Courthouse World War II Exhibit

Our local Citrus County Old Courthouse Heritage Museum has a special display focusing on Florida in World War II. There is a special focus on our own Citrus County veterans, with memorabilia donated for the exhibit from Citrus County World War II veterans.

Florida had a large role in the American effort to win World War II. There was an active ship building program, agricultural efforts, radar stations, and numerous air bases built to provide both training facilities as well as patrols over the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, seeking enemy ships.

From a press release from the Heritage Museum:

“At this time sixty-five years ago World War II was winding down. Germany had already surrendered to the Allied Forces and concentration camps were being liberated. In early August 1945 the United States unleashed the power of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to hasten the surrender of Japan. August 15, 2010 was the sixty-fifth anniversary of VJ day. These events are surely etched in the memories of those old enough to remember.

Among Citrus County’s large population of veterans, those who served during World War II are now aged in their eighties and nineties. To honor our World War II veterans, dubbed “the Greatest Generation” by newscaster Tom Brokaw, the Old Courthouse Heritage Museum, in downtown Inverness, is presenting an exhibition titled, Florida in World II, under the theme: World War II …Before the Memories are Gone. The exhibit will focus on the role of Florida in World War II and highlights the Attacks, the Civil Defense, Volunteering on the Home Front, Shipbuilding in Florida, The Cost of Victory, and How the War Changed Florida. Be sure to see this exhibit before or as part of the activities of Veteran’s week 2010 in November."

If you are in Citrus County and can visit the exhibit, do so soon. It ends this month.
And, it’s well worth the visit.

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