Altoona native veteran shares passion for preserving WWII history
Museum founder Joseph Keirn stands in front of a painting by an artist in Fort Knox, Kentucky, depicting a World War II battle scene, including local veteran Jack Kuhn. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Oberstleutnant Wilhelm Osterhold asked Command Sergeant Major Joseph Keirn to take his Nazi World War II uniform back to America and display it in his museum, the Keirn Family World War II Museum. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Command Sergeant Major Joseph Keirn, founder of the Keirn Family World War II Museum, points to an authentic WWII communications center set donated by a local veteran. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Command Sergeant Major Joseph Keirn stands in front of his museum’s sign at Saint Francis University’s Library and Learning Commons. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Portraits of area WWII veterans hang on a wall in The Keirn Family War II Museum on the second floor of Saint Francis University’s Library and Learning Commons. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Museum founder Joseph Keirn stands in front of a painting by an artist in Fort Knox, Kentucky, depicting a World War II battle scene, including local veteran Jack Kuhn. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Oberstleutnant Wilhelm Osterhold asked Command Sergeant Major Joseph Keirn to take his Nazi World War II uniform back to America and display it in his museum, the Keirn Family World War II Museum. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Command Sergeant Major Joseph Keirn, founder of the Keirn Family World War II Museum, points to an authentic WWII communications center set donated by a local veteran. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Command Sergeant Major Joseph Keirn stands in front of his museum’s sign at Saint Francis University’s Library and Learning Commons. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
Portraits of area WWII veterans hang on a wall in The Keirn Family War II Museum on the second floor of Saint Francis University’s Library and Learning Commons. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow
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LORETTO -- Altoona native Army veteran Joseph Keirn's lifelong mission has been to honor the lives of those who served in America's Second World War.
Keirn collected artifacts from local soldiers for many years after retiring as Command Sergeant Major in 1991. Acquiring close to $1 million worth of uniforms, memorabilia and paintings, he opened the Keirn Family World War II Museum at Saint Francis University in 2016.
"When I looked around, I saw what trust those guys put in me -- I couldn't believe that all that stuff was mine, and they wouldn't take anything back," he said.
Keirn, 90, has been giving tours of his museum since then, sharing the personal lives of local WWII soldiers with visitors.
To preserve his stories, the Saint Francis University Communications Club and department recently documented his tour, which will one day be available on iPads stationed throughout the museum.
"It's so gratifying to know that there's still more interest than we want to believe in some of the young people," he said.
Born in 1936 to WWII Army veteran Paul W. Keirn, Joseph Keirn always had a fascination with the war. He remembers his uncle crafting a toy tank that currently sits on display in the museum.
Keirn wasn't interested in academics, however, and he decided to drop out of Altoona High School during his junior year to work at his father's workplace at MP Radiator instead.
He proposed to his wife, Shirley, that Christmas, but she had one condition: he must return to school and graduate with his high school diploma.
"I put the ring on her, and I said, 'I'm going back to school,'" he said.
On Keirn's graduation day, he said his cousin told him to join the Army because "you need it."
And just like that, Keirn joined the Army in 1954 and served in Korea and later in Desert Storm, rising to Command Sergeant Major.
Giving back
With almost 30 years of military experience, Keirn said his wife asked him if it was time for him to retire after Desert Storm.
Keirn returned home to Shirley and their two children in the early 1990s and opened Keystone Radiator and Air Conditioning on 611 S. Kettle St. However, he remained committed to those who served in the military, hosting monthly dinners Shirley cooked for local veterans.
As a result, 48 local WWII veterans would stop for a meal each month.
"At first they came in, and they didn't talk too much about it," he said. "But after 3¢ years of beer and bullcrapping, they started bringing me stuff."
Those veterans brought Keirn uniforms, equipment and photos saved from the war. Sometimes, Keirn would find artifacts set by his storefront.
He also developed friendships with veterans, volunteering to take some back to Europe and revisit the battlefields they fought on decades earlier. When some veterans turned down the offer because they couldn't afford the trip, Keirn said he willingly took care of the burdening costs.
"I did what I wanted to do for them after what they did for me," he said.
For 23 years, he accompanied many veterans back to countries such as Belgium and Germany.
"They showed me their foxholes," he said. "I really learned a lot about my veterans and what they had to go through."
Collection on display
While taking veterans to Europe, Keirn kept collecting artifacts from local veterans and amassed a museum-sized collection. Reaching out to Saint Francis University in 2014, he asked President Father Malachi Van Tassell, T.O.R., about donating his collection of memorabilia from local veterans to the institution.
"It was fascinating to see his collection and hear how he acquired it," Van Tassell said.
Bonding over Van Tassell's grandfather, who served in WWII, Van Tassell asked if Keirn was interested in putting his collection on permanent display in town.
Keirn told Van Tassell that he had to think about his proposition, but two days later, Keirn's now-late wife received devastating news from her doctor.
"I called Father Malachi, and I said, 'I have just made up my mind; I'm donating everything I have to Saint Francis University. I am selling my business, and I'm going to take the rest of my life to be with my wife,'" Keirn said.
The museum -- which opened 10 years ago -- operated at 106 Franciscan Way in Loretto for six years until Van Tassell and Keirn decided to move the collection to the second floor of Saint Francis University's Library and Learning Commons in 2022.
"I thought it would be good foot traffic on campus, and we had space in the library," Van Tassell said.
Sections on display include a timeline of the war; German artifacts from WWI and WWII; personal items from famous people; wartime propaganda; D-Day artifacts; war in the Pacific; local heroes; branches of service and the communications corner.
Keirn said the WWII era demonstrated great resilience from American men and women.
"They went through hell," he said. "They lost their fathers; they lost their brothers. They came back from hell, and they left it back there. They bought homes, got married, had children, just like nothing ever happened."
Persevering history
Celebrating 10 years of the Keirn Family World War II Museum on Veterans Day, Keirn continues to give tours, while SFU Librarian of Access Services Carol Stoltz keeps up with the museum.
"The museum has impacted students and staff by bringing living history into their classrooms and personal visits," she said, noting that she has worked with faculty and local teachers to bring students in for tours or lessons.
To keep his stories alive, the SFU communications department and communications club are teaming up with Keirn to record his tour, which will one day be available on iPads stationed throughout the museum.
While they still search for grant funding, Stoltz said it's important to document Keirn's stories because they bring history to life.
"His stories are such an integral part of the museum," she said. "He has actually spent time with many of the men who have donated the items."
If you go
What: The Keirn Family World War II Museum 10th anniversary
When: 1 p.m. Nov. 11
Where: The Immaculate Conception Chapel at Saint Francis University
Admission: Free