The Armed Forces History Museum (AFHM) was a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

, non-profit museum in the city of Largo in the Tampa Bay region of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The museum opened in August 2008, with 35,000 sq. ft. of indoor displays and an additional 15,000 sq. ft. of outdoor viewing space. The AFHM housed historical memorabilia including fully restored, fully operational jeeps, tanks, halftracks and armor. The museum also had a large replica of Chuck Yeager's Supersonic Jet Bell X1, the aircraft he used to break the sound barrier. The museum closed permanently on January 29, 2017.

History

In 1955, John J. Piazza, Sr. was given a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

grenade. Over time he collected other items, including military vehicles and several cases of memorabilia and ordnance, and in 1996 Piazza put together a traveling exhibit to take to local schools and community events."Armed Forces Military Museum could move into Clearwater's Harborview Center"
''Tampa Bay Times''. In order to receive donations from the public, Piazza established his collection as The Armed Forces Military Museum, with a 501 (c)(3), non-profit status. The Armed Forces Military Museum opened to the public on August 15, 2008. In 2012, the museum changed its name to The Armed Forces History Museum. Also in 2012 the museum began holding various special events to serve as fundraisers. The museum housed over 100,000 items of military history.

Museum displays

The museum was divided into several display areas. Large pieces, including aircraft, field pieces and tanks, were on display both indoors and in an outdoor area. The Salute to Service gallery focused on uniforms and insignia. The Firearms and Ordnance gallery displayed hand weapons of many vintages. A diorama of a

trench filled one area, while the

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

and the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

gallery included scale models, Japanese artifacts, Marine Corps memorabilia and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

film footage. Some of the other displays included the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Deck, the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

Landing/ Utah Beach,"Local museum gives up close look at D-Day"
''Channel 10 News'', 2014. a French Village/St. Mere Eglise, a German Farmhouse, a

Communications Headquarters, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Inchon Landing The Battle of Incheon (), also spelled Battle of Inchon, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved s ...

, a Korean War MASH, a diorama entitled Korean War Frozen Chosin, Korean War's Rosie’s Bar, a

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

/ MIA gallery, a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

– Ho Chi Minh Trail diorama, and an Officers’ Club.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.armedforcesmuseum.com
"History lives at Armed Forces Museum in Largo"
''WFLA''. 2008 establishments in Florida Museums established in 2008 Military and war museums in Florida Museums in Pinellas County, Florida Buildings and structures in Largo, Florida