45th Infantry Division Museum
2145 NE 36th St ., Oklahoma City 405-424-5313
Open to public : Tuesday-Friday 9 a . m . -4:15 p . m .; Saturday 10 a . m . -4:15 p . m .; Sunday 1-4 p . m . Check 45thdivisionmuseum . com for more information .
Why ’ s it spooky ?:
Curator Mike Gonzales , who has been with the museum for more than 20 years , enthusiastically talked ghosts with me for almost an hour , recently .
I first spoke to him in 2011 , as research prior to an Insight investigation .
“ I really think that if there is any of that , it ’ s coming from the old Union cemetery ,” he said .
The cemetery was created after the Land Runs , when Union veterans moved into - and later died in - Oklahoma . It sits across busy 36th St . at an angle from the museum . Three great ghost stories from Mike : 1 - “ An elderly couple had toured around the museum , and before they left , they came by ( the office ) and told me how nice and wonderful the staff had been . Except , they said , for one man . ‘ That one you have dressed in the World War II uniform would just turn and walk away from me when I asked him a question .’ Of course , we don ’ t have anyone here in period uniforms .”
2 - A former staff member would , according to Mike , be forgetful when turning off a museum light when they were leaving for the day . So , he ’ d become accustomed to following up on it . One evening , after turning off many of the lights , himself , he returned to that area of the museum to find “ every , single light ” turned on – like the opposite of an electromagnetic pulse .
After again turning everything off , Mike spotted one , last light , coming from inside an old desk , on display . He opened the desk drawer , and “ the flashlight that was inside had been turned on .”
A flashlight that likely hadn ’ t been used in half a century , or more .
3 - A paranormal team with a medium was investigating the chapel area . Midway through the investigation , the medium came to Mike and said there were “ many spirits ” at the location , but one , in particular , was very persistent . His name was Tony . “ The medium said he had some connection to the chapel , and that she didn ’ t understand it , but she said he ‘ carried a hog ’ in Vietnam .” The next day , Mike looked into the claim and discovered a Vietnam veteran named Anthony Davis had joined the Oklahoma National Guard and later the staff . When the building was converted into the museum , in 1974 , he stayed on and helped convert the chapel .
Anthony is buried across the street , at the Union cemetery , and he carried an M-60 machine gun in Vietnam – commonly referred to by veterans as a “ hog .”
... He opened the desk drawer , and “ the flashlight that was inside had been turned on .” A flashlight that likely hadn ’ t been used in half a century , or more .
PHOTO by JEFF JOHNCOX The 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City is full of great information and an impressive collection of memorabilia .
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 36