National Museum of Military Vehicles debuts this weekend

FREMONT COUNTY, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) -

The National Museum of Military Vehicles just outside of Dubois on US Highway 26, opened its doors to the public on August 7th, 2020.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been put into this museum, and it is soon becoming a national treasure not only for civilians, but especially those who have served.

Dan Starks, who founded the museum with his wife Cynthia said, “This started as just a personal collection of a few military vehicles. My very first vehicle was a World War 2 Sherman Tank. As the collection got bigger, people would ask if they could come and see it.”

As time went on, more and more people asked to see the collection, and the Starks realized they had the beginnings of something that interested a broad spectrum of people.

“That inspired my wife and me to decide we need to put this collection someplace where anyone interested could see it anytime they wanted,” noted Starks.

The museum and the collection inside is funded completely by Dan and Cynthia Starks, with no donations or public money. It is simply their gift to the community.

The Starks view the museum as “a sign of how much we respect the service and sacrifice of our veterans and their families, and how important it is in our mind to educate next generations on the history of American freedoms.”

After touring the museum on its opening day, Vietnam Air Force veteran John Weber shared his gratitude toward Dan Starks. He said, ”I believe in my own heart when I walk out of here that he truly respects those veterans that have served over the years, and have fought for this country, they’ve died. Some of us, like myself have survived, and he appreciates that and he shows it by opening up a museum of this magnitude. It’s breathtaking.”

As magnificent as the museum already is, it is not in its completed state yet. The Starks hope to have the first phase of this project built in a year from now, which would put the total time spent on the first phase at five years. Mr. Starks said they plan on continuing the project to build another structure to hold more vehicles.

Copyright 2020 Wyoming News Now. All rights reserved.