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Museum Exhibit - Florida Remembers WWII @ Florida OCHP
Florida Remembers WWII

View selections from the collection of Florida World War II historical artifacts in the exhibit.
(Photography by Ray Stanyard)
Select a thumbnail:

Make and Mend for Victory sewing instruction booklet, 1942. Printed by the Spool Cotton Company. Purple Heart Medal posthumously awarded to a bomber pilot shot down over Germany. Grouping of Army Air Force aviation insignia including a black cadet patch with gold wings, blue Army Air Force insignia, silver pilot's wings, and silver and gold aviation lapel insignia. Airplane spotter cards used by home front volunteers to identify friendly and enemy aircraft. Postcard, "Off to Study, Army Air Forces, Miami Beach, Florida."
Florida State Guard shoulder patch. This organization replaced the role of the Florida National Guard after the latter was placed in federal service. U.S. military discharge insignia. This is the cloth type sewn to a uniform to indicate honorable discharge. United States Defense Savings booklet designed to hold five-dollar stamps. Designed as a less expensive alternative than buying $25 war bonds, the purchase of these stamps also supported the war effort. Blackout light bulbs. Dim-out and blackout restrictions forced coastal residents to reduce light levels due to German submarine threats. These lights, which complied with War Department standards, were part of the inventory of a Fort Lauderdale Beach drugstore. Florida Buys for Victory poster. This poster promoted the sale of U.S. war bonds and stamps, and it is unusual in that it specifically targeted Floridians as part of the war effort.
Poster commemorating the attack on Pearl Harbor and resolving that those dead shall not have died in vain. Poster that employs a powerful image of a war wife or widow and young children challenging the public to buy war bonds. A Florida promotional booklet designed and distributed by the state to encourage service members who trained here to return to Florida after the war. Citrus Bomber Fleet poster encouraging citizens involved in the citrus industry to buy war bonds with their extra money. U.S. Navy captain's uniform worn by Albert Raborn, a Florida native, who served as a submarine captain.
Close up of ribbons from above uniform, including the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart. U.S. Army Air Force officer's jacket worn by Lieutenant Thomas McKee. The blue patch on the left shoulder is the U.S. Army Air Force insignia. Red Cross "Gray Lady's" uniform. A Tallahassee woman who volunteered at Dale Mabry Field Station Hospital wore this dress. U.S. Army officer's saucer cap, tan summer issue. Poster "Don't Let that Shadow Touch Them," employs an image of the Nazi threat against America's children in order to sell war bonds.
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