The Daily Standard
Story Archive
A Memorial Display at Willshire Home Furnishings will feature around 160 military uniforms from area veterans and an array of military artifacts and memorabilia.
WILLSHIRE - One of the best Memorial Day displays around will open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Monday a little over 2 miles northwest of the Mercer-Van Wert county line at Willshire Home Furnishings.
The display is set to feature around 160 U.S. service uniforms, along with photographs, artifacts and other memorabilia from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.
Owner Aleta Weiss started the annual display in 2011 following the death of her father, Staff Sgt. Delmore H. Mitch, who fought in WWII for five years and served at Normandy.
"It all started with my dad's uniform," she said. "He was in World War II and he fought in Normandy. He was in there for five years in Germany, France and Belgium and all around that area. I opened up a trunk upstairs after he passed away and I found a lot of different artifacts, maps that he had drawn that told him how the invasions were going to go and that sort of thing."
Initially, Weiss put her dad's uniform in one of the furniture store display windows.
"And the window looked kind of strange with just one uniform, so I went to the Legion next door and asked for some names of veterans that were from around this area," Weiss said. "They gave me 10 names and the rest is history. I always say, this started with my dad's uniform and 10 names because there was like 23 uniforms and stuff came through the first time when I just called 10 people. It just took off. … It's in memory of my dad, and then all the other veterans from around the area."
A Memorial Display at Willshire Home Furnishings will feature around 160 military uniforms from area veterans and an array of military artifacts and memorabilia including historic area newspapers.
To fill up the display, Weiss is loaned uniforms and various memorabilia from the families of area veterans.
"I have 160 uniforms on display of different veterans from around the area, and they have names to the uniforms (names of those who wore them), which is different than a lot of the different museums," she said. "We have pictures of each one of the military men, along the side of the store, that go with the uniforms. We also have a slideshow on a 48-inch television of the same pictures. We have Japanese artifacts and German artifacts and different World War II items. It takes up a whole storefront and the back part of the store."
Willshire Home Furnishings is owned by Aleta and Bill Weiss, and located at 318 State St., Willshire. The business supports the Honor Flight of Northeast Indiana and will be accepting donations for the program during the event.
For more information, call 419-495-2833.
Other Memorial Day events in the area include:
• a performance of patriotic music by the Van Wert Area Community Concert Band at Fountain Park in downtown Van Wert at 7 p.m. Friday to kick off the Memorial Day weekend. Area military personnel and veterans will also be honored.
• Memorial Day Breakfast, Mendon Community Church, 105 E. Market St., Mendon - 7-10 a.m., donations only.
• a Memorial Day service in Celina - 11 a.m. Monday at the Bryson Park District.
• a Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. Monday in Memorial Park, Coldwater.
• a Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. Monday at the Riverside Cemetery in Rockford followed by a parade at 11 a.m.
• a mass service at 9 a.m. Monday at St. Bernard's Cemetery, St. Henry.
• a state and federal highway dedication honoring Army Sgt. Ronnie Blair, Army Sgt. Charles Kettler and Army Sgt. Herbert Linville will be held at The Armory in St. Marys at 11 a.m. Monday.
