Thomas St. Onge Vietnam Museum preserves war’s history
HERMANSVILLE, Mich. (WLUC) - March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day. It’s also the 50th anniversary of the official end of the Vietnam War.
The Thomas St. Onge Vietnam Museum is the oldest in the nation to honor the Vietnam War. Gerald “Ziggy” Ayotte is a veteran of the war and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 571 finance officer. He says he never had plans to open a museum. He just wanted to establish a chapter of the VVA.
“We were in a garage,” Ayotte said. “That’s where we started off, in a garage. Then we acquired this piece of property and built this building.”
Chapter 571 eventually moved into an old bank in Hermansville. Now, they had an empty building and no idea what to do with it.
“Somebody said, ‘What are we gonna do with our old building?’ I said, ‘Well, let’s make a museum,‘” Ayotte said. ”‘Yeah, that’s a great idea!’ Everybody got on the bandwagon. ‘I got some stuff!’ Everybody’s got stuff to bring.”
The museum has been up since 2002. Ayotte says it has had visitors from as far as North Vietnam, England and Wales. When he gets asked about his time in the infantry, he likes to talk about his dad, who was in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
“He was a paratrooper,” Ayotte said. “That’s why my kid joined the paratroopers. Because of my dad. My dad told him, ‘Don’t you join the paratroopers.’ What did he do? He joins them anyway.”
The museum is overflowing with artifacts, too many for Ayotte to count at this point. But there are a few inside that he looks at that bring back certain memories.
“Stuff you’ve seen over there that’s prominent and have seen it all the time,” Ayotte said. “The little soldier that’s dressed up there with the North Vietnamese Army uniform on. That NVA flag. I had an original in Vietnam. That’s the stuff that brings your memory back.”
Ayotte plans to talk at North Central Area Schools on Wednesday in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
He says he is still trying to raise money to expand the museum.
Copyright 2025 WLUC. All rights reserved.
