Marine Corps Museum Will Serve As Memorial
WASHINGTON -- Next Memorial Day, visitors to the D.C. area will have a new way to pay tribute to Marine Corps veterans.
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POSTED: 5:30 pm EDT May 29, 2006
Anyone who has traveled down Interstate 95 past Quantico in recent months can't miss the distinctive architecture of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, scheduled to open in November.
The building is a 210-foot spire slashing at a steep angle into the sky.
Gen. George Christmas and Gen. Jerry McKay said the goal is to make the museum a national treasure. The museum will be filled with artifacts and interactive exhibits that bring the Marine experience to life.
Still under wraps but airborne in the atrium is the first helicopter to fly in Korea in assault landings and a Harrier jet. But unlike many museums, the planes and ships will be manned by life-size figures cast in the likeness of actual Marines. Some 220 were selected to have their faces duplicated for the exhibits.
Beyond the atrium, interactive exhibits range from boot camp to the Vietnam-era siege of Kai Sahn. Visitors enter the "landing zone" through the body of a helicopter.
The museum restaurant will be styled as a mess hall.
Most of the $54 million raised has come from private contributions, including a large part from Marines. Future plans for the 135-acre site include a hotel and a trail in the woods leading through a memorial park to a chapel.