Wake Forest saw and felt World War II every day as tanks and trucks and trains rumbled through town on U.S. 1 along North Main Street and the Seaboard railroad.
That is just one facet of the war days here that will be illustrated in the World War II exhibit opening June 22 at the Wake Forest Historical Museum. It is free and open to all. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, it is open from 2 to 5 p.m.
Museum Director Ed hopes to show the movie “Twelve O’Clock High” starring Gregory Peck because his character was based on Gen. Frank Armstrong, a Nash County native and Wake Forest College student.
The idea for the exhibit came from Wilson Montague’s personal effects. A local boy, the uncle of Allen Massey, he was shot down over Germany and died a few days later from his injuries, but after two young German boys pulled him from the wreckage and aided him. Both of those men now live and Durham and are invited to be on hand on the exhibit’s opening day.
Another local tie is Jody Totten, one of the heirs of the Crenshaw-Jones family, whose husband is a grandson of General George Patton and has offered to do a program during the exhibit.
Area residents will be asked to share their memories about the war and the part they or family members played in the war. It is probably time to look through the family photo albums and old trunks.
The museum is at 414 North Main Street behind the Calvin Jones House and its focus is the college which gave the town its name, the town that grew up around the college, and the individuals and institutions which have given both their distinctive characters.
