MiddletownJournal.com

David Shortt is working to ensure American veterans' stories are not lost.

Shortt, a retired Army chief warrant officer, has been preserving letters, photos and other memorabilia that might have otherwise been lost or thrown away.

"It's our history," Shortt said. "We're going to lose it."

Shortt currently has a small museum space in Germantown.

On May 8 – the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day – Shortt will open the display in a larger space in the former Masonic building in Germantown.

"We want to be a repository for this area for our veterans and their artifacts," said Shortt, a Middletown police detective who has a degree in history.

"It's about trying to preserve the honor and history of our veterans and their sacrifices. It's about (making) sure their stories don't go untold," he said.

The VE Day ceremony will be the opening of the World War II wing of the new, 10,000-square-foot museum space, where Shortt has been working countless hours with the support of a board of directors and fellow historians and veterans.

Shortt said while he's planning a May opening for the wing, he will continue to work on the museum, which will eventually feature items from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism. It will also have a library and an auditorium, where students can come on field trips.

Over the years, Shortt has been given memorabilia by veterans and their families, and has also found items at garage sales and antique shops.

"It's American history," he said. "It's not something you can trade or collect or sell."

Shortt knows every item, their stories and details of the things he's been entrusted with.

He has an American flag that a prisoner of war made out of a German guard's underwear and a dress made from a parachute.

He has a blood-stained trouser pocket from a jumpsuit that belonged to a local veteran, Gail Amburgey, who was in Italy when shrapnel hit him and a surgeon at a hospital cut off the pocket and put all his belongings in it.

"That was going to be thrown away," Shortt said of the pocket, one of the first items he received.

"The stories are unbelievable," he said. "The whole thing here is to preserve their history. It's very important to keep."

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or mengle@coxohio.com.