WWII-era tank moves from Brainerd Armory to Camp Ripley museum
The Brainerd Armory’s old M3A1 Stuart tank has a new home at Camp Ripley, where it will lead visitors into Minnesota’s first World War II gallery.
The M3A1 Stuart tank that stood for years in front of the Brainerd Armory has been moved to the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum at Camp Ripley, where it will become one of the first artifacts visitors see in the museum’s new World War II exhibition gallery.
Museum materials describe the tank as a memorial to the men of A Company, 194th Tank Battalion, and to those who suffered and died in Japanese captivity. Officials said the move was made with the blessing and encouragement of the 194th Tank Battalion Association and the staff at the Brainerd Armory, preserving a piece of Brainerd’s wartime story in a setting built to display it more fully.
The Stuart was moved into the museum’s new 40,000-square-foot building on a 30-acre site near Camp Ripley in Little Falls, part of a $32 million expansion that museum leaders have spent years building toward. The tank arrived alongside other major artifacts, including a Humvee and a World War II glider, and it will be installed in the World War II gallery the museum says will be the first gallery visitors encounter.
For families in Otter Tail County, the move turns a local military relic into a regional destination stop. The new museum ties one display case to a larger Minnesota military story, giving descendants of service members, students, and history-minded visitors a place to see the equipment, scale, and sacrifice of World War II in tangible form rather than only on a plaque or in a classroom lesson.
The museum traces its roots to 1976, when it was established behind the gates of Camp Ripley as part of Minnesota’s bicentennial projects. After nearly 50 years of collecting artifacts and stories, leaders say the institution is finally moving into a purpose-built public home.
Groundbreaking for the new museum was held Sept. 17, 2023, and drew about 300 people, a sign of the community and veterans’ support behind the project. The museum has set a grand opening for Sept. 12, 2026, when the Brainerd tank and the rest of the new gallery spaces are expected to take center stage in Morrison County.
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