Gil Mangels, founder of the Miracle of America Museum in Polson, created a uniquely personal exhibit recalling the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

By focusing on George David Smart, a Polson man entombed in the USS Arizona, Mangels brings home the shock, sorrow and rage following the Japanese bombing that killed 2,459 Americans and sunk, damaged or destroyed numerous ships, aircraft and buildings.

"I've had people come in and say, you know, memorials and statues and plaques are all right but this kind of gives us a meaning and a feeling," he said. "That's what we're hoping people will do. Come in and feel the displays."

An Army veteran, Mangels said his vast collection of military memorabilia doesn't glorify war.

"War is a terrible thing and any veteran that's been in it will agree," he said. "But there's something worse than war. That's slavery."

He feels so strongly that he offers free admission from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Pearl Harbor Day. It's an opportunity to experience the Dec. 7 exhibit as well as all of World War II and so much more.

Mangels ticks off just a few of his displays including motorcycles, toys, dolls, guns, buffaloes, antique outhouses and complete general and hardware stores.

"Outside we have 40 buildings," Mangels said. "It's a lot larger than we appear from the highway."

Mangels offers tours to school groups in which he describes how the children of the World War II era pitched in collecting rubber and metal to recycle and buying stamps toward buying war bonds. He also tells fascinating stories like the time Polson residents saved a B-17 bomber that got lost on a training flight from Walla Walla, Wash., in 1943.

"The sheriff alerted the townspeople to come out to the airport and shine their lights down the runway so they made a safe landing," he said.

Heading for the George David Smart collection, Mangels makes a right turn just inside the entry and walks a short distance to the first display case filled with rare items like a "USS Arizona" hat ribbon as well as personal ones such as a souvenir pillow case that Smart sent to his mom. Envelopes from letters sent home display the USS Arizona postmark.

"His parents lived here in Polson and he had a brother serving also in the Navy but in a different area so the family had two blue star flags hanging in the window," he said.

The exhibit includes a picture of the battleship and another photo of Smart standing proudly in his naval uniform.

A Dec. 8, 1941 San Francisco Chronicle headline screams "WAR!" in huge type, reflecting the rage of the nation, while two Western Union telegrams preserve one family's terrible despair.

Mangels pointed to the first.

"Now this is all original stuff, not copies," he said. "This was sent Dec. 20 telling the family that their son was still missing in action."

It was not until Feb. 4, 1942, that they received the second telegram. It said that George David was presumed dead and officially declared to have died in the service of his country on Dec. 7, 1941.

Mangels imagines the sorrow of so many families such as Smart's when the dreaded telegrams arrived. It came home to him when he received a footlocker that was sent back to another family with the possessions of their dead son.

"Here's a tag on the end ... that word effects ... it made the hair on the back of my neck rise," he said. "They sent a son off to war, healthy and full of patriotism, and all they got back was the personal effects from the barracks."

The Smart family had preserved many of the items of their beloved lost son. Mangels, who grew up in the area, knew the family including the other son, Don Jr., who survived.

"Every once in a while, he would find something and bring it out to see if I wanted to put it on display," Mangels said.

He was deeply touched when he received George David's purple heart, awarded posthumously, as well as the Victory Medal and America Defense Service Medal awarded after the war. Mangels remembered the day he mentioned to Don that he would like to find a gold star flag signifying a family member lost in the war.

Don told him that he had George David's original gold star flag and promptly left to get it for the display.

"I mean that was really gripping, to receive the gold star flag," Mangels said.

A letter sent by a former shipmate of George David's to his mother attests to the good character of the young man. Bernard Theena wrote "George was well liked by everyone aboard and held the goodwill of all the officers."

In the letter, Theena promised vengeance on the Japanese, an emotion reflected in the many war posters in the Miracle of America Museum's collection. "Remember Pearl Harbor" was printed on everything including posters, envelopes, stamps, pay vouchers and magazines.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Dec. 7, 1941 "a date that will live in infamy" yet now, exactly 70 years later, Mangels acknowledged that many people give it little thought. He said Pearl Harbor Day has lessons that need to be remembered.

"We still have enemies in the world who want to destroy America," he said. "Look at 9/11. It was another sneak attack very similar to Pearl Harbor. We're hoping people, by seeing this, get a feeling of gratitude for what our veterans did for us - ensuring our freedom."

Miracle of America Museum is located off U.S. 93 just past its junction with Montana 35 at 36094 Memory Lane in Polson. Winter hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For information, call (406) 883-6804.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.