GREENVILLE - Greenville Air Force Base has been closed for decades, but its history lives on in the recently opened museum at Mid-Delta Regional Airport.
The Greenville Air Force Base Museum tells the history of the base that was established in 1941 as Greenville Army Airfield. After closing at the end of World War II, the base was reopened for the Korean Conflict in the 1950s, and in the 1960s, it was home to a firefighting group.
The effort began almost three years ago, when Greenville Mayor Paul Artman called a meeting with interested citizens to discuss the idea of establishing a Greenville Air Force Base Museum at Mid-Delta Regional Airport, which sits on the site of the old base, said Benjy Nelken, chairman of the GAFB Museum committee.
"Our mayor is a visionary," Nelken said. "He is always thinking of things for the betterment of our community. He is always thinking about improving the quality of life, and his mind is always working."
It was the project's historical significance that drew Nelken's interest.
Nelken's office on Poplar Street is a museum in its own right.
He also has been involved in helping develop other museums, such as the Hebrew Union Temple Century of History Museum.
"I'm the curious curator," Nelken laughed.
The Air Base project started out as a perpetual exhibit or museum, he said. "We started from scratch. We had no artifacts, no memorabilia and no money."
It took the committee about a year to acquire a $130,000 grant from the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone Alliance to help fund the project.
Nelken said the committee got started and eventually was able to get another grant from the King's Daughter's Foundation. The group also received funding from the Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"So far, the grants are the only funding we've got, and we're down to the wire on that," Nelken said.
"But we have built a $1 million exhibit for that amount of money," he said.
"We started in June 2000. We got everything lined up by January 2001. The funding came in June 2002, and from January to October, we put it together," Nelken said.
"I didn't think it was going to look this good," he said. "It's definitely museum quality."
The first order of business with the funding was to develop a Web site - greenvilleafb.org.
"I got on the Internet and eBay, and people started to bring in their flight suits, uniforms, photos and other memorabilia," he said.
Donations came from people all over the United States as well as those who still reside in Greenville.
There were about 3,000 to 4,000 people, both civilian and military, who worked at the Air Base, Nelken said, and there were as many as 6,000 to 8,000 people who went through the base and are scattered all over the world.
"They're responding," he said.
The museum, which opened in October with a reunion of former workers and military personnel, is on the second floor of Mid-Delta Regional Airport.
"We were still working at 5:15 p.m. on Oct. 15 for the 5:30 p.m. dedication," Nelken said.
But the grand opening came off without a hitch, and the displays are filled with memorabilia from the days Greenville Air Force Base was in full operation.
"Altogether, it brings a common theme of the history of that base," he said.
Included in the museum are giant-scale airplane models hanging from the atrium. They include a C-41, a T-33 and a PT-17 plane. "People love them," Nelken said.
There are actual airplane engines, uniforms, instrument panels, graphics and photos featured in the museum as well.
One eye-catching exhibit is a beacon that was built in 1940. "It revolves, and the light is on," Nelken said.
A full-size T-33 Jet Trainer and AT-6 prop trainer used at the base will be included in a static display on the tarmac adjacent to the terminal, Nelken said. The T-33 was one of the first airplanes used during World War II.
"The museum is a work in progress and always will be," he said. "Periodically, we will take things out and change displays."
The museum was designed by Allan Hammons, and the cabinets for the displays were built by Joe Seawright. Both are Greenwood businessmen.
Hammons said he learned about the project from Jim Chick, who grew up on the base. "His father was base commander," Hammons said.
"He told me to look on the Web site, and Jim talked me into coming over," Hammons said.
Nelken said Hammons told him he would love to help out with the museum. "And the rest is history," Nelken said.
"It didn't take a lot of arm twisting," Hammons said. "I've always been interested in aviation."
Hammons also had family ties to the base, with two cousins who went through training there.
Nelken said Hammons designed the exhibit and did all the graphics.
"He and I both sat down together and laid it out," Nelken said.
"It worked out really well," he said. "It really looked better than either one of us dreamed."
"Sadly, some of the best things we got came after the fact, so there's lots of things we can add to it," Hammons said.
Mid-Delta Regional Airport Director Darrell Forman said the museum has brought a lot of attention to the facility.
"A lot of people not interested in coming to the airport have come to enjoy the displays," Forman said.
There also has been an increase in aviation traffic since the museum opened. "It has been a positive on many fronts," he said.
"People from all over the country are coming to visit the museum, especially those who are flying out on the commercial airline service here," Forman said.
"I hear practically daily from people who actually were stationed here or their parents were stationed here," he said.
Peggy Turner, the airport's administrative assistant, agreed with Forman's assessment.
"We have somebody every day up here looking at it," she said.
"I have had more positive comments from people saying this is very impressive and a good thing for Greenville," Turner said.
