History in the basement

ORAN, Mo. -- Alex Schlitt's museum is filled with memorabilia that would impress any World War II history buff.

A glass display case contains a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He's got a gas mask bag and garrison hats lined up along shelves. Army and Navy uniforms hang from the ceiling. A newspaper from Aug. 14, 1945, that trumpets Japan's surrender is framed on the wall.

Alex's World War II memorabilia looks as if it took him years to collect, but the Oran sixth-grader started his collection two years ago.

On Wednesday, he invited 50 of his friends and family members to his museum's open house -- in a section of his parent's basement in rural Oran.

"I've probably spent more than $1,000 on my collection," Alex said.

The collection started with a World War II canteen that his grandfather, Bob Stokes, bought for Alex at an auction two years ago. Alex now goes to weekly auctions at the Barks Auction building between Cape Girardeau and Jackson to find items.

"I've bought some patches, Nazi buttons and flashlights at auctions," he said.

His Purple Heart, which was purchased at Pastime Antiques in Cape Girardeau, cost him $65. The medal is his most prized possession in the collection.

"Some medals have names engraved on the back of them, but this one doesn't," he said.

The other items in his museum were bought on eBay or given to him by friends and family members. The janitor at Oran Elementary School gave Alex an old Army helmet, his art teacher gave him photographs of a German funeral and a Japanese nurse, and his great-uncle Roy passed down several uniforms and an old postcard.

"My great-uncle fought during the war," Alex said. "He sent me this postcard, dated from Dec. 9, 1945, that said he wouldn't be coming home for Christmas."

His parents, Jo and Michael, are amazed at the World War II facts their 12-year-old can rattle off.

"We're so surprised because neither of us has a big interest in history or World War II," said Jo Schlitt, who teaches first grade at Oran Elementary School.

Most days, when Alex gets home from school, he'll immediately log in to eBay so he can wade through pages of World War II items listed on the auction site.

"There's like 8,000 World War II things on there," he said.

And Alex wants it all.

"He'll call me up while I'm working and say, 'Dad, I've found this really cool thing. Can I buy it?'" said Michael Schlitt, who works for Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.

Sometimes the answer is yes. Other times -- such as when Alex asked if he could buy a $64,000 airplane used during the war -- the answer is no.

Any money Alex receives for birthdays, Christmas or doing chores around the house is usually spent on World War II memorabilia.

"I guess it's good that he's spending his money on stuff like that instead of a toy he'll quit playing with in a month," his father said.

For Christmas this year, Alex didn't receive anything to add to his collection, which surprised him. But he did receive a metal detector, which he hopes will help him add to his collection.

Last year, a substitute teacher at Alex's school told the students her father found a chest full of ammunition when he was tilling up his garden near Oran. The ammunition is now on display at the Stars and Stripes Museum in Bloomfield, Mo. Alex's substitute teacher said Oran was a large railroad town in the 1930s. Soldiers who stopped in the area sometimes buried their ammunition.

"I'm hoping I can find something like that buried around my house," Alex said.

History is his favorite subject in school, and one day he hopes to receive a history degree in college.

"We haven't learned much about World War II at school yet, but when we do, I'll already know most of the history," he said.

Alex said he's thought about joining the Army when he's older -- a number of his family members have been in the military, including his great-grandfather and great-uncle.

"I kind of want to be a soldier, but my girlfriend doesn't want me to -- she's afraid something will happen to me," he said.

He still has a few years to think about it. For now, Alex is focusing on his collection.

"I want to make it bigger and better," he said.

His parents already see their son's museum taking over their unfinished basement.

"I don't think we have a choice," Michael Schlitt said.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246