Fagen Fighters WWII Museum

 I rode my motorcycle over 300 miles in order to visit 3 places: an interesting cemetery, the world’s largest ball of twine, and the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls Minnesota.  Now, all three of these places are cool, but the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum definitely takes the cake here.  This museum contains vehicles and aircraft that were significant players in WWII: P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning, a B-25 Mitchell, a Waco glider, and many more.  They even have a Japanese Zero they are in the process of refurbishing. There’s an M16/M3 Half Track, a military Harley motorcycle, a Sherman tank, and several other items.  And get this: they all run and/or fly.  This isn’t one of those museums that display planes that are mere shells of their former selves that couldn’t possibly run, much less fly.  Don’t get me wrong, those displays are important too.  But, Fagen’s museum is keeping these pieces of history alive, and attention to detail is a big deal here. This is the most impressive WWII museum I have visited. They even have a powerful Holocaust exhibit, complete with a train boxcar with realistic models/mannequins dressed in period attire.  They also have a D-Day exhibit showing soldiers coming off a Higgins Boat at Utah Beach.  The sand in the exhibit is actual sand from Utah Beach. Who goes to that kind of trouble?   From the moment I walked through the doors, to the moment I left the parking lot,  I was impressed.  This is a must see.  

Click on the images to see them in a larger format.

Here are some photos from my visit.

M16/M3 Half Track

Interior of a WWII glider

Japanese Zero being refurbished

An actual boxcar used by Nazi Germany to transport people to camps and/or their death.

As a people, we are capable of many things.  Not all of those things are good.  Never forget.

POW’s being unloaded from trains to a POW camp.

There will be an air show on June 18th this year.  It looks like it will be a fantastic event!

Thanks for looking at my photo blog!