Miami Valley Military History Museum

Miami Valley Military History Museum

Miami Valley Military History Museum
4.5
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
Closed
About
We have more than 130 uniforms of all types and hundreds of other artifacts on display including a 1953 Willys Jeep inside. The museum is arranged in chronological order, making it easy for visitors to self tour displays that cover the Revolutionary War to the present, including Military Operations Other Than War such as Grenada, Lebanon and Panama. All branches of the Armed Forces are represented, including the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine. Relics from the opposing side in each conflict are also displayed. Highlights of our artifacts include the Medal of Honor, pieces of the USS Maine and USS Arizona, and pieces of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the United Flight 93 crash site.
Duration: 1-2 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
What is Travelers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Are you currently on your trip?
Help us find experiences available for you.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles13 reviews
Excellent
8
Very good
3
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
0

Porthos7
West Chester, OH8,927 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2023 • Couples
Let me start by saying that this museum is exceptionally good! It's got all the things you'd see in a proper military museum - jeeps, guns, flags etc, but what makes this museum so diverse is the collection of DIFFERENT types of military uniforms, the gear that comes with them, and the specialty patches/awards, etc attached to them! They are diverse, eye opening and very interesting! You'll have plenty to see and experience in this place! Completely handicap accessible, and you'll need about 1 hour for the entire place! Go and enjoy!
Written February 13, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RexFoga
Dayton, OH146 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2015 • Solo
Located on the Dayton VA campus, the museum is packed with artifacts dating back to the American Revolution and through present conflicts. All branches are represented, with heavy emphasis on WWII and later. Uniforms, newspapers, weaponry, and anything else you can think of can be viewed (but not touched. The importance of these artifacts is heavily emphasized, as is their preservation.) in what may seem to be too small a space for everything here. It is a solemn place, the struggles these men and women went through to preserve our freedoms is a main focus.
Written July 27, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mark C
Beavercreek, OH4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2015 • Solo
The Miami Valley Military History Museum was featured in the August 23rd, 2015 episode of TLC's “Who Do You Think You Are?”, featuring Bryan Cranston, star of Seinfeld, Malcom in the Middle, and Breaking Bad.
Written September 9, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

interceptpubs
Columbus, IN964 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2018 • Solo
We visit a lot of museums, military and otherwise, and this one reminded us of the type of military history displays found in many county museums, albeit on a larger scale. There are a lot of donated artifacts (uniforms, medals, war souvenirs, ephemera, etc.) from area veterans from the Revolution (although nothing much until the Civil War) through the War on Terror. There are some interesting artifacts here - like a uniform from one of the few Americans to fight in Italy during the First World War, a piece of USS Arizona's superstructure from Pearl Harbor, a unique custom flight suit and awards from the winning B-52 crew from a Cold War-era SAC bombing competition, and many other items.

In fact to some degree, there is too much on display with relatively little accompanying background material to pull everything together into a coherent whole (which is what great museums do). Yes, each display cabinet has a notebook with a description of the various artifacts in that cabinet, but this is a tedious way to get information and doles it out piecemeal. While every veteran's story is important, it is also important to understand how their service fits into the big picture. We understand the problems of limited funding, lots of well meaning donations from veterans and their families, etc.

This museum is still worth a visit, and we spent an hour or so looking through the displays. Admission is free, and the museum is located on the grounds of the Dayton VA Medical Center. Built in 1867 as one of three National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is worth a look in itself.
Written July 8, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mikesmith77
Ohio3 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2016 • Business
The museum has an impressive collection of military memorabilia from all time periods, but it seems unorganized and cluttered. Not much of a narrative or story, just stuff sitting in shelves. I'd be afraid to take kids to the museum since most of the items aren't behind glass and can easily be touched.
Written October 30, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for your response. Since your review we made some marvelous changes ad more coming the end of this calendar year. If you're in the area then, do stop in. Regards ~ Catherine I. Beers-Conrad
Written October 19, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Rex S
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2021
My patches are there from my old unit nice place to visit I was very happy to see all the history in that museum I love history when I go get medical I like to walk through it
Written October 22, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kathleen S
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2018 • Couples
Loved it visited with my navy vet husband when he had a VA appointment. Well set up and displays and staff are very informative strongly suggest people visit
Written March 28, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nicki G
18 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2017 • Friends
This was a really neat experience. It really brings to light what our veterans experienced while fighting for our freedom! I was never all that interested in military stuff but after visiting the museum, I felt differently about it. They have authentic artifacts as well as photographs from every war that our nation has been involved with. Pretty cool stuff. The Dayton VA Campus is a great piece of history in itself. Definitely worth visiting if you like history.
Written December 21, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Pat C
178 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2017 • Solo
The museum is on the grounds of the Dayton VA and is free to the public. It contains artifacts from all of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard). It covers the wars and conflicts where the US was involved. Lots of stories and many of the artifacts are identified with the person who wore the uniform or used the item. It is necessary to climb about 6 steps to enter the museum.
Written June 15, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Catherine B
12 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2016 • Couples
Every display is clearly marked. A collection of lives of our Armed Forces... pictures, stories... WOW !!!

The flow of eras is logical from American Revolution to current.

Tours of the Historic Protestant Chapel, the Grotto Gardens and the VA Campus... On the National Register of Historic Places... dates to Civil War... and presentations are offered.

Written December 27, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 13
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

Miami Valley Military History Museum, Fairborn

All Fairborn HotelsFairborn Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in Fairborn
All things to do in Fairborn
RestaurantsFlightsVacation RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesRental Cars