The Friends of the Taylor Veterans Museum, a 501c3 non-profit group, is campaigning this year to raise enough funds to finish installing cabinets and bookcases to house all the memorabilia the organization has collected over the years. Talk to Charley Johnson long enough and that topic is going to come to the surface. Johnson is the chairman of the museum commission.

“My goal is to finish this museum,” he said. “We figured that we needed $35,000 to finish everything that we want to do. We started at $6,000, Now we’re at $21,000, with donations coming regularly. But we need more.”

The museum officially opened in May 2009 as a way for the community to honor its military veterans. It was originally located in a small section of City Hall, adjacent to the atrium. It houses many personal collections of military memorabilia, including a Medal of Honor recipient and a display remembering the late John Dingell, the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Dingell was a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Just a couple of years ago, the museum was moved to the new Taylor Media Center building. The City renovated the old courthouse building into a multi-dimensional facility featuring the museum, communications department and video studios and large areas for secure storage. The museum’s portion of the building looks out across the memorial in Cameron Priebe Plaza and is approximately five times the size of the old space in City Hall.

Two years ago, former Museum Commissioner Frank Canning Sr. finished a campaign that designated Taylor as the second community Downriver and one of less than 1,000 cities in the country to become an official “Purple Heart City,” as designated by the Military Order of the Public Heart Organization. (Wyandotte was the first Downriver.)

The purpose of the distinction is to honor military personnel wounded or killed in combat. The Purple Heart is specifically a combat decoration and is the nation's oldest military medal, first created by General George Washington in 1782. Back then, Facility needs donations to finish expansion, also seeks Purple Heart recipients it was known as the Badge of Military Merit. It is also the oldest military medal in the nation.

To be declared a “Purple Heart City,” a mayor and/or city council must deliver an official proclamation, which is then presented to the local chapter of the military order of the Purple Heart. There are more than 900 Purple Heart locations in the United States, honoring the 1.6 million Purple Heart recipients.

“Frank did a lot of good work in getting us declared a Purple Heart City,” Johnson said. “After his Purple Heart City drive, we needed a Purple Heart Wall in the museum. We want to feature Taylor’s Purple Heart recipients.”

As a result, the commission designated a large wall in the middle of the facility to Purple Heart recipients. In December 2023, Herman “Butch” Ramik and the late Holly McGeogh were the first Taylor residents to have their pictures displayed on the wall surrounding a beautiful handmade plaque dedicated to the Purple Heart.

Ramik served during the Vietnam War and was the founder of the Taylor Veterans Museum. He was in the 23rd Infantry Division out of Chu Lai and returned home a highly decorated soldier after being awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman’s Badge and other military citations. He went on to become an Army drill sergeant at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri. After leaving the military, he served on the Taylor Police Department for 20 years, where he also earned a Purple Heart, Medal of Valor and Mayor’s Medal.

Ms. McGeogh was killed in Iraq in 2004 at the age of 19. She died when her vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device near Kirkuk, Iraq. She was part of Company A, Fourth Forward Support Battalion, Fourth Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas. A memorial to McGeogh currently sits in the City Hall plaza.

Do you want to contribute to the Taylor Veterans Museum as a donor or volunteer? Are you, or do you know a Taylor resident (or former resident) who is a Purple Heart recipient? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then contact Charley Johnson at (313) 304-2173. If you just want to donate to the museum restoration drive, drop a check off at the City Clerk’s Office on the first floor of City Hall during regular business hours. Make your checks payable to “Friends of the Taylor Veterans Museum.”