Memorial Day is a day for remembering all those who died while serving our country in the armed forces. Veterans Day was established to celebrate the service of all military veterans. The Collin County Historical Society will be open to the public on May 25th to allow anyone interested in visiting our wall of honor dedicated to the Collin County men who died while serving our country during the Vietnam Conflict. The exhibit, The Vietnam Syndrome, will be open from 11AM until 3PM.

Did you know that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day? During and after the American Civil War, a day was set aside to commemorate the 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war. People would gather at graveyards to decorate the graves of the fallen with flowers or what ever they had. There was often a religious service and picnic during the day for those who attended. The food was served on plates and placed on sheets and blankets on the ground. "Dinner on the ground"  traditionally was called a potluck meal.

Come by the museum at 300 E. Virginia St. in downtown McKinney after your potluck meals, parades, and ceremonies and learn about those young men who never came home from Southeast Asia alive.

The Collin County Historical Society & Museum will open the “Vietnam Syndrome” exhibit with an opening ceremony at 1PM on Friday, March 13. Joe Cordina, Colonel, USAF Reserve will act as our Master of Ceremonies. Our special honoree is Colonel (Ret) Anthony A. Wood, USMC. In his second tour in Vietnam in 1974-75, he commanded a joint contingent executing clandestine missions to resolve MIA cases in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In January 1975, as North Vietnamese forces closed on Saigon, he joined the newly formed Special Planning Group with the mission of secretly developing a plan for the evacuation of Saigon. In the course of that operation he directed a group of over 100 American civilian volunteers, who assumed great risk to remain without protection, and evacuated over 5000 persons from the collapsing capital to the safety of waiting Marine helicopters.

“The Vietnam Syndrome” Exhibit will explore the history behind the experiences of many North Texas Vietnam Veterans while serving our country in Southeast Asia. In the early 1960’s, Americans quickly stepped into an era of explosive change. An American U-2 spy plane was shot down over Soviet Airspace in May of 1960. In the summer of 1961, East Germany closed the last escape hatch to the west, and half a world away, a quiet little war in Southeast Asia was slowly scaling up to the conflict that would devastate one country and throw another into political turmoil. By the middle of 1962, while politicians were debating such fine points as whether or not our soldiers, still officially listed as ‘advisors’ should shoot back if fired upon, our men were beginning to return home in flag-draped coffins. Many of our Vietnam Veterans can no longer speak for themselves, so we will do our best to speak for them.

Please join us on Friday, March 13th and meet some of our North Texas Warriors from Vietnam before you visit our new exhibit. General admission to the exhibit is $7.50, seniors and Veterans $5, children $3 and admission to all Vietnam Veterans is free.

Be prepared for the invasion of Norsemen during McKinney's Oktoberfest.  They will gather at the Collin County Historical Society & Museum, 300 E. Virginia St., which is operating as strategic command, at 15:00 hours on September 28 for "Mystery at the Museum" Exhibit instructions. Our modern Vikings will be permitted to interact with museum visitors to help explain their ancestor's customs, journeys, sagas, language and runestones which will be facinating for all ages.

Stories of their Texas descendants who originally came from Germany and Scandanavia will be shared.  In addition, all visitors will be introduced to the Father of Science Fiction, Jules Verne, and his historical adventure stories.

But how do these topics all interconnect? Well, that is the mystery.

The Historical Society strongly urges each of you attending Oktoberfest to willingly visit the museum for a nominal fee of of $3 for adults and $1 for children.  We must give our Vikings time to roam the grounds throughout Oktoberfest. They are well mannered and quite civilized, but after all, they are Vikings.

Our hours on Friday, September 26th will be from 4PM - 9PM, Saturday from 11AM - 9PM, and Sunday from 12PM to 5PM. We will also be open the following Friday and Saturday from 11-4.