People from across the state can enjoy Military History Appreciation weekend this Saturday and Sunday at the Museum of Missouri Military History in Jefferson City.
For the third year, the museum will offer two free days to relive parts of some of the country's most notable wars.
"With our new location, we have enough space to bring in reenactors and living historians to talk about the different uniforms, what it was like to be a soldier in the Civil War, Revolutionary War," museum Director Charles Machon said. "It will be a walk-through of history."
The museum moved in 2013 from the Thomas Hall building, a 850-square-feet facility on the Ike Skelton Training site to the much larger Patriot Center, which offers 6,500 square feet.
Last year's history appreciation day attracted 2,000 visitors, and Machon said he expects more this year.
Throughout the weekend, nearly 100 reenactors will be at the museum dressed as soldiers and civilians during the periods of the American Revolutionary War, Spanish-American War, Civil War, World War I, World War II and Vietnam.
"In high school and college, you can only get so much from history books and textbooks. So these people are specialists in their niche of history, giving participants an opportunity to learn the background on what was happening," Machon said.
The Military Vehicle Preservation Association will provide displays of what earlier military vehicles looked like as opposed to now.
Lincoln University professor Essex Garner will showcase his original paintings of the Buffalo soldiers and founders of the university, who also fought during the Civil War.
In addition, Lt. Col. Dana Smith, equal employment opportunity officer for the Missouri National Guard, will represent Cathy Williams, the only known female Buffalo soldier.
Originally from Missouri, Williams was born into slavery and captured by the Union army. She worked for four years under the command of Col. William Plummer Benton and Gen. Philip Sheridan as a laundress and seamstress.
After the war, Machon explained Williams was looking for meaningful work and a friend suggested she enlist in the U.S. Army. Because military service was prohibited for women, she impersonated a man by reversing her name to William Cathay.
"A lot of young people today that I have toured here at the museum, when they see armory, they immediately connect that experience to video games like 'Call of Duty,'" Machon said. "War is not a game, and you can't press restart if you get killed."
People with an appreciation for history will enjoy this weekend, he said.
The event is scheduled from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Museum of Missouri Military History is located at 2405 Logistics Road.