JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Armed Forces Museum was dedicated over the weekend to honor retired Gen. Emmett H. "Mickey" Walker, a decorated World War II veteran who was a driving force in establishing the facility at Camp Shelby, Miss.

More than 100,000 soldiers trained at the base during World War II, including the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of the war's most decorated units.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, the first Japanese-American to serve in Congress, trained at Camp Shelby with the 442nd. He was given the Medal of Honor after charging an enemy machine-gun nest in Italy when his unit was under fire. He lost his right arm in the war.

Walker fought with the Army's 95th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II and was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star. He was part of the Far East Command liaison group in Japan during the Korean War and served as chief of the National Guard Bureau under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1986.

After 42 years in the Army and Mississippi National Guard, Walker, 81, a Starkville native who lives in Jackson, retired from the military and focused his energy on preserving history.

"He led the effort to get the museum established," said director Chad Daniels. "He's been working on this since about 1989. He lobbied the Legislature and worked with private donors."

The Legislature appropriated $2.5 million in 1995 and $2 million in 1999 to build the museum, which chronicles conflicts involving the United States from the War of 1812 to the Iraq war.

"This is, to me, a very high honor," Walker said last week. "We have had many, many museum buffs that have said it is a world-class museum."

Walker said he became interested in establishing a military museum because there was none in Mississippi, and "young people are not being taught anything about our military or our military actions."

The museum opened four years ago — Walker's dedication coincided with its fourth anniversary — and has thousands of displays, including an interactive model of a World War I trench that recreates the sights, sounds and smells of battle.

The museum's approximately 17,000 artifacts include an exhibit that honors Mississippi's 26 Medal of Honor recipients and the 44 Medal of Honor recipients who served or trained at Camp Shelby — a 136,000-acre National Guard base in southern Mississippi with a rich history.

Camp Shelby opened in 1917, and thousands of soldiers from Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia trained there with the 38th Division. Camp Shelby was also a prisoner of war camp that housed thousands of Germans during World War II.

Today, the camp is training soldiers for duty in Iraq and other crisis areas. Nearly 20,000 soldiers have trained there since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

At the ceremony, Walker said he hopes people will take their children when they visit the museum. "I am so interested in all the children seeing what happened to us during their mama and daddy's lifetime. Come by there and help us educate the children," he said.