Today is Armed Forces Day.

The third Saturday of May is designated each year as a day to celebrate the men and women who serve in the various branches of the United States armed forces.

On Saturday, May 19, 2001 (which was Armed Services Day that year), the City of Little Rock opened the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History.  Tomorrow, the museum celebrates its 18th birthday.

Though the museum is only 18 years old, the building in which it is located, is 171 years old.  Last year, the building was closed for several months as it received a much needed refurbishment.

Today, the Museum’s exhibits include

• Vietnam, America’s Conflict
• Fiction and Fantasy
• From Turbulence to Tranquility: The Little Rock Arsenal
• Capital In Crisis: Little Rock and the Civil War
• Alger Cadet Gun
• Camden Expedition
• David Owen Dodd Story
• First Call: American Posters of World War I
• The Sun Never Sets on the Mighty Jeep: The Jeep During World War II
• Through the Camera’s Eye: The Allison Collection of World War II Photographs
• Conflict and Crisis: The MacArthur-Truman Controversy
• Duty, Honor and Country: General Douglas MacArthur
• By the President in the Name of Congress: Arkansas’s Medal of Honor Recipients

Visitors to MacArthur Park today can also interact with the various outdoor memorials and monuments which pay tribute to various phases of Arkansas’ military history.