In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II (1945-2020), Mr. Loy has curated several artifacts from his personal collection to put an exhibition on display for the ASH community to honor those who served and sacrificed. We spoke with Mr. Loy about the items in the exhibition, how these have been collected over the years and his personal connection to some of these items.
 
Firstly, what do you hope our ASH community takes from viewing the exhibition?
We learn from history - or rather, we have the potential to learn from history. Those who lived through World War II are nearly all gone, but their stories need to be told. And re-told. I hope viewers just pause and reflect on the freedoms we enjoy today as a matter of course, and appreciate those who sacrificed to allow us to have that freedom.
 
If anyone in our community is interested in curating a collection of their own, how would you recommend they start?
As a child, I enjoyed collecting things:  baseball cards, matchbox cars, kaleidoscopes, and I played with GI Joes and plastic soldiers (in the exhibit). Like many boys, I had an interest in dinosaurs and that led to my working for a short while at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles doing fossil preparation, and an interest in astronomy which led me to collect NASA photos of the Apollo missions.
 
I suppose that with any collection, it starts with simply a piece or two of something that intrigues you. You learn about it, read and research, and then look for more until, somehow, it becomes a collection of pieces rather than just isolated pieces. Genuine World War II artifacts are becoming either scarce and/or expensive. And there are a lot of reproduction pieces out there, be it for role-playing, recreation, or display.
 
How long have you been collecting the items in the exhibition?
My first pieces started when I was a child looking through my father's footlocker in the garage, and listening to some of his stories. But most of the pieces in the exhibit were collected over the past twenty years while living here (other than the pieces inherited from my father and grandfather).
 
Living in the Netherlands, we are close to many significant sites from WW II - have you visited any? And if so can you share any reflections or thoughts on these? 
Arnhem, Normandy, Bastogne, Berchtesgaden (Hitler's Eagle's Nest). There is a war cemetery on Texel.  Even here in Wassenaar, there is a site where rockets were launched in England.
Also World War I sites in and around Ypres. When I lived in the Philippines, I also visited Corregidor and the American Cemetery there before I saw the American Cemetery in Normandy.
 
In each place, I tried to be still and listen to the silence, trying to imagine what it must have been like in a trench, in a foxhole in the freezing winter, in the mud, to be alone or with brothers in arms, to miss loved ones far away.
 
I was not brought up in a military family but my grandfather, father, uncle, and cousin all served in the military. I remember as a child going through my father's footlocker and looking at some of his things, very few of which I still have, unfortunately.
 
I traveled extensively as a child (and grew up as a third culture kid like our students here, attending high school in Europe), and was always interested in history and culture. Living in areas where history took place in Europe and Asia led to an interest in the arts and also in history, such as World War II. Some of the artifacts in the exhibition came from my father and grandfather - my grandfather's Reisepaß (the piece most dear to me), my father's bronze star, my 1933 edition of Mein Kampf.
 
I have traveled to Ciney in Belgium (with Mr. Mugno) several times to attend a huge militaria sales convention and have purchased several items there. A few pieces I found in the field in Bastogne and Corregidor. I also traveled to Bastogne with my sons to meet Colonel Ed Shames, platoon leader the 506th parachute infantry of the 101st airborne division, one of the original members of the Band of Brothers - and their last surviving member, now 97 years old.    There are photos of the colonel and also several pieces on display that are signed by him or other members of the Band of Brothers.
 
It is so important we all keep learning from these stories of the past, we encourage all our ASH community to take a moment to visit the exhibition, situated on the second floor of the main campus by the I.T office.