As promised, a review of a great morning spent a few days ago at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus Ohio!
State Commander Fred, Senior Vice Jim, and National Councilmember Chris [Bubba] and I were given a special welcome by Col Butler (Ret), the Chief of Staff of the Museum. It's always good to get the lay of the land in a museum before you set off. The most telling thing he told us was the intent of the museum was to showcase veterans! No tanks, airplanes, boats, etc. This is about the men and women who have served, and their stories. Hearing this, I couldn't wait to get started!
We were handed off to our guide and for the life of me I'm so sorry I can't remember her name! She is a Marine...I've learned NEVER to say former, past, ex, etc. At this stage of my life the phrase "drop and give me 20" only means one thing, someone wants twenty bucks! But she did serve a while back so let's move on.
This is a circular museum, an architectural feat and as you move through you see different eras of our nation's past, always centered on the veterans. Thanks to our guide, I was able to key in and read some pretty amazing things! For example, I didn't know Deborah Sampson, disguised as a man, fought for 17 months in the Continental Army. She was once wounded in the thigh with a musket ball and chose to cut it out herself instead of possibly being found out that she was a man! Her service was so impressive that she was given an Honorable Discharge at the end of her service. Women served then and they have continued to serve throughout our history. For those of you familiar with the television series "China Beach", there was a section dedicated to Lynda Van Devanter, who spent 12 months as a nurse in Pleiku, Vietnam. Her memoir was the basis for the series.
There were many interactive elements as well as static displays and you could well spend several days reading all of them. We worked our way upstairs to an amphitheater with a background of service campaign banners. What a great place for a news conference or event! Also on the third floor were representations and explanations of the POW-MIA Table Setting and really spiffy infinity wall.
Our last indoor stop was really special, a Bob Hope Tribute counting his many, many years doing USO shows for the troops. They had a video of several World War II skits going and there were three older gentlemen watching. One of them fought in the Battle of the Bulge and he was sitting in his full Class A uniform, complete with hat! Out of respect, I didn't interrupt the three or take a picture of them, but I was listening to them chuckle at Bob's quips much as they probably did when they first heard him saying them in 1944! Many of the references were lost on me as they were time-specific, but these guys knew exactly what Bob was joking about.
Our last stop was a long walk up a winding path to the Memorial Garden. It's worth the walk. American Elms provide shade in the park-like setting. Limestone walls with cascading waterfalls that fell into rock pools provided peace and tranquility. It really was a special place and none of us talked as we walked around it.
I'd recommend this Memorial and Museum to anyone interested in learning more about the people who have served this great nation of ours! For more info, please visit NationalVMM.org
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