Fort Miles Honors 100th Anniversary of WWI

It's the 100th anniversary of World War I, and Fort Miles in Lewes is honoring the memory of the four year battle.

The state park is hosting a mobile museum, which has traveled all over the United States.The collection, based out of Dallas, Texas, has everything from gas masks, to rare military documents, to newspapers celebrating the end of the war.

Curated by Keith Colley, he has a special tie to the war. His cousin, a war hero.

"He was apart of a group where all his seniors were killed in action which placed him as SGT in charge out in the middle of the field," he said. "At that point he saved 1200 people and at that point then he was shot and he died within the hour."

Officials with Delaware State Parks and Recreation say that even though Fort Miles is a World War II era fort, they wanted to bring this exhibit here to remind the public that World War I shouldn't be forgotten.

"We're speaking for people who aren't around to speak for themselves anymore. I think that's part of my job as cultural resources manager for parks is to be able to make sure that those stories remain," says Jim Hall, Chief of Cultural Resources for DNREC. "And those artifacts remain for people to continue to pass those stories on, least we forget."

The collection, insured for over $1 million, features everything from gas masks, to rare military documents, to newspaper articles signifying the end of the war.

"It's a great opportunity for us to tell the story of a war that's not really talked about too much anymore and to help raise the awareness," said Fort Miles Interpreter Scott Wallen.  "That 'hey, this war did happen,' and a lot of what happened in World War I led to events that did happen in World War II."

His traveling museum will be at Fort Miles in Lewes until this Saturday before heading back to Texas for the state fair where he says over 2.5 million guests will visit his exhibit.