Fort Belvoir ceremony marks activation of Army Museum
By Jennifer Brennan
Staff writer
Several hundred people gathered on Fort Belvoir’s Long Parade Field September 30th for a ceremony activating the National Museum of the United States Army, scheduled to open on the post in 2009.
The museum will bring an estimated 1 million visitors in its first year, according to officials.
“It’s going to contribute to a revitalization of the entire Route 1 corridor,†said U.S. Congressman James Moran of Virginia’s 8th district.
Moran noted that it was appropriate that the long legacy of the Army be captured in a national museum. “Leadership, courage and service to our country,†Moran said, “That is what America’s soldiers have been about for 228 years.â€
Army wide, nearly 700,000 artifacts have been gathered, including the coat and forage cap worn by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War, according to Jeb Bennett, project director of the museum. Other items intended for the museum include the 20-by-38-footAmerican flag that was draped over side of the Pentagon within hours of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
Museum officials have partnered with Disney and Universal Studios to help conceptualize ideas for the museum, Bennett said.
“It will be entertaining. It’s going to be exciting and it will educate,†Bennett said.
The museum will be “more than artifacts,†said Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John M. Keane. “We intend to set a new standard for museum design and development.†.
Noting the efforts of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, Keane said, “it is here that we will always remember what our soldiers have accomplished in these last two years.
Eighteen museum project managers have been operating at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. But in mid-November, the managers will move onto Fort Belvoir to continue with the project. The project will call for a total of 150 people, Bennett said.
“We all pull together and we have a strong team that is going to make this museum happen,†Bennett said. “It’s a museum that will be built by a diverse group of people for a diverse group of people.â€
The official remarks were followed by a performance by The U.S. Army Fife and Drum Corps, and by performances by museum interpreters dressed in period costumes of the Revolutionary War and World War II.
Marion's note: Many of my "vets" trained at Fort Belvoir