I'll tell you about that in just a second. It is a national historic landmark and a state historic site and it is the most fought over fort in Texas.
Speaker 1:History. Participating in six national revolutions of wars for independence Spanish, mexican and Texas soldiers were all garrisoned within its fortified walls. It's also operated by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria, texas. It has a chapel on the site which continues to serve as a community church, one of the oldest churches in America. It's also one of the only buildings in existence that has its original vaulted ceiling in place. A striking fresco behind the altar was done there in 1946 by a gentleman from Corpus Christi, texas, named Antonio Garcia, known as the Michelangelo of South Texas. It's located in the niche above the chapel entrance. There's also a statue of Our Lady of Loreto, sculpted by Dunnother that, lincoln Borglum. He's the guy that oversaw the completion of Mount Rushmore, and this century's old chapel was where Fannin and his men were held during part of their captivity before being massacred.
Speaker 1:Now the story of the Goliad Massacre is Colonel Fannin got his men and was ready to go to the Alamo to help defend the Alamo. They got just outside of Goliad to a place called Coleto Creek and they ran into a Mexican military unit and the Mexicans attacked them and they were just way overwhelmed. He lost a couple of men and decided to surrender. They were just way overwhelmed. He lost a couple of men and decided to surrender. So the Mexican in charge officer in charge, took them to La Bahia, notified Santa Ana. He says hey, we've captured Colonel Fannin. Santa Ana come back and said kill them, kill all of them. So on Palm Sunday in 1836, they took them out and killed all of them. They're in fact buried in a mass grave just outside the walls of La Bahia. Now, the first Declaration of Texas Independence was also signed inside that chapel.
Speaker 1:La Bahia is one of the most well-preserved Spanish forts in the United States. And it's not a mission, it was actually a fort and today you can visit it. In fact you can even spend the night there. They've turned the officers' quarters into a two-bedroom apartment where you can book a night, stay the night there and somewhere around 4 or 5 o'clock they lock the doors and you are inside and have the entire Bahia Presidio to yourself. Now there may be a few ghosts walking around.
Speaker 1:I don't know. Personally I don't know about ghosts. Man, every time I go visit someplace they say is haunted, nothing ever bothers me, so maybe they just don't like me. But I get a good night's sleep. But there's been a lot of people who have spent the night there that said that they were disturbed by things. But if you ever get a chance, go to Goliad, which is a small town kind of southeast of San Antonio, visit the La Bahia, and if you want to spend the night you need to book that room, though in advance, like several months in advance, because it seems to be always booked. Normally you have to go out two to three months to get a room there, and you know there's a lot of other military sites and museums that I've visited.
Speaker 1:One here in Texas is fantastic. They've changed the name of it a couple of times. Last time I checked it was the Museum of the American Soldier. They've got something like two to three hundred vehicles and aircraft, helicopters. They've also got tanks and other stuff. The unique thing about it is every single piece of equipment operates. They've got them all in working order. They fly the helicopters, they can drive the tanks, all the trucks, all the jeeps, everything. It's a fascinating museum to visit.
Speaker 1:Places like the Gurkha Museum in Pokhara, nepal. Gurkhas are some of the most fiercest fighting soldiers around, been around for hundreds of years. They came from the Gorkha region of Nepal and they guarded the king of Nepal back when there was a king. Since then they've got Gurkha regiments in the Indian military and also in the British military. When I was a contractor working overseas in the Middle East, we actually had a unit of Gurkha soldiers that were guarding the fort. Trust me, I felt very secure. The Airborne and Special Forces, or Special Operations, museum at Fort Bragg, north Carolina, is also another fantastic museum to visit. A lot of these Army museums or Air Force or Marine Corps museums or whatever Navy museums are all inside the base so it's very difficult to get to them unless you have authorization to enter the base. But the Airborne and Special Operations Museum at Fort Bragg is located outside the base so it's easy access to get to it. Gettysburg is another fantastic place I've visited.
Speaker 1:You know Memorial Day in the US was originally called Decoration Day. It was formalized by a Memorial Day order issued by the Grand Army of the Republic Commander-in-Chief John Logan in 1868, and it was a day to remember and reflect on those service members that died while serving in the US military. So, regardless of your views on any particular war this year, take a few minutes in between the barbecues and shopping and all the sales going on to remember all those over the years that died while serving the country and, if you haven't, add some of these military museums and battlefield sites to your trips. Put them on there and check them out, because, like I said, it's history, and the more we know about history, then the chances of repeating some of the bad things that have happened over the years are a lot less.
Speaker 1:But that's it for this week. I hope you enjoyed it. If you get a chance to get out there and travel, then by all means do it. I'm getting ready to go on several trips myself and next week I'm going to tell you about a place on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was really surprised and pleased when I visited this place. So that's it for this week. If you can leave a review, drop me a line at the editor at the Traveling Fool. Let me know what you want to hear in some of these future podcasts, or tell me about some places that you've visited that were military related. I may talk about them in a future podcast. So until next time, safe travels, thank you.
