Howard W. Harms

(Monitor photo by John Arbter)

Robert Dymek, founder of the GHQ Mobile Military Museum.

(Monitor photo by John Arbter)

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The call came just before Memorial Day weekend. Robert Dymek, founder and operator of the GHQ Military Museum, was nearing completion of his initial displays, housed in a remodeled building behind his residence at Holly Lake Ranch. 

To say it was worth the trip is quite an understatement. The presentation, the details, the variety of items and especially, the personal stories, are not to be forgotten. 

Simply to organize his collection, Dymek built bulkheads inside the 20x50-foot storage building, applied insulation, wall coverings and is in the process of rewiring the lights.

What he has on display is, remarkably, only 25% of his collection. 

A center bulkhead makes for two length-wise viewing passages. A walk through the building takes one from the First World War through to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The effort in putting the museum together is laudable. It is an amazing collection. 

With Memorial Day on the horizon, Dymek described the service story of one soldier who would be honored on Memorial Day. 

Howard W. Harms entered the service on Sept. 20, 1943. The 28-year-old carpenter was assigned to Kilo Company, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. 

He saw combat in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. For historians, the 180th Regiment was a case study of 20th Century warfare. His regiment was involved in landings at Biscari, Sicily; Salerno and Anzio, Italy; and at St. Maxime in southern France. At one point the regiment was engaged in combat for 86 consecutive days. 

Wounded three times in action, Harms was killed on Jan. 19, 1945, two weeks shy of his 30th birthday. According to Army records, he was killed in a German artillery barrage near the town of Reipertswiller, France. A fragment of an exploding shell caused his death.

He was interred at the American Cemetery in Epinal, France, after a protestant service conducted by Divisional Chaplain Major Franklin E. Rector. Chaplain Rector had twice been wounded at the battle of Salerno.

Word of Harms’ death was received by his widow, Millie, via Western Union telegram some weeks later. The telegram was addressed to Mildred Harms, Rt 1. Kankakee, Ill. The two had been married four years. Millie never remarried.

Harms rested in the cemetery designated for American war dead until 1948. His remains were exhumed, as many others were, and returned on an Army transport ship to the States.

On the particular ship on which his remains were transported, the Army transport ship S.S. Robert F. Burns, there were 263 fellow fallen soldiers.

Harms was eventually laid to rest at the Zion Lutheran Church on Route 17 just southwest of Bonfield, Ill. 

Robert Dymek’s specialty in maintaining his personal military museum resides in preserving the stories of those who served. His collection of letters, photographs, telegrams and artifacts of Harms’ life hold a position of honor in the museum. 

Having sorted his collection since relocating to Wood County, Dymek is ready to put the “mobile” into his mobile military museum.  

The vast majority of his displays are framed or encased for ease of transport.

His next step will be to attain a 16-foot covered trailer on which he can transport his ready-to-display casings which tell stories such as that of Howard W. Harms. 

A more detailed description of Dymek’s non-profit organization may be found in the Dec. 16, 2021, edition of the Wood County Monitor, “New Resident brings impressive military collection.”

Dymek’s intent is to take his historical displays to community events, schools and civic groups.

Learning of others’ service is perhaps the most appropriate means to build an appreciation for sacrifice, and to honor the fallen on Memorial Day.