WWII-era tank moves from Brainerd Armory to Camp Ripley museum

The old M3A1 Stuart tank that stood for years outside the Brainerd Armory has been moved to Camp Ripley, where it is being restored for a place of honor in the Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum’s new World War II gallery.

For veterans, historians and visitors from north-central Minnesota, the move turns a familiar roadside memorial into a centerpiece of a larger public history project. The museum says the tank was long a silent testament to the men of A Company, 194th Tank Battalion, and to those who suffered or died in Japanese captivity after the invasion of the Philippines. Its new placement will give that history a more visible and interpretive setting inside the museum’s first gallery, the space visitors encounter when they enter the new facility.

The museum credited the 194th Tank Battalion Association and the staff at the Brainerd Armory for supporting the restoration and move. The Stuart is one of several large artifacts now being staged for the expanded museum, along with a Humvee and a World War II glider. Each piece required careful planning, coordination and precision to transport and position in the new galleries.

The relocation is part of a much larger expansion at Camp Ripley in Little Falls. The Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum says it is building a 40,000-square-foot facility dedicated to preserving and sharing Minnesota veterans’ stories through immersive exhibits, rare artifacts and personal narratives. The new building will also include education classrooms, extending the museum’s role beyond display cases and into teaching spaces for schools, families and military history visitors.

The museum says the grand opening for the new facility is set for September 12, 2026. Until then, the current Camp Ripley site remains open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through July 2026. That gives residents and travelers a narrow window to visit the existing museum before the operation shifts fully into the new building.

For Beltrami County and the broader north-central Minnesota region, the tank’s move signals more than a preservation project. It ties Brainerd’s wartime memorial into a larger interpretive effort at Camp Ripley, where the museum is trying to deepen veteran engagement and present Minnesota military history in a more immersive public setting.