45th Infantry Division Museum

A free military museum on the grounds of the old Reserve training facility in north Oklahoma City, dedicated to the 45th Infantry Division — the Thunderbirds — and to Oklahoma's military history more broadly. Outdoor displays of tanks and aircraft fill a small park; the indoor exhibits include the museum's collection of original Bill Mauldin cartoons (Mauldin served with the division and won two Pulitzer Prizes for his frontline drawings of "Willie and Joe").

The Hitler artefacts collection is the most-talked-about element — items personally seized from the führer's Munich apartment and Berchtesgaden retreat by 45th Division soldiers — and is presented with appropriate sobriety. Open Tuesday to Sunday; donations appreciated.

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A story
The 45th Infantry — Oklahoma's National Guard division — were among the first Allied troops to liberate the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945 and play a major role in the postwar prosecution of Nazi atrocities. The museum holds a small but unsettling collection of objects taken from Hitler's residences, including a mirror, photographs and personal effects.

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