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Health & Fitness

Welcome to Military Antiques and Museum

A opening blog from Kevin at Military Antiques and Museum.

Hello, and thank you to Karina for asking me to be a blogger for the Petaluma Patch!  My name is Kevin Braafladt and I am currently working as a contractor for in downtown Petaluma.  I have worked at the store and museum for approximately 6 years now. 

Over those years it has always amazed me how longtime Petaluma residents who happen to stumble upon us almost always say "I have lived here my whole life and never knew you were in Petaluma."  Our usual reply is that we are the best kept military secret of Petaluma! Well, I am determined to change that and make more Petaluma and Sonoma County residents aware of the historic treasure that they have in their backyard.

A little about the store and museum.  Current owner Wally Petersen opened a military antiques store called the Last Post approximately 20 years ago due to his passion for collecting military items so that he can help to preserve the memory of the sacrifices of our service men and women.  Shortly after opening that store he merged efforts with a fellow collector and friend named Charles Numark and the groundwork for Military Antiques and Museum was set. 

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Over the course of the next few years they moved twice and finally ended in the larger building that we exist in today at 300 Petaluma Blvd North, in the basement of the . 

These two men, passionate about military history, built an amazing collection of items spanning from the American Revolution all the way up to our current military history.  Along with the store they created a museum to showcase the pride of their collections and to have a place to share and educate people about our past.  They dedicated this museum to Sergeant Richard Penry, a Petaluma Veteran who served during the Vietnam War and was Sonoma County's only Medal of Honor Recipient.  They dedicated the museum around the same time that Penry Park was also dedicated (come in to read his full citation.)

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With this valuable resource completed the two men worked to keep the store and museum running to teach about these sacrifices offering free tours through the museum to groups and to the local schools to allow the children to see first hand the items which made our history, instead of only being able to read about it.

Approximately eight years ago tragedy struck Military Antiques when Charles Numark passed away.  It was a tremendous blow to Wally, his close friend and business partner.  Determined to continue the legacy of "Charlie" alive, Wally drove forward with the store and museum up to today. 

We are currently open to the public Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and other days by appointment.  You can also visit our store and museum at our website www.militaryantiquesmuseum.com, be our friend on Facebook, or call us at (707) 763-2220.  We do buy sell and trade all eras of military antiques and are always glad to accept donations towards our privately funded museum.

As a note we do not try to glorify war in anyway. Our goal is simple and straight to the point.  We are here to remember the sacrifices of our service men and women and to put a face on their history so that they will never be forgotten.  With out their courage and sacrifice we would not have the freedoms that we all enjoy today.

As often as I can I will try to share stories of new, interesteing and historic items which come in to the store and museum as well as stories of the verterans who are still living in Sonoma County.  So please feel free to comment, ask questions and stop by to see us! 

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

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