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FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

FILE PHOTO/ SUBMITTED The Military Museum and Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum have thousands of items from the history of Brookhaven and Lincoln County. The two museums depend upon memberships and donations, as well as volunteer labor.

Lincoln Countians are fortunate to have two museums available, both with free admission. They are the Lincoln County Historical and Genealogical Society’s museum, and the Military Museum.

The Historical and Genealogical and Jewish Heritage Museum is located in the now-deconsecrated Jewish synagogue on South Church Street, diagonally across from Brookhaven Elementary School. It is open from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as the first Saturday of each month, and by appointment. 

Manned by volunteer members of the Society, the museum has thousands of items on display, including: the Brookhaven Shriners’ gong used in Christmas parades; menorah from the Temple B’nai Sholom; items from Brookhaven’s 1959 Centennial celebration; a display of Rear Admiral Hiram Cassedy; a speaker from the Hwy. 51 Drive-in theater; as well as many books, newspapers, and personal photos and collections.

The Military Museum is located downtown in the old railroad depot. Open 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the museum can also be opened by appointment for non-local visitors with little notice by calling 601-833-4489.

World War II veterans opened the museum in 2003, and most of the items on display are from Lincoln County veterans and their families. 

All of the Military Museum’s founders have since died, and the museum is manned by three veteran volunteers age 80, 85 and 90. 

Tommy “Chicken Willie” Smith is “the old guy” who joined the Air Force to see the world — then spent four years in Texas. Randall Dean Smith is “the young one,” a veteran of the Army and National Guard, who built three large models of ships on display. Both men have volunteered at the museum for more than 10 years.

Roffie Burt is the 85-year-old, and has been a volunteer since the museum opened its doors. He served one year in the Air Force and two in the Army. His last year was in Vietnam’s central highland province of Pleiku with the 815th Engineering Battalion. He has a very unique military heritage, as he is one of the very last surviving grandsons of a Civil War veteran, son of a World War I veteran, brother of a World War II veteran, and brother of an Army Nurse Corp colonel.

Some of the unique items on display at the museum are: replicas of Civil War uniforms and equipment; records of the local CSA 33rd Infantry Regiment; WWI gun cart more than 100 years old; a WWII Japanese ammo clip with wood-tip bullets; a display case for Vietnam War veteran missing in action Danny D. Entrican; 8-foot model of Princeton aircraft carrier; and many personal photos, plaques, shadowboxes and other displays.

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