点评:Son and I were traveling from home (Seattle area) to the NoLa area for a solemn family task, and we decided to make a road trip out of it. After three National Parks, we diverted through Lawton so I could check in with an army buddy from about forty years ago.
The museum at Fort Still is well presented and incredibly well-stocked with equipment from throughout the history of that murderous science. Being able to show some of that to my son while swapping stories with a comrade from back in the day added context that he never could have gotten from just listening to his old man squawk, and we also connected with other vets and the docent around shared experiences (he was a little embarrassed when Big Jim and I broke into a fill-throated performance of the Artillery Song, though). None of us could believe that Jim or I ever folded into the crew compartment of a SPLL, but that’s life for ya.
We made our next stop in Bossier City, where the air base accommodations were excellent, but the Air Power Museum — for all its big, impressive birds parked out on the lawn — is less professionally curated than Ft. Sill’s exhibits.
In sum, Lawton ain’t much of a town, but the Artillery Museum is excellent.
翻译:我和儿子从家(西雅图地区)前往新奥尔良地区,参加一个庄严的家庭活动,我们决定来一趟公路旅行。游览了三个国家公园后,我们绕道劳顿,这样我就能去拜访一位大约四十年前的战友。
斯蒂尔堡的博物馆布置精美,馆藏丰富,涵盖了这门杀人不眨眼的科学的各个历史时期的设备。能够一边向儿子展示这些设备,一边和一位昔日战友交流故事,让他了解了更多背景知识,而这些知识是他光听他老爸的唠叨永远无法获得的。我们还与其他退伍军人和讲解员交流了彼此的经历(不过,当我和大吉姆突然用嗓子唱起《炮兵之歌》时,他有点尴尬)。我们谁也不敢相信我和吉姆竟然会钻进一架SPLL的乘员舱,不过这就是生活。
我们的下一站是博西尔城,那里的空军基地住宿条件非常好,但空军博物馆——尽管草坪上停放着各种体型庞大、令人印象深刻的飞机——的展览策划不如西尔堡的专业。
总而言之,劳顿算不上什么小镇,但炮兵博物馆却非常棒。