N. Trent Chamberlain 2025 Spring Internship

     Hello readers! This week was a busy one as we prepared for the upcoming Military Appreciation Weekend at the museum. I had the opportunity to meet Chris for the first time and helped him by contributing to the setup and organization of the museum, ensuring a welcoming and engaging space for our visitors and vendors. A significant part of my week involved rearranging displays and exhibits to create a more presentable and accessible environment. I carefully moved objects and artifacts, ensuring their safety and proper placement. This involved collaborating with other staff members and volunteers to ensure a cohesive and visually appealing layout. In addition to the physical setup, I also had the chance to delve into the fascinating world of the LORAN-C 77 radio navigation system. This device, once used in aircraft for precise positioning, caught my attention during my work with the Vacanti collection. I spent some time researching its history and functionality, gaining...

     Hello readers! This week I have almost finished accessioning the Vacanti collection. I also spent some time familiarizing myself around the museum and preparing for an event later next month with two world war two veterans. Firstly, a significant part of my week was dedicated to preparing for an upcoming event featuring two distinguished World War II veterans. The event, scheduled for next month, will be an evening dedicated to their firsthand accounts of their service. John Zuch, who served as a Machinist Mate Petty Officer, and Mel Jenner, a pilot who played a crucial role as a Scanner during the D-Day Invasions, will share their experiences and insights from this pivotal period in history. To promote this special event and encourage student participation, I designed and created a flyer. This flyer will be distributed to students across the UCF campus, aiming to draw a large and engaged audience to hear these veterans’ important stories. This event is a unique op...

       Hello readers! This week I made real headway with accessioning the Vacanti Collection. I was able to complete the second of three boxes. Of note I was able to find Salvatore Vacanti’s job role while he was an enlisted man. In the collection were three graduation cards from early in his enlisted career that specified the technical schools he attended. I have linked them below.  Two of the schools were familiar to me. The class A school is the school that all sailors go to to determine their job, or rate. Vacanti’s rank was Aviation machinist mate or AD. This is why his rank is listed as AD3 on the last document, which is short for Aviation Machinist Mate Third Class. Before that he was an AN, or airman, the aviation version of a seaman. The Second school I recognized was a Class C school. This is a school that allows sailors to specialize within their specific field. In this case Vacanti attended a Helicopter Maintenance course as his specialization with...

  Hello readers! This week I continued to accessioning and analyze the Vacanti collection. I’d like to talk about the reserves in the Navy and how they are different from active duty. First I wanted to verify if LCDR Vacanti was in the reserves or active navy.  When I first started looking through the Vacanti collection I noticed he was listed as LCDR Vacanti USNR. The USNR typically stands for United States Navy Reserve so I assumed he was in the reserves at least when he got out of the Navy. I asked his family when they came to visit the museum how long he had been in the Reserves and they didn’t seem to think he had ever been in the Reserves. They were also kind enough to leave a collection of Salvatore’s old military records. This allowed me to clarify that he had been in the reserves. A document, presented below, was quite clear that he had been a Reservist Officer in 1965 when he was first promoted to LCDR. On a more technical level I looked at his Officer designator 1...

Hello readers! I have been working at the museum for about one month now and am starting to get into a good pattern. This week I continued to accession the Vacanti Collection. I am making sure that everything is being cataloged correctly so that we can access it in the future. I also began to make a digital timeline so that I can show Salvatore Vacanti’s life by combining the research I have done and the artifacts in his collection. It is very much still a work in progress but I have linked it below.  Accessioning the artifacts allows me to see what will be useful for a future exhibit. In the same vain collecting the information I have into a timeline is helping me to piece together all of the aspects of Vacanti’s life. I have found some interesting Videos from NARA and an old newsreel of the ZW-1 being launched for the first time. I Have included these in the timeline linked below.. I think that by visualizing Vacanti’s life this way I can provide a bottom up view of history dur...

 Hello readers. This week, I continued my internship working on the Vacanti Collection. This collection comprises; personal artifacts, documents, photographs, etc. belonging to LCDR Vacanti. I spent the majority of this week accessioning the collection into our system. This process is crucial to ensure that nothing gets misplaced in storage and to get a detailed inventory of every item. Also, this week, I started to examine the various medals that LCDR Vacanti received during his military service. His medals illustrate the diverse areas where he served his country. He has two World War II occupation medals: one for Asia and one specifically for China. These medals were awarded to service members who served in those regions while the Allies occupied them following World War II. He also has service medals for both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. These were given to all service members who served "in country" in each of the respective wars. And, of course, he has a National Defense...

               Hello readers! The second week of my internship saw me continuing my work on the exhibit showcasing the military career of Lieutenant Commander Salvatore Vacanti. A veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Vacanti's legacy is preserved in a collection of memorabilia generously donated by his daughter. My task is to transform these items into an engaging and informative exhibit. I began by carefully examining the collection, hoping to uncover compelling artifacts that would capture visitors' attention. One of the earliest items I encountered was a World War II ration card. Issued to Salvatore when he was only eleven years old, the card still retains four stamps. Holding this tangible piece of history sparked a personal connection, as I am currently enrolled in a World War II history class where we recently discussed the global impact of the Great Depression. My research also led me to explore the Navy's use of blimps during ...