The Story of Grissom Air Museum
Grissom Air Museum sits near Peru, Indiana, right at the gates of what was once Grissom Air Force Base, and it exists because a handful of veterans refused to let that history disappear.
Founded by the Men Who Served There
The museum's story starts in 1981, when seven prior-service military personnel who lived in the area, led by founding chairman John Crume, formed the Grissom Air Force Base Heritage Museum Foundation. Their goal was simple: preserve the aircraft stationed at Grissom Air Reserve Base before they were lost to time.
The foundation opened the Grissom Air Museum in 1982, just outside the base's main gate. Construction on a proper indoor museum building began in 1987, and it was completed in 1991, giving the collection a permanent home to match its growing significance.
A Base With Cold War Roots
The base itself carries its own layered history. Before May 12, 1968, it was known as Bunker Hill Air Force Base. It was renamed Grissom in honor of Virgil "Gus" Grissom, an Indiana native and the second American astronaut in space, who died in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire on January 27, 1967.
Over the decades, the base was home to the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, the 305th Bomb Wing, and today the 434th Air Refueling Wing, which still operates from the active reserve base next door.
More Than Twenty Aircraft, One Rare Star
Today the museum displays more than 20 aircraft outdoors, with several more in various stages of restoration. Visitors can climb into an F-4 Phantom and a UH-1 Huey helicopter, and see a complete WWII-era Link Trainer alongside an exhibit honoring Gen. William Kepner and Gus Grissom himself.
The museum's rarest piece is the Convair B-58 Rocket Sled, known as the Texas Hustler — the only surviving example of a test sled built to evaluate ejection seat designs for B-58 supersonic bomber crews, capable of pushing test dummies to Mach 2 speeds and altitudes up to 70,000 feet.
Still Run By the Community That Built It
From 1995 to 2009, the museum operated as a State Historic Site under the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Today it runs on donations, memberships, gift shop sales, and admissions, with the State of Indiana still contributing funding for aircraft upkeep and a Veterans Memorial Walkway on the grounds.
The museum also hosts community events throughout the year, including its Warbird Cruise-In Car Show, keeping the site active well beyond a static walk-through of Cold War history.
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