The Saskatchewan Military Museum is reaching out to the public for more volunteers and donations, so the museum can keep the doors open for years to come.

"We'd be able to rotate the displays better,” said Lt. (Ret'd) Edwin Williamson, Veteran and volunteer. “We'd be able to archive things and look after things better so we wouldn’t lose them. We'd be able to open the doors more often and therefore have more people come through and actually experience the museum, which is what it's here for."

Lt. Williamson served with the Canadian Armed Forces and said it's important to know and understand Canada’s military history so all Canadians appreciate the freedoms we have today.

"It's the veterans who have given us the life that we have by their sacrifice and their actions,” said Lt. Williamson. “They've created the society we enjoy today and the freedoms that we enjoy today."

Maj. (Ret'd) Keith Inches is the original curator of the museum and he opened it after another Saskatchewan museum was giving away war artifacts. He said to get ahold of the artifacts he needed to have a museum, so he established the Saskatchewan Military Museum in 1984. Maj. Inches wanted to ensure the artifacts were safe, protected and used for education.

"What causes war, that's one thing to learn,” said Maj. Inches. “Why do people fight? Why did they fight in the various conflicts we have? Is it political, economic, some of both? It is blind ambition or stupidity, some of both? I think to understand what's going on in the world today we must look at our history, if we don’t learn our history we're bound and determined to do it again."

The museum is located inside the Regina Armory and is open on Monday and Wednesday evenings or by appointment. There is no charge to get inside the museum but donations are greatly appreciated.

Both Williamson and Inches feel preserving these artifacts and stories is important, so history doesn't repeat itself.

"This is history, if we lose this it's gone forever,” said Lt. Williamson. “People that forget history and can relate to it will kind of repeat it which we don’t want them to do."