Valley Central
by: Alejandra Yañez
Posted:
Updated:
ALAMO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The city of Alamo will observe Veterans Day with the opening of a World War II exhibit.
Items on display come from the museum’s collection of wartime postcards, recruiting posters, and reprints of newspaper front pages with headlines about the aspects of the war in Europe and the Pacific.
The museum will also display uniforms, caps, and helmets worn in the war. There will also be an exhibit that displays a barracks trunk and photos from the war. Photos of soldiers will also be available for viewing at the museum as well as insignia patches, battle ribbons, and ranks worn by service personnel on their uniforms.
A list of service personnel, who served during WW II, can also be found at the museum.
Herb Moering, an Alamo resident and Friends of the Museum secretary, provided several of the uniform patches for the exhibit that were worn by his uncle, Jack Moering, who served with the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific from late 1941 until 1945.
According to a release sent from the city, Jack heard that Pearl Harbor had been bombed when he and a close friend came out of a Milwaukee movie theater. On Dec. 10, 1942, he enlisted as a private in the 863rd Aviation Battalion, which was shipped to Australia in June of 1943.
Jacke rose to the rank of technical sergeant by the war’s end and finished his duty celebrating both VE Day and VJ Day in the city of Manilla in the Philippines. He returned to the family home in Milwaukee on Christmas eve of 1945, which he called ”the best Christmas ever.”
His nephew says uncle Jack regarded himself as “no hero.”
“He was just doing the job that his country asked him to do,” the release stated. Jack passed away Feb. 1, 2021, at the age of 98.
The sergeant received seven battle stars, a Philippines Liberation medal with a Bronze Star, and a Meritorious Merit unit award.
Veterans Day was first known as Armistice Day, the day that World War I ended. The armistice was signed at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.
It was to have been the war to end all wars, which is why Veterans Day is observed on Nov. 11 each year, honoring all who have served in the military over the years and in the wars that have followed, the release stated.
The Friends of the Museum invite the public, especially Winter Texans, to visit the exhibit, which will remain open for the next three months.
The museum is located at 130 South Eighth Street in Alamo and is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, call (956) 961-4398.