Our Town Lexington: Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles

LEXINGTON, Neb. (KOLN) - The Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles houses more than 100 vehicles, offers a unique visitor experience, and many of the vehicles there are in running condition.

Located off Interstate 80 in Lexington, the museum began as a non-profit organization in 1986 during the filming of a TV miniseries called “Amerika,” spelled with a K, according to executive director Colton Oser. The museum’s founders served as set extras for the production with two Jeeps, which became the foundation of the collection.

“That was the fundamental basis of this museum was two Jeeps,” Oser said. “They did that and then they wanted to prepare for the next movie to come to town.”

The founders recognized Nebraska’s rich military vehicle history through various agricultural programs after World War II and Korea. By 1991, they had acquired about 60 vehicles and purchased the current site from the state. The museum built its first building section in 1994 and has expanded three times since then.

The museum operates solely on donations and maintains its unique focus on keeping vehicles operational. Many of the World War II and Korean-era vehicles came directly from Nebraska farms, Oser said.

“In World War II’s case a lot of the vehicles came through a program set up to get U.S. agriculture back onto its feet because you had all your major manufacturers like Ford, Chevy, Dodge, John Deere, Alice Chalmers, all those guys making war equipment,” Oser said. “So what better way to supplement the ag market than put those vehicles that served in the military back into the hands of the farmers.” That’s why many military-style vehicles ended up back on farms, and were later recovered from there. For example, three half-tracks displayed at the museum all came from a single ranch in Overton, Nebraska.

The museum features nearly every type of military Jeep adopted by the U.S. military. Two original M38 Jeeps from the 1986 “Amerika” miniseries remain in the collection.

Visitors can climb inside a Bradley fighting vehicle, which Oser said may make the museum the only one in the United States allowing public access to the vehicle. The museum also permits visitors to enter one of its Huey helicopters. The facility displays four different military vehicle prototypes alongside its main collection as well.

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