Panther F, when you working in a museum, the ONLY consideration is accuracy both in the artifact as well as the history behind it. By former curator placed an M-278 CEV on display with the gun to the rear. [:'(] The CEV's 165mm demolition gun was only 3 feet long. Tthe only reason a gun is carried over the back deck in travel lock is to prevent damage to the mechanism and prevent accidents of ramming it into anything. CEV NEVER carried the gun to the rear...his purpose was to "show off the boom", which at any rate, was more visibly predominant hanging over the back deck and the tank would have looked like a combat vehicle with the gun in it's normally carried position. He also wanted to apply "Mogas" decals on gas cans, although they were never there....he said they look good. Like wise, he put bumber markings on a jeep that were backwards, ie; company #s left and division and Bn ID right...wouldn't admit his mistake and never checked regs...and still marked wrong. Over 20 artifacts are terribly misspelled or mis labeled.....for over a year and still not corrected, in spite of my work of editing and giving him a correction (& translation) of all of them. The museum has a cavalry saddle given to him by someone who told him "their great grandfather used it in the conferderate cavalry"....he has been told many times that both the saddle type and make were not around during the Civil War. The rifle in the saddle holster he has been infomed by two weapons experts, was never used by the confederacy, but he says, "it fits and looks good". He's so hung up on the confederacy, that anything that might interest the unknowing visitor makes him happy. He has put items out for open display, totally incorrectly labeled or misrepresented...Ie: M-2 grease gun or an M-1 Thompson SMG when the gun was an M-1928. Telling people that the Japanese Ni Mortar was fired by placing it on the knee...yeah right. A number of GIs captured them and misunderstood the name....they all had terribly fractured legs from the sad experience. .

Fact of the matter is that you can have 100 artifacts displayed...99 are correct, however one has a couple things mislabled or incorrect...what effect does that have on the credence of all the rest of your data? An artifact in a museum should be presented AS IT WAS USED AND SEEN, not as you would like to portray it. I have a reputation in several museums that ANYTHING I bring in or researched for them , has been researched and cross referenced with the references listed and documented. Running my own museum or being "the boss" has absulotely no relevence, It is a simple matter of integrity and honesty. Museums are institutions of education and misrepresented or BS to hide unknown or unresearched facts is spreading lies. [>:] I now work at Fort Jackson Museum and my work is never questioned, and if it is, I can readilly present viable substantiation.