![]() On average, the museum welcomed 5,000 to 6,000 visitors annually, including classes of children from local schools who came out to the museum for a field trip learning experience. Veterans, however, aren’t the only ones who have benefited from the museum - a number of other people have too. His pain eased slowly over the years as he came to see how his museum was helping veterans connect in meaningful ways with their past service. Tragically, all but one Marine from his tank platoon died during combat at the Chosin Reservoir in the early winter of 1950.įred was heartbroken at the loss of his men and that he had not been with them. He had received orders to be an instructor at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. His tank platoon was deployed to Korea during the Korean War. He wanted to preserve the tank he loved and its history and, in doing so, he also helped to preserve the memory of those he had once led. He later acquired a T48 Patton tank for his collection. He had served as a Tank Platoon Leader in the Marine Corps on the T48 Patton tanks. In time, his collection grew to include 23 tanks and track vehicles, four airplanes, a helicopter, a min-submarine, a boat and hundreds of smaller pieces.įred had a special love for tanks. He continued to purchase vehicles throughout his successful 50-year career as CEO of Ropkey Graphics in downtown Indianapolis. He had purchased his first military vehicle - a World War II scout car - at the age of 16 and even drove it to school. The move to Crawfordsville allowed him to build a large facility to store and exhibit the vehicles from inside.įred became an early collector of all things military. At that time, his growing inventory of military vehicles was being stored outside under open hangars on 100 acres of farmland in the northwest corner of Marion County. The museum, the brainchild and passion of the late Fred Ropkey, first opened in 1982. Some 50 acres of rural farmland in Montgomery County, just outside of Crawfordsville, became the home of the Ropkey Armor Museum in 2004. It’s the last place in the world that you would have expected to find a large collection of restored military vehicles. Editor’s note: This is part of a series by Reporter-Times’ correspondent Ronald May chronicling veterans’ memorials throughout the state.
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