California Military Department State Military History & Museums Program

06/02/2026

Yesterday, 1 June 2026, our very rare Japanese Type 97 "Te-Ke" Tankette was installed in the lobby of the Headquarters, 40th Infantry Division, located on Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos.

This is one of two captured by the 40th Infantry Division in the Philippines and installed as war trophies on the central mall of Camp San Luis Obispo in 1948, and was removed for conservation in 2025.

Several years ago, the second example was transferred to the General George S. Patton Museum of Armor and Cavalry at Fort Knox and is now located at the US Army Armor & Cavalry Training Support Facility at Fort Benning.

We thank the US Army Center of Military History, the Office of the US Property and Fiscal Officer for California, the Restoration Team at the Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles, and the California Military Department Facilities and Infrastructure Directorate for the successful conclusion after two years of planning and conservation.

05/08/2026

03/14/2026

Thanks to the US Property and Fiscal Office for California and the skilled restoration team at the Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles, our very rare Japanese Type-97 37mm Light Tank (or "Tankette") has been repaired, repainted, and delivered to the Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos.

It will soon be installed inside the Headquarters of the 40th Infantry Division as a memorial to the division's service in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

This is one of five examples in the Western Hemisphere, with the other four located across the country, including the US Army Armor Center and School, Fort Benning, GA, and the remaining seven located in Europe and Asia.

In addition to the 37mm main gun version, machine gun and chemical warfare variants were also manufactured.

03/03/2026

Shown here is volunteer Bernice Leslie test-driving our new document/book/photo digitization workstation at our Museum Support Center-North, Sacramento Okinawa Street Armory Complex.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, we received a CZUR ET-16 overhead, high-speed book and document scanner, a large format (11 x 17-inch) flatbed scanner, and a new laptop computer and monitor.

We also received a Kodak 35mm slide and negative scanner, which we will use until we acquire an Epson V-800 high-resolution scanner that will be requested through the state supply system next state fiscal year.

12/31/2025

From our partners at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District