Tank museum’s collection holds heavy artillery

By Liz Barry

Published: December 5, 2008

There are collectors, and there are extreme collectors — those not tied down by size or reason.

William Gasser, director and curator of the Tank Museum in Danville, falls into the second category.

Since boyhood, Gasser was obsessed with all things military. His collection started small: toy soldiers, medallions, combat helmets.

Then things got big.

“It’s very dangerous to have a pocketful of money and a really wild idea and nobody to talk you out of it,” Gasser says.

First came the British armored car from World War II. Later, a United States military tank. Gasser became a local landmark in his hometown of Long Island, New York — the man with the tank in his backyard.

Today, 57-year-old Gasser has amassed a collection of more than 30,000 military-related artifacts that are on displayed in the Tank Museum, a 330,000-square-foot facility in Danville. 

The museum has the feel of an oversized warehouse with a camouflage color-scheme. The cinderblock walls and cement floors provide a fitting canvas for the more than 110 tanks and artillery pieces, some of which rival the size of a large African elephant.

For those who have only seen tanks in photos or movies, the Tank Museum provides an up-close look at the size and scope of these massive combat vehicles.

But the museum features more than just tanks. Way more. A military buff can spend hours, if not days, poring over the collection.

There are thousands of pieces of military memorabilia, from bazookas to pint-sized toy tanks, most of which are accompanied by descriptions of their origins and histories. There are flame throwers and rare rifles, tank and artillery optics, hundreds of military uniforms, combat helmets, magazine clippings, old photographs, the list goes on and on.

There are life-sized dioramas of battle scenes. A dying soldiers with his guts spilling out in a scene from World War II in North Italy. Two soldiers braving the cold on a snowy plain in North Korea during winter of 1952, complete with Styrofoam snow.

The museum even offers a dose of pop culture and fashion. The “Army Elvis” exhibit features an autographed postcard and memorabilia from his time in the military. There is also a cocktail dress once owned by Marilyn Monroe, who would give free shows for U.S. soldiers, and a floor length gown that belonged to Adolf Hitler’s mistress and wife, Eva Braun.

Some of Gasser’s favorite items are not the most expensive or rare. For instance, he has taken a liking to his three taxidermic horses.

“Every morning I go pet one,” he says.

At the end of the day, he gets his kicks from sharing his collections with others, rather than finding that next big thing.

Close to 500,000 people have walked through his museum since it opened in its original New York location in 1981, Gasser says. He moved his museum to Danville in 1999 when his collection outgrew its old space.

Gasser, who never served in the military himself, says his collection grew out of his childhood love of military toys.

“I just never grew up,” he says.