Things go bump at 12th Armored Museum, even when it's not spooky season

Something's a bit spooky at the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum, and it isn't just the haunted house trappings staff have put in place around the attraction in downtown Abilene.

Doors at the museum, located at are reputed to open and close by themselves.

Mannequins are said to move on their own.

Sounds of shuffling steps at times echo.

And ghostly hands are said to produce the distinct "clack clack clack" of fingers on a classic Underwood typewriter, while the hands of a mannequin meant to offer glimpse at field operations during World War II are said to reposition themselves over its should-be-silent keys.

"Multiple people have heard him typing at night, during the day, what have you," said Mikayla Spivey, the museum's executive director. "His hands will move to different levels per day."

Some people intuitively won't even get close to the literal ghost writer, with some even reporting seeing his head turn.

Ghostly guests

The permanent guests weren't something Spivey was aware of when she took the job about a year ago, but she and staff do have an opinion about what might be going on.

She thinks whoever may inhabit the mannequin, or perhaps the typewriter itself, wants the rest of the world to know his job was important and "wants to be seen," she said.

"These guys would have typed all sorts of things, anywhere from action reports to daily reports to journals of operations, requisitions, just about anything the company would need," Spivey said.

Her intuition is it's probably the typewriter that may have some spiritual essence locked within its keys, since the mannequin itself is new.

Many of the objects in the museum were personal, she said, to those who owned or used them, some keeping them for 70-plus years after the war.

And many veterans had strong emotions associated with them, bottling up their experiences and rarely talking, granting potentially a strong, and perhaps truly enduring, connection.

At least, that's a theory.

"It's one thing to say you don't believe in ghosts," Spivey said. "But it's another thing to be up here all by yourself on the second floor in here and hear typewriter clacks."

Police presence

Elsewhere in the museum, an uniformed military police mannequin also attracts a bit of trepidation, she said.

"People don't like him, either," Spivey said.

"He's standing a little more straight up now, and we've tiled his back so he doesn't look quite as menacing," she said. "But a couple of people have said they've seen him − or heard him − move."

Video has been captured, though unfortunately, not retained, of doors in the basement opening by themselves.

Their placement dismisses the notion of wind pushing them open, Spivey said.

"It's like someone would push them open," she said.

Recalling valor

The museum is of course devoted to concrete things, Spivey said.

It serves as a display and teaching museum for the study of World War II and its impact on Americans, with a particular focus on the 12th Armored Division, known as the "Suicide Division" by the German army for its fierce defense during Operation Nordwind in France.

But the possible ghostly presence "also kind of draws our attention to the lesser-known things that I think we should highlight a little bit more," Spivey said.

"The MPs and just your standard guys didn't get as much recognition because they were just your normal Army grunts," she said.

The museum isn't interested in being combed through by hordes of ghost-hunters or would-be paranormal practitioners, Spivey said.

"We're just trying to make sure we honor these guys the best way we can," she said. "And so, I think by telling their stories and getting the lesser-known stories out is helping."

Activated Sept. 15, 1942, its initial training was at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, and continued at Camp Barkeley in Abilene. It consisted of about 11,000 soldiers, composed of tanks, field artillery, motorized infantry batallions and other support units.

The division adopted the nickname "The Hellcats" in 1943.

It was one of 10 U.S. Divisions, and one of only two U.S. Armored divisions, during the war that had Black combat companies integrated into it.

If You Go

The museum, which is not open for Halloween, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, with last ticket sales at 4 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults, with seniors, veterans and students (13 and older) at $4. Children 7-12 are $2. Children 6 and under are free, while those who are active military can tour free with their ID.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Things go bump at 12th Armored, even when it's not spooky season