The National Museum of the Marine Corps continues to grow as it tells the story of the Marine Corps and the individual Marines who comprise it.
Retired Marine Maj. Gen. James Lukeman, who serves as the president and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, recently held a virtual town hall to provide updates on the facility, which is located in Triangle, Virginia.
“This is really a place for veterans,” Lukeman said on Feb. 28. “And, its really touching to see veterans come through here with their families, with their spouse, children and grandchildren and sometimes for the first time hear the stories for the first time their Marine hadn’t before the opportunity to do it here in the museum.”
Construction is underway to expand Semper Fidelis Memorial Park, which is adjacent to the museum and features over a mile of paved pathways lined by commemorative bricks, monuments and statutes. The park also includes a chapel and scenic overlooks.
“We’ve got to the point where there’s really no more room in the park for monuments and we’re almost out of room for our bricks,” explained Lukeman. “And, we don’t have room for monuments to the more recent operations the Marine Corps has been part of.”
That led to the decision to expand the park, which was kicked off with a groundbreaking in 2022.
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“It will provide places for more monuments, more bricks and more places for people to experience Marine Corps history,” said Lukeman.
When the expansion is complete, the park will feature a pavilion, a pedestrian footbridge that crosses wetlands and a Marine Corps medium girder bridge that will also cross wetlands.
“We’ll have that park done this year,” added Lukeman.
The rifle range inside the museum has also been upgraded.
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“One of the best features now is you get a choice of rifles to use when you test your marksmanship on the range,” said Lukeman. “You can use a World War II M-1 or you can use an M-16 from the Vietnam War or you can choose to fire the current rifle of the Marine Corps, the M-4.”
Construction is also ongoing on Galleries 13 and 14, which cover from the end of the Vietnam War from 1976 to 2001 and from 2001 to today.
“The museum staff and the Marine Corps are working very hard to complete these galleries,” he said.
Balconies above the galleries are open and provide visitors to the museum with a view of the construction as it is occurring.
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The new galleries will feature armored vehicles and aircraft used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The current estimate is the gallery will be opened to the public in 2025, so we’re still about two years away,” said Lukeman.
Lukeman said the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation is busy making plans to mark the Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025.
“We want to share what our Marine Corps has done for our country for the last 250 years and what we will do for the next 250 years,” he said. “We want to make sure we honor the service of all Marines and make them proud of being a Marine in 2025.”
The celebration will not only share the story of the Corps but of the Marines who Lukeman called “unsung heroes” in the communities in which they live.
To learn more about the museum visit here. The learn more about the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.