{"id":151,"date":"2019-01-16T09:58:34","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/basewatch\/?p=151"},"modified":"2019-04-29T13:52:49","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T20:52:49","slug":"eric-meyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/basewatch\/eric-meyer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Public Face of JBLM"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Fort Lewis Army Museum’s main building, formerly the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Inn (Source: Wikipedia<\/a>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eric Meyer<\/h2>\n

In September 2018, Joint Base Lewis-McChord\u2019s public army museum completed a $3 million, 4,000-square-foot renovation, one which came just after a $9.6 million renovation completed in 2012 (Tacoma Weekly 2018). JBLM\u2019s free public events, such as its annual Freedom Fest, draw thousands of attendees and feature live music, carnival rides, car shows, and hands-on tours of military equipment. JBLM\u2019s Public Affairs Office also ran a print newspaper, the NW Guardian<\/em>, until 2018, when it moved its promotions and original news articles online. On the whole, JBLM puts quite a few resources into its public relations efforts. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, most local residents of Pierce and Thurston counties are likely familiar with these P.R. efforts, having recognized the Lewis Army Museum countless times while driving on I-5, or seen JBLM\u2019s newspaper or magazine propped up on newsstands, or heard of or attended one of JBLM\u2019s public events. Because of this familiarity, most have likely never seriously thought to ask: why? Why does a military base spend so much money on a museum, and what purpose does that museum serve to them, exactly? Why does the base put so many resources into hosting massive community events on-base? Who are JBLM\u2019s magazines and social media posts written for, and for what reason? This webpage will seek explore these questions, with a particular focus on JBLM\u2019s Lewis Army Museum. <\/span>
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Lewis Army Museum<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A Brief History and Description<\/h3>\n

The only certified U.S. Army museum on the West Coast, JBLM\u2019s Lewis Army Museum resides within an appropriately historic building, the former Red Shield Inn. Constructed in 1918 by the Salvation Army, the building was used to house soldiers and their families serving at Camp Lewis during World War I. The building functioned as an Army hotel and apartment complex until 1972, when more modern housing developments rendered it obsolete and allowed the newly founded Lewis Army Museum to take up its residence (Lewis Army Museum 2019).<\/span><\/p>\n

Two recent multimillion dollar renovation projects, the first in 2009-12 and the second in 2016-18, have sought both to modernize the museum and recreate the feel of the building\u2019s historic roots. The museum\u2019s lobby is meant to look and feel like that of the old Red Shield Inn, and visitors are greeted by hardwood floors, an antique piano, a brick fireplace, and a leather-bound guest book. Unlike a hotel, however, visitors\u2019 temporary stay at the museum is completely free, and its location on a military base necessitates a uniformed escort past a locked gate from the parking lot to the museum.<\/span><\/p>\n

The museum itself is divided into three main exhibits: the vehicle lot, the Lewis Gallery, and the Hall of Valor. The vehicle lot covers the museum grounds, and features historical tanks, artillery equipment, troop transport vehicles, and missiles, on which more information is dependent on a free docent-led tour, since no plaques accompany the vehicles. The Lewis Gallery tells the Army history of JBLM, from the journey of its namesake explorer Captain Meriwether Lewis, to the founding of Camp Lewis, all the way up to the 2010 merger of Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base into JBLM, and its role in Iraq and the “Global War on Terror.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Whereas the Lewis Gallery focuses on the changing experiences of Army soldiers who trained for various wars at JBLM, the Hall of Valor focuses more on the wars and battles themselves. Its exhibits feature the equipment used by soldiers during ten select battles waged by JBLM-trained troops, and each battle exhibit is used to illustrate one \u2018principle of war,’ one \u2018principle of sustainment,’ and one example of \u2018terrain analysis\u2019 through interactive maps.
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A tank in the museum’s vehicle lot (Credit: Eric Meyer).<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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A typical exhibit in the Lewis Gallery (Credit: Eric Meyer).<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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An exhibit on the Iraq War in the Hall of Valor (Credit: Eric Meyer).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

To What End?: An Interview with Director Erik Flint<\/h3>\n

So what is the purpose, and the goal, of such a museum? Overall, the museum displays tended to avoid details of politics and depictions of fighting and violence, choosing instead to emphasize physical facts, figures, and abstract combat strategies. The displays that sought to explain the political situations surrounding JBLM\u2019s history and the wars it supported were kept very brief, and were often worded in ways which shied away from confronting some of history\u2019s harsher realities. For example, the display describing how Camp Lewis obtained its land from the Nisqually Reservation – a somewhat ugly part of the base\u2019s history<\/a>\u00a0 – is told in a way that forgoes the unpleasant details, instead stating in a passive voice that \u201carrangements were made to \u2018borrow\u2019 the land until negotiations were complete.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Another display on the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam qualifies \u201cneither was victory in sight\u201d with the claim that \u201cAmerican forces were never defeated in the field.” However, the museum\u2019s more neutral tone also extends the other direction, and the displays do not overtly glorify the Army\u2019s history. A giant metal bust of Saddam Hussein that was taken from Iraq, for example, is tucked away in a far corner of the Hall of Valor, far from being a boastful centerpiece of patriotism and victory. The purposes and goals of the museum were not readily apparent to me on my visits, so I set up an interview with Erik Flint, the Lewis Army Museum\u2019s director since 2015, to discuss this question.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A display describing U.S. involvement in – and withdrawal from – Vietnam (Credit: Eric Meyer).<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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The metal bust (see video below) of Saddam Hussein taken to the U.S. from Iraq\u00a0(Credit: Eric Meyer).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n