The National Medal of Honor Museum is a museum that honors

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipients, founded and funded by the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. The museum is scheduled to open in 2024 in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, with groundbreaking beginning in March 2022. Previously, the group decided to build the museum in

Patriots Point Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the mouth of the Cooper River on the Charleston Harbor, across from Charleston. Museum ships and exhibits Patriots Point is home to two museum ships: * , ...

in Mount Pleasant but decided on Arlington later. The location was announced on October 4, 2019, concluding a 5-year, nationwide competition that included

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It is projected to cost $150 million and open in 2024.

History

Planning

Initially, the museum was planned for a location in

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Mount Pleasant is a large suburban town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. In the Low Country, it is the fourth largest municipality and largest town in South Carolina, and for several years was one of the state's fastest-growin ...

. A design for the museum by Moshe Safdie faced much regulatory scrutiny and criticism by the Mount Pleasant Town Council planning committee. In late 2018, the Foundation decided to seek alternate sites for the museum. In October of 2019, Arlington, Texas, was selected as the location for the National Medal of Honor Museum. The museum is meant to recognize Medal of Honor recipients and include the National Medal of Honor Museum Leadership Institute, an education center aimed at character development for young people. In January 2020,

Rafael Viñoly Rafael Viñoly Beceiro (born 1944) is a Uruguayan architect. He is the principal of Rafael Viñoly Architects, which he founded in 1983. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Manchester, Abu Dhabi, and Buenos Aires. Viñ ...

was selected as chief architect for the museum. The first renderings for the museum were revealed that October. The Foundation has also worked to place a corresponding National Medal of Honor Monument on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...

in Washington, D.C. A bill authorizing the Foundation to construct the monument passed unanimously in the House and Senate; in late 2021, President Joe Biden signed it into law.

Fundraising

The Foundation has a fundraising goal of nearly $200 million to build the museum in Arlington. The project is funded by private donations. No federal funds will be used to support the construction of the museum or the monument. In March 2021, American businessman and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

owner Jerry Jones made a $20 million donation to help build the museum.

Construction

The site for the museum is in Arlington's entertainment district, near the Dallas Cowboys'

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. I ...

and Texas Rangers'

Globe Life Field Globe Life Field is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. It is located just south of Choctaw Stadium, the Rangers' former home ballpark. History Background On May ...

. On February 1, 2022, the Foundation announced it would break ground on the museum on National Medal of Honor Day 2022 – March 25, 2022.

Foundation

The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation is a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

organization charged with designing, funding, building and maintaining the museum. Chris Cassidy, former chief astronaut for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

and a retired

U.S. Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Wa ...

, is the museum's president and CEO. Charlotte Jones, executive vice president and

chief brand officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...

for the Dallas Cowboys, is chairman of the board for the museum. Presidents

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

are "Honorary Directors" of the Foundation. In November 2021, Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton appeared in a public service announcement in support of building the museum.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Proposed museums in the United States Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Medal of Honor

External links

National Medal of Honor Museum Official Website

The Congressional Medal of Honor Museum

Congressional Medal of Honor Society