Americans in Wartime Museum breaks ground

A Sherman Tank lumbered down a dirt path off Dale Boulevard Wednesday, its target: A group of trees.

Applause erupted from the crowd gathered at the site of the Americans In Wartime Museum as those trees fell, marking its groundbreaking.

“We’re celebrating a great milestone in the history of this museum,” said museum board of trustees chairman Allan Cors. “And we’re one step closer to that happy day when we will have this incredible facility open to the public.”

Located on a 70-acre site near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Dale Boulevard in Dale City, the museum will commemorate the American wartime experience from World War I to the present.

“I think its location is just sort of serendipitous,” said state Sen. Toddy Puller. “It just fits right in with our area. We always must remember from our past and learn from it.”

Clutching the Medal of Honor around his neck, retired Marine Col. Barney Barnum, also a member of the museum’s board of trustees, said the facility will serve as a reminder to young people that freedom isn’t free.

“We have to remind them what those who have gone before them have done to ensure they can do the things they are doing both in uniform and out of uniform. I can’t think of a better way to do it than this,” he said.

Scheduled for completion by 2014, the museum will include outdoor and indoor activities; full-scale active Landscapes of War; operational armor and aircraft; multimedia programs and living history reenactments.

“This museum will tell of our history and our present-day battles,  and serve as a beacon for the future as America continues to stand up for freedom throughout the world,”  said Prince William County Supervisor John Jenkins, who is also a retired Army colonel.

The museum will also have an oral history recording studio; host an array of public programs and have galleries filled with thousands of artifacts.

“With the completion of this museum and the eventual completion of the Army museum at Fort Belvoir, this 10-mile stretch of I-95 from Fort Belvoir down to Quantico Marine Corps base and the Marine Corps Heritage Museum will constitute the military history corridor,” Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart said. “It’s going to attract thousands, if not millions of visitors per year. It will be competing with the major tourist attractions in Washington, D.C. This is going to revitalize and help to revitalize the Route I Corridor.”

The Hylton family of Prince William County donated the land for the museum and is providing much of the site work, a donation valued at $26 million. The museum is also in the midst of a capital campaign to raise $100 million for the project.

“This is American exceptionalism being played out, and the way it’s being played out is in a time honored way in remembering the deeds of those who have given the last full measure, who took up arms and did so unhesitantly and with great pride,” said state Del. Scott Lingamfelter.

As for that Sherman Tank that knocked down the trees, Cors said it was on the National Mall in Washington when the World War II Memorial was dedicated in 2004. Cors said the tank was like a magnet for a World War II veteran surrounded by family who was being wheeled by his son. The son asked Cors if his father could touch the tank.

“Of course,” was Cors’ response.

The veteran placed his hand on the vehicle and remained silent for several minutes. Then he began to talk. And talk. And talk. Coors said it marked the first time the vet’s family had learned about what he did during World War II. It  turned out that the vet was in a Sherman Tank on D-Day.

More information about the museum is available at nmaw.org.

Military editor Julia LeDoux can be reached at 703-369-5718.