After Action Report on Heritage Day

The Endless Mountains War Memorial Museum,

Sonestown, PA

Submitted by Jack Budnick

Mike Brown, Ben Thomas, and I attended this event for the first time on September 13 and 14, 2008. We planned to pack light, basically to scout the event in case we plan to attend in the future. Jack Craft, owner of the museum, has many different displays in the museum and we didn’t want to duplicate something he had. Jack had a mess tent set up for us to hang out and store our gear. Included in the encampment were Rev War, Civil War, and WWI reenactors.

We did the usual routine of talking to people and answering questions. We also helped keep an eye on the museum for Jack since he’s had some items stolen in the past.

The museum is worth the trip. It’s amazing how much Jack has collected throughout the years. You can spend hours looking and reading all the items on display. He had expanded the museum a few years ago and needs to do it again. When people see what he’s done,they donate groupings of their relatives because they know they’re going to a good home and will be seen by many people. One woman donated a concentration camp uniform with the star of David sewn on front.

We met a few veterans that Mr Craft had arranged to come in to sit at a table to talk to people.

We also met quite a few veterans that were visiting the museum, listening to them explain their experiences to their family and friends.

We plan to attend next year’s event and will bring more items for a display, similar to the small events we normally attend. There are some nice local restaurants where we ate. We can camp out on the museum grounds, or stay at my Dad’s cabin, which is about 4 miles up the mountain. Jack Craft’s family farm is nearby and he’d like to have a small tactical there someday. I’ll check to see if Jack would like to set something up for this spring and will keep all of you posted.