CENTREVILLE &045;&045; Supporters previewed some future exhibits in the newly-constructed Centreville Camp Van Dorn Museum during a benefit reception Sunday.

Officials said the event raised more than $4,000 for the museum, which will focus on the local history of an Army training base where 40,000 soldiers were stationed during World War II.

District 96 state Rep. David Green was among the crowd of about 80 who attended the gathering. Green said the museum provides an opportunity for Wilkinson County to further develop its tourism trade.

&uot;We have some sites and places, where if we market them right, it could help. Tourism is an untapped source of revenue here,&uot; Green said.

Green was instrumental in helping secure a $375,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to fund the project.

The grant was used to renovate an early 20th century bank building on Centreville’s Main Street to house the museum. The construction project retained the building’s arched windows and reproduced its original embossed tin ceiling.

Organizers are now working to repay a $75,000 loan made to cover the grant’s matching fund requirement. Green said he would continue to seek additional funding sources for the museum.

Camp Van Dorn was built on 50,000 acres just south of Centreville in 1942-43.

Guests at the reception viewed photographs of the base, including pictures of barracks, service clubs, post exchanges, firing ranges and troops marching in long overcoats.

Other mementos included a cot covered with an army blanket, era uniforms and a fallen soldier’s helmet, recovered from a battlefield in Germany and mounted atop the butt of an M-1 rifle.

The soldier, Sgt. Willie F. Overfelt, was one of 11,000 casualties suffered by the 63rd &uot;Blood and Fire&uot; Division in Europe.

The 63rd and the 99th &uot;Checkerboard&uot; Divisions were two major units trained for combat at Camp Van Dorn.

World War II veteran and Centreville resident Jewel Caufield fought the Japanese with the all-volunteer Merrill’s Marauders in Burma. Caufield recalled how a helmet like Overfelt’s saved another soldier’s life.

&uot;A bullet hit this guys’ helmet and went all the way around and fell out at his feet,&uot; Caufield said.

Museum volunteers are still seeking photos, documents or artifacts such as plates, silverware, shells or weapons for display in the museum. Items can be loaned or donated.