A grandfather's traipse across Europe as an infantryman during World War II would ignite a love of military history in Jonathan Bernstein.

"His footlocker was my treasure chest," Bernstein says about Julius Goldman.

Bernstein, 34, now has a larger treasure chest at his disposal. He is the director of the National Guard Educational Foundation (NGEF) and, as such, in charge of the National Guard Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., a position he has held since August.

But Bernstein, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., sees his role simply as caretaker of someone else's property.

"It's their museum," he says, referring to the men and women of the National Guard, both past and present. "I just take care of the stuff and make sure it is visible and try to teach people about it."

The 5,600-square-foot museum is the only national museum dedicated to the Guard. It tells the Guard's story from that First Muster in a Massachusetts field in 1637 to the current struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The museum also highlights events in between, such as the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. The Guard's role in the two world wars and the Cold War is told with artifacts and photographs.

Perhaps the centerpiece of the museum is the display dedicated to Pvt. Thomas Dale Reno, an 18-year old soldier with the American Expeditionary Force of World War I. His letters home share space with his military gear from the battlefield, providing a personal glimpse of a Guardsman at war.

Bernstein hopes to make increased use of such personal histories. The museum must tell the stories of the states, he says, but the emphasis should be on the individuals who wear the uniform.

"The biggest strength of the National Guard is its people," he says.

Bernstein has firsthand knowledge about the people in the National Guard. He is a first lieutenant, platoon leader and AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot with Pennsylvania's Company C, 1st Battalion, 104th Aviation (Attack Helicopter) in Johnstown, Pa.

Bernstein studied military history for years before becoming part of it. He has a bachelor's degree in history from Purchase College in New York and a master's degree in museum science from Texas Tech University.

It was while Bernstein was studying in Texas that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, took place.

"My dad works not far from the (World Trade Center) towers. He had to walk out of Manhattan that day," Bernstein says.

Pushed partly by those events and partly by his ongoing effort to finish his first book, U.S. Army AH-I Cobra Units of Vietnam, Bernstein enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Tex.

He didn't feel up to writing about military history, Bernstein says, until he had experienced it.

At age 30, he became an ROTC cadet.

Now working on a doctoral degree in military history, he has a second book under his belt. AH-64 Apache Units of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom was published in 2005.

When he transferred to the Pennsylvania National Guard in 2005 to fly Apaches, he reunited with his friend, Jason Hall, who was in charge of the museum at NGAUS.

"Jason took me around. I was really just impressed with the museum," Bernstein says of his first visit.

When Hall left last year for a similar job at the USS New Jersey museum in Camden, NJ., Bernstein was hired to replace him.

This is a good time, he says, to publicize the museum and increase its visibility

"Unfortunately, we're at war," he says. "But, fortunately, because of that, there is a raised awareness of the National Guard."

It is a good time, then, to attract people to the museum. Bernstein already has developed a relationship with the page program at the U.S. Senate. Each new class of pages will receive a tour of the museum with Bernstein as their guide.

Reaching out to young people is high on his agenda to increase the foot traffic at the museum.

"Right now, the biggest opportunity is in school groups," he says. "You can teach any era of American history and tie it to the National Guard."

Bernstein plans to rotate exhibits more often to make better use of the extensive collection locked away in the archives. That includes a musket from the British 43rd Regiment, an artifact that, Bernstein says, may have been at the battle of Lexington in 1775.

He expects to have temporary exhibits, like the one that opened this month marking the 40th anniversary of the deployment of several National Guard units to Vietnam.

Relationships with state museums are pan of his long range plan. He foresees displaying items on loan from individual states at the national museum.

"I've had a good response," he says of his initial overtures.

Bernstein, too, has a message for any National Guard soldier or airman who has anything they think might make a good artifact for the museum.

"We would love to have it," he says. "And it's not just their stuff. We want their stories, too."

© 2008 National Guard Association of the United States Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.