Much of his personal collection of military and related memorabilia is being incorporated into the museum's permanent exhibits.

"I've been going back and forth to Columbia so much, I feel like a commuter," said Beard, as he headed down I-20 and I-77 to Bluff Road. The museum is located at the S.C. National Guard complex just south of Williams-Brice Stadium. "It's coming along nicely, and we've gotten good comments from military visitors."

Beard and museum director Lt. Col. E. G. Sturgis said the museum's history dates to 1986 when plans were established for a South Carolina National Guard Museum. The idea, they said, was to celebrate the guard's history in South Carolina, from the establishment of Charles Towne Landing to today's actions in the war on terrorism.

Beard's donations, however, have turned it into much more than that. With S.C. Adjutant General Stanhope Spears' blessing, the building is on its way to becoming a fully accredited military museum.

"I met Ross last January," said Sturgis after Beard arrived that late December morning. "We shook hands as a lasting gentlemen's agreement to display his collection. Ross' collection is going to help make this a world-class museum, especially in the Southeast."

Beard connections
The South Carolina Military Museum is a relatively unassuming brick building. The front entrance is approached by going through a small gate at the corner of a fence. Once inside, visitors are greeted by a small shop, offering a collection of memorabilia, including books. One of them is "Carbine: The Story of David Marshall Williams." Beard is the author.

To the right is an opening into the museum proper, starting with a "Hall of Fame" honoring the state's Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Beard pointed out two: Marine Cpl. Donald E. Truesdale Jr. and Gen. George Mabry. Truesdale was one of three Kershaw Countians to receive the medal. While stationed in Nicaragua in 1932, he picked up a grenade lobbed by bandits and tried to throw it out of harm's way, losing his hand and part of his arm in the process.

Beard said Mabry, born in Sumter County and a Presby-terian College graduate, was his former brother-in-law. Mabry was awarded the medal by President Harry S Truman for charging through the mine-filled sand dunes at Normandy on D-Day in World War II, capturing three foxholes and three bunkers before pushing on to the French village of Pouppe-ville.

"At one point, he was stationed at Ford Ord, Calif., but came back to visit," recalled Beard. "We went to the officers' club and then did some bar hopping. At the last one, we met an officer from Fort Jackson."

The brothers-in-law weren't wearing their uniforms and Mabry decided not to make a point of his rank. As the men engaged in conversation, the Ft. Jackson officer took a liking to Mabry and invited him to come to Columbia where he would make sure Mabry earned colonel's stripes.

"At one point, the jukebox wasn't working right, so George got the guy to help him out. Months later, George was invited to review the troops at Ft. Jackson, and I was with him. There's George, standing up in the back of the Jeep, when he suddenly looks at me and says, 'Isn't that our soldier?'" said Beard.

He said Mabry made the driver stop. He got out of the Jeep and went right over to the soldier.

"'Son, I want you to do me favor,' he said. The guy says, 'Yes, sir. Anything for you sir.' Then George said 'Well, that dang jukebox is acting up again,'" said Beard. "The man said 'Oh, sh--!' and his knees nearly buckled, but George had him join us for the rest of the review. George ended up making him part of his staff and they retired together."

Past the Hall of Fame and a rotating display case of military weapons is the first of the exhibits made up of items donated by Beard: the David "Carbine" Williams collection.

Williams, who was born and lived in North Carolina, developed the carbine rifle for the U.S. Army, and it was used from World War II through Vietnam. "Carbine," said Beard, was a weapons inventor who started early.

"He was 10 when he made his first gun, out of wood, but it worked," said Beard, pointing to the small pistol.

Beard also pointed out other "Carbine" inventions or modifications: a .30 caliber machine gun converted to .22 caliber use, saving the government $50 million in its first year of use; the first .30 caliber carbine with a night scope, requiring a second man to carry the scope's battery pack, and that came with the first-ever color manual; and a wood prototype of a machine gun that could fire 2,000 rounds per minute. The pride and joy of Beard's "Carbine" collection, however, are two rifles marked series "0" and "1" autographed by Williams himself.

As detailed in his book, Beard said Williams was once accused of murder but arrested for moonshining instead. He served seven years in prison but still designed three guns for the military.

Nearby is another of Beard's contributions -- the Capt. Peter Mason Collection. Mason and his wife, Prue, both British, moved to America at one point and formed a friendship with Beard. Beard said the Masons, especially Peter, were the real-life inspirations for Ian Fleming's James Bond 007. In fact, the Masons knew Fleming and Prue even ended up with one of Fleming's typewriters.

"Peter was an assassin," said Beard, as was Prue, whom Beard said wrote exclusively in calligraphy. "He made 59 jumps into Germany to go after top Nazis, and successfully assassinated 57."

Among the items in Beard's Mason collection, which he called his most exciting, are an umbrella that can shoot ricin, two 4-millimeter guns disguised as a cigarette and pipe, a shoe with a knife and a derby with a hidden pistol. There's also a caviar can that, according to Beard, if the top was turned just right, served as a Russian message drop.

The last of the special collections donated by Beard are items connected to U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent Melvin Purvis, who shot and killed John Dillinger at Chica-go's Biograph Theatre. He later lived in Florence, where he and Beard met.

"During World War II, he was to be the War Crime Commis-sion's chief prosecutor of Hermann Goering, but Goering committed suicide before he could be tried," said Beard.

But it was Dillinger's death that would be Purvis' claim to fame. And it was only a change of policy that allowed Purvis to even have a gun to fire the fatal shot.

"When the FBI was first formed, agents couldn't carry a gun, they couldn't chase criminals across state lines unless they'd stolen a car, and they didn't have arrest powers," explained Beard.

The Purvis collection contains bullets fired during Dillinger's St. Valentine's Day massacre, Dillinger's pistol and a machine gun he stole from police, and newspaper front pages with photographs of Dillinger's body laid out on a morgue slab.

"Melvin started me in collecting guns," said Beard. "I was very appreciative that he let me have the collection."

Marching on
Beyond these exhibits are a number of smaller ones, depicting weapons, uniforms and other paraphernalia from World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War on Terrorism. There is a small memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and Pearl Harbor.

Perhaps one of the most interesting exhibits, some of which include items from Beard's collection, is an array of early rifles, including one from the 1400s.

"Notice the fuse leading to the gunpowder inside. The soldier would pull the trigger just as the flame got to the barrel," explained Beard.

Other examples are a wheel-lock rifle, a Remington military falling block rifle captured by Indians at "Custer's Last Stand" with a horse-hair sling embedded with 23 scalp beads, and an air rifle used on the Lewis & Clark expedition.

"That one was pumped with a bellows. Indians had never seen a rifle that could be fired in the rain or without gunpowder. They thought it was magic," said Beard.

One of Beard's favorite pieces is a Col. Jean Alexander LeMat revolver. It not only fired eight rounds but had an extra barrel that served as a small shotgun.

"JEB Stuart carried it. There were only 400 made," said Beard.

The museum also boasts signed photographs and ribbons from generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton and Omar Bradley. A complete collection of South Carolina native William Westmoreland's memorabilia will be installed. There are Civil War rounds, including 12-inch, 110 pound cannon balls that took 12 pounds of powder to fire. There are rockets that were launched from drum canisters; small bombs, hand-thrown from World War I aircraft; and dozens of airplane, jet, helicopter and tank models.

The museum is also home to 12,000 military insignias and 7,000 to 8,000 patches. There is a workshop that will eventually be converted into a display area. There are even artifacts outside the building, such as a recently refurbished 13,000-pound Civil War cannon. Real tanks, vehicles and other large pieces of equipment displayed outdoors may be moved inside, if Beard and Sturgis can convince the Guard.

"We're trying to negotiate the use of the other garage facility next door for the macro artifacts, such as the tanks, Jeeps and large ammo," said Sturgis.

Sturgis said the original version of the museum was housed in Sumter for four years as part of a military club.

"Eight years ago, we asked Adjutant Spears to establish a South Carolina National Guard museum," said Sturgis. "There has since been legislative action to make the South Carolina Military Museum."

He said the museum -- which augments an already extensive collection of military documents -- is governed by the Army Museum and National Guard Armory division, along with the U.S. Army Center for Military History, National Guard Bureau and the legislation passed in South Carolina.

"That's all important toward establishing credibility to obtain national status," Sturgis said. "We want to tickle the palate of those interested in military history."

Sturgis said that with Spears' support, the museum's establishment has come with little outside or state funding.

"He's come down numerous times to see what we're doing. Without his support, this would never had happened," said Sturgis.

Both Sturgis and Beard said putting the collections together has been fun and rewarding.

"I'm the last of my family," said Beard. "I love Camden and the military, but I couldn't do it in Camden. So, I set up a trust to deal with the collection. A lot of other people have helped, including others from Camden. I'm so excited it's turned out so well."

The South Carolina Military Museum's grand opening will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 6.