The dispute has been hampered by what both sides describe as unproductive communication and unresolved questions over the terms of the tank’s 2003 move. “There obviously was no military museum at the time, but that's probably where it would have ended up, because it's better suited. Such an agreement is one Duncan has no intention of cosigning. … Basically, it was a mutual agreement, a transfer from the Lewis County Historical Museum to the Veterans Museum, which would require an agreement between both parties to return it.” “It was a tank given to us by the Lewis County museum,” he said. “We really think it's time to come home,” he said. Lahmann maintains that the move was a temporary loan, and he’s eager for his museum to again feature the tank. The tank was acquired by the Historical Society in 1982, and it sat in front of the building until it was moved to Veterans Memorial Museum in 2003. “It's like if I loaned you my lawnmower, and you kept it for a long time, and I asked for it back and you said, ‘No it's mine now,’” Lahmann said. When they show up, said Veterans Memorial Museum Executive Director Chip Duncan, they’ll find a locked gate, because the tank was intended to be kept at his museum in perpetuity.īoth Lahmann and Duncan say they hold no ill will toward the other museum, but each holds steadfast to an ownership claim of the tank, and they admit attempts to resolve the matter have become contentious. Lewis County Historical Society President Peter Lahmann says that on June 9, he and some helpers will show up to the Veterans Memorial Museum with a large truck outfitted with a tow bar, aiming to reclaim the M3 Stuart tank they say has been on loan to the veterans museum for about 15 years. By Alex Brown / pair of local museums are trading verbal artillery over custody rights of a World War II-era tank, with both claiming ownership of the 10-ton artifact.
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