The newly opened Museum of the U.S. Army, beautifully modern, rises out of the countryside to greet visitors with over 240 years of American military history.
Tim Massey with the medal of honor soldier pylon for World War I outside the entrance of the Museum of the U.S. Army. This one featured Tennessean Alvin York.
The lobby of the Museum of the U.S. Army with its terrazzo floor and emblem of the U.S. Army. The medal of honor pylons lead from outside to the soldiers’ story gallery which in turn opens into the museum exhibits.
A traveling exhibit on loan from the World War II Museum of New Orleans features the legacy of Bob Hope entertaining troops around the world. It is a touching tribute to Hope and reflects his heartfelt love for the American soldiers.
The newly opened Museum of the U.S. Army, beautifully modern, rises out of the countryside to greet visitors with over 240 years of American military history.
Tim Massey with the medal of honor soldier pylon for World War I outside the entrance of the Museum of the U.S. Army. This one featured Tennessean Alvin York.
The lobby of the Museum of the U.S. Army with its terrazzo floor and emblem of the U.S. Army. The medal of honor pylons lead from outside to the soldiers’ story gallery which in turn opens into the museum exhibits.
A traveling exhibit on loan from the World War II Museum of New Orleans features the legacy of Bob Hope entertaining troops around the world. It is a touching tribute to Hope and reflects his heartfelt love for the American soldiers.
A few years back I received one of those “junk mailers” wanting me to donate to the proposed Museum of the U.S. Army. It said the Army was the only branch of the military services that did not have its own museum. Sadly, I receive several of these a week, and mostly send them to the recycle bin.
There are several organizations and museums that call me a sponsor or such because I make annual contributions. This Army museum, however, was out of my normal tier of giving. For some unknown reason I sent a large enough check to become a “founding Sponsor.” They sent me a cap with “Founding Sponsor” embroidered on it and I am right proud of that cap.
Another time I sent contributions in memory of my father, and uncle, both U.S. Army World War II vets so they would be memorialized in there somewhere on a plaque or on a wall. Another time I was asked to send a contribution to help with the landscaping. Again, outside my normal tier of giving, but I felt a certain pride in doing so. There is a half a square inch of sod out there somewhere that I paid for! Sometime soon I am going to buy a marble brick for the walkway in honor of my father.
I never made any of the grand opening activities but did plan at some point to visit the museum. A couple months back Chad Bogart and I were in Alexandria, Virginia, attending an event at Mount Vernon. As we were leaving headed to Winchester, Virginia, we drove right past the Museum of the U.S. Army. I told Chad about the new museum, that I was a member, and really needed to visit it sometime.
A week later Caroline and I were back at Mount Vernon and while eating at Mount Vernon, a lady who was a retired Army vet and a founding sponsor herself saw my cap. She was excited to meet and talk, but shocked that I had not been to the museum. Needless to say, we didn’t make it that trip either.
One of my Mount Vernon buddies, Donald Francisco is retired from the Old Guard and he too was excited by my cap. In addition to working at Mount Vernon, he volunteers at the Army Museum.
A couple weekends ago Caroline and I were back in Alexandria, and I decided we were going to visit the Army Museum on Sunday morning before we left the area. I wasn’t too sure how Caroline would take visiting an army museum, but she was kind of a hostage since we were in my SUV. Caroline is a trooper and thought it would be a fun, different experience.
I like to post photos of my car at Mount Vernon where I note Washington was first in war, first in peace, but I am first in the parking lot. Well, we were first at the Army Museum, too. Entry to the museum is free, but one must order tickets online.
The museum is on property at Fort Belvoir on land that was undeveloped. The driveways the parking lots, everything is brand-spanking new. The landscaping is still a work in process, but the amazing museum building, and I am not kidding, is stainless steel. It is an incredible sight to behold.
Outside the museum are stainless steel pillars, which they call “soldier story pylons” with medal of honor winners for each war. I instantly noticed our own Tennessean Sgt. Alvin York. I had to get my picture with York, of course. Entering the museum there is security such as an airport with body scanners and pockets being emptied. We had that same experience at the museums in DC a couple years back. Guess that is just the times in which we live.
We found more of the soldier story pylons along the wall and an open foyer which was reminiscent of an airport. These pylons lead to a larger formation of pylons, creating the “Soldiers’ Stories Gallery.” This area features pictures and biographical information for more than 40 soldiers from all periods in Army history.
We were greeted by a docent who was very helpful in orienting us on the museum. Noticing my camera, he divulged where I could get some great photographs, pointing out the giant Army emblem on the floor. He told me to be sure and get a photo of it from the second floor.
He explained that the emblem is terrazzo, a composite material consisting of marble, quartz, granite, and sprinkled glass chips poured with a binder. He said the artists spent days working on the design as it quickly came to life. Using terrazzo for the flooring provided the opportunity for this striking design and the use of custom coloring — each terrazzo color formulated for the emblem was coordinated with the United States Army Institute of Heraldry to ensure its accuracy. Each color was poured individually and within carefully timed segments so the materials could be spread properly within their exact shape before drying. “This is a simplified explanation,” he explained, “but imagine the process of framing and filling in colors to create a work of stained glass.”
The docent recommended we visit the Bob Hope exhibit on the second floor as well before we left. That we would do, but first we had the entire ground floor to explore. Exiting the lobby space into the Soldiers’ Stories Gallery we found an array of soldiers from the Revolution to Afghanistan. One of these was Leigh Ann Hester of Nashville. Included among these are women as well as men. There are Japanese Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans who went well beyond the call of duty for their country.
We next entered a long hallway where attributes to mules of the Army were on display. One was an actual mule, these pack animals were used from the Mexican War through World War II. The other “mule” was the more modern Humvee. Colored lights above alternated between red, white, and blue reflecting off the floor. There were galleries to the right and to the left. On our right was the “Western Expansion” gallery, you know, the Indian wars.
One that immediately caught my attention was the Mexican War gallery with large portraits of Robert E. Lee and U.S. Grant. Behind it was the Civil War gallery. I thought they did an excellent job with the former U.S. Army vets and West Point graduates who joined the Confederate cause. Our docent told us that a cannon with figures around it as if firing was a veteran itself, of the battle of Gettysburg. They had weapons, flags, photos, and General Grant’s kepi hat.
Of particular interest was the American Revolution gallery. Like the others it had original artifacts. Throughout the museum are manikins, and I am reluctant to use that word because they were 3-D printed in New York from actual soldiers at Fort Belvoir. Our docent said they screened for soldiers who were the same size and weight as the person they wanted to represent.
One African American soldier in the Viet Nam gallery was so real one would swear he was going to move or was following you with his eyes. A docent said the night security folks complain about the realness of them and that they seem to move and follow them with their eyes. In fact, all these soldiers were so real it was almost scary.
The number of artifacts, the detail, the use of technology was incredible. We were told not to miss the movie. The screen wrapped almost completely around the room. Each seat was individually mounted on a post connected to the floor. When the movie started and bombs burst you felt it, when helicopters flew by you felt it and the wind blew your hair. We were told to sit in the back for the best effect. It was another totally mind-boggling experience. According to their newsletter they have a movie night here each week.
The World War I gallery has the old trucks of the day, weapons, and cannon. There is even a full-sized airplane built for the army by the Wright Brothers. There is a tank about the size of a small car. They have one of the first Army helicopters that looks like a flying box. There was another Sgt. York display and his dented helmet. We walked through trenches and a battle scene with a glass floor.
The World War II gallery had bombed out buildings with a Sherman tank and other vehicles. A ship about three stories high had soldiers climbing down a net rope into a landing craft. You could witness the light reflecting off the water onto the side of the ship. This is about as real as it gets, as far as feeling it in a non-actual war, indoor setting anyway.
General Douglas MacArthur’s famous generals’ hat was on display here too. Those other Army mules, the Jeep and the helicopter which was suspended from above. Viet Nam was a large gallery with that gunship overhead as if going to set down.
The engine from the famed “Blackhawk Down” in Mogadishu was on display. A section of the Berlin wall was on display too. Even the last pair of American boots off the ground in Afghanistan are on display. There is one display with four soldiers in Iraq, with them is a Honda motorcycle they used as well as a small four-wheeled, drone-type device used to inspect small spaces.
Realizing that we still had a seven-hour drive ahead of us, we made our way toward the Bob Hope exhibit on the second floor. The display is a joint effort of the Museum of the U.S. Army and the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation. There is a film, and that is the place to start. Hope was a radio commentator/comedian who was asked to drive half an hour to a military base in California to do a live show in front of the troops. He didn’t want to, but reluctantly gave in. Hope realized that these soldiers were starved for a bit of attention and were always homesick.
Hope performed his regular radio show in front of the audience at the U.S. Naval Training Facility in Oceanside, California. The next day he played a central role in the Victory broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Service. These performances both took a more somber tone than his usual upbeat show.
Hope started taking some of home to the soldiers stationed around the globe. During World War II and in the decades following, Bob Hope visited American troops for the holidays. Year after year, his televised Christmas specials also brought the faces of those troops into American living rooms.
Hope became known as the “Home Front Ambassador.” Soldiers wrote him from “somewhere in Italy,” “somewhere in the South Pacific.” Mothers wrote to thank him for making their son laugh and feel appreciated. Often the letter went on to explain that the son was later killed in action.
One item in the film is that Hope went to the Island of Pavuvu in the Solomon Islands. Hope said the island was so small they had to find a very small airplane and it about ended up in the ocean. A letter on the wall from a mother tells about the letter she received from her son, the last one before he was killed, marveling at “why” they would come to such a “hole as this?”
The mother explained to Hope her son was killed soon after, he was just 19, and had never been away from home before. She wanted to let him know just how much she appreciated Hope, “bringing him those two hours of fun.”
While the Museum of the U.S. Army gives one a sense of pride in our military and those veterans who have served, the Hope exhibit brings about a more solemn feeling. Hope genially loved and cared for the troops he entertained. The film said his life was often in danger and many times he was easily in harm’s way. Yet he could have stayed home in California and did what he did in comfort. But he didn’t.
One of the photos on the wall shows Hope with President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy presented Hope the Congressional Medal of Honor in recognition of his services to the country as an entertainer during World War II. Congress would go on to name Hope an honorary veteran of the U.S. military.
It’s a touching tribute and one that shows the pains that Hope went to, to be able to entertain the troops he came to love. He always had three to four other entertainers with him, and it was never a walk in the park.
As George Washington famously said, “the willingness of the young people to serve in the military is in direct proportion to how they see veterans treated and appreciated by the nation.”
Before we left, Caroline wanted to check out the food court area since we might be inclined to dine there next visit. Then of course we visited the gift shop before leaving.
This museum is so much more than just a museum, it is educational, passionately stimulating, and makes one more emotionally and intellectually connected with our country’s history. Like it or not, our country’s history is military history. When out trailing the past, make the Museum of the U.S. Army a stop along the trail. It will be an experience not to be forgotten. It will make one more appreciative of our veterans. It is to them that we owe all we hold dear today, and the Museum of the U.S. Army does a great job of showcasing their story.
Greene County historian Tim Massey is an award-winning writer for Civil War News with more than 40 photos featured on various magazine covers. He has served on various boards and held positions in several historic organizations. He can be reached at horses319@comcast.net.
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