“Every since Barton County has existed, we have been represented in every war foreign war this country has fought in,” said Beverly Komarek. director at the Barton County Historical Society museum. Visitors to the museum this Memorial Day weekend can view military uniforms from all past wars, from The Spanish American in 1898 to the Mid-East conflicts of today.
Kansas has been called The Soldier State, in part because following the Civil War, many veterans migrated to Kansas to take up homesteads and start a new life. Their strong military tradition lived on in the generations that followed.
“Each uniform belonged to someone who lived in Barton County, and each has a story,” Komarek said.
Stories like that of Maj. Bernard “Barney” J. Prosser, USMC, who joined the Marine Corps just before the Korean Conflict began. Thirty-one years later, the eighth-grade educated farm boy from Beaver who was one of the “Chosin frozen,” a term used to describe the men who fought a bitterly cold battle against the Chinese during the Wonson Invasion of 1951, retired a “Mustang.” The Prosser family donated his uniform and medals to the museum in 2014.
Other items on display include the things soldiers took with them, from hand weapons and swords to an aged and well-worn baseball. An authentic World War II poster from the Office of War Information is also on display.
The museum will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It is located just south of the Arkansas River Bridge on the west side of US 281.