Medal of Honor Museum in Mount Pleasant opens after $3.5M renovation

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Clad in tartan blazers and heroic medals affixed with blue ribbons around their necks, nine distinguished service members who received the nation’s highest award for military heroism gathered on board aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Yorktown on May 15 to celebrate the opening of the renovated $3.5 million Medal of Honor Museum at Patriot’s Point.

The 25,000 square-foot museum will officially open to the public on Saturday, May 25, kicking off the Memorial Day weekend. Two Medal of Honor Recipients will welcome guests into the museum on its official opening day.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a non-profit based in Mount Pleasant, spearheaded the renovation and debuted the new museum after eight months of construction. The soft opening included two days of ceremonies and events.

The renovation was made possible through a grant from the National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership, which raised funds through corporate sponsors such as the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Town of Mount Pleasant. Mayor Will Haynie spoke at the opening event.

“This is a momentous occasion for Patriots Point, for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, for Mount Pleasant and for the whole region in the Southeast,” said John Falkenbury, executive director of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

The United States Congress designated Patriot’s Point as the home of the Medal of Honor Museum in October of 1999. The first museum was created in 1999 and redone in 2004 with humble hallways and minimal signage.

This recent renovation and reimagination — years in the making — includes state-of-the-art immersive exhibits and never-before-seen artifacts from personal collections that tell the stories of Medal of Honor Recipients from six wars, from the Civil War through the Global War on Terror.

The renovations were designed by M. Catton & Co. of Iowa. The firm previously worked on military exhibits and others in Washington, D.C and around the country.

The climate-controlled museum on the aircraft carrier includes actual Medals of Honor, simulations with night vision, boot camp training equipment and the ability to lift a fully-packed 50-pound rucksack. There are QR codes on each exhibit for more information.

Never-before-seen artifacts from personal and collections include wartime gear worn by Ryan Pitts, a Medal of Honor Recipient who was in attendance at the soft opening. Other artifacts include the New Testament and psalms and the gospel of St. John that Medal of Honor Recipient Robert Maxwell carried in World War II and aviator gloves and a navigational analog computer that Medal of Honor Recipient James Fleming used when he was a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War.

Through kiosks and technology, visitors can learn about each Recipient—including Dr. Mary Walker, the only female to earn the honor—and see a military training schedule, historical helmets, weapons and more. There’s also an exhibit about the history of the medal and the creation of its unique design.

Britt Slabinski, a Medal of Honor Recipient and president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, spoke about the importance of how the museum personalizes each Recipient.

“Each exhibit, each artifact, each display represents a story of an individual who, in the face of overwhelming adversity, chose to act with unparalleled courage and conviction. These stories remind us of the immense power of the human spirit and the potential within each of us to make a difference at their core,” Slabinski said.

Laura Jowdy, senior director of archives and collections for the Medal of Honor Museum, said the Congressional Medal of Honor Society began collecting artifacts since the late 1980s, donated from Recipients and their family and friends. This is the first time many of the artifacts are on display to the public.

Jowdy said $3 million of the grant went into the museum renovation and the rest will go to the museum’s upkeep and operations, including two archivists who will make sure items are properly preserved and displayed.

The museum intentionally connects the Medal of Honor to its location at Patriot’s Point, which Jowdy says has 19 attractions on-site that are tied directly to medal Recipients.

A video screen inside the museum about the Doolittle Raid and aviation Medal of Honor Recipients fades into a glass wall with viewers coming face-to-face with the warplane on the Yorktown, fully incorporating the plane into the context of the Medal of Honor.

The Medal of Honor is awarded to those for “Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against any enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.”

The Medal of Honor has been awarded to 3,517 people with 19 recipients receiving the medal twice. There are 61 living recipients.

Access to the museum is included in admission to the U.S.S. Yorktown, which draws more than 300,000 visitors each year.

Beyond the Medal

Both The National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership and The Congressional Medal of Honor Society will use the Medal of Honor Museum as an opportunity to teach the next generation about values that embody the medal: courage, sacrifice, integrity, commitment, patriotism and citizenship.

The National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership currently offers a free nationwide digital educational platform to inspire, develop, empower and challenge leaders using the Medal of Honor values.

“We’ve trained over 20,000 teachers nationwide on this program,” Falkenbury said.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Character Development Program offers value-based curriculum for grades K-12. The Medal of Honor Museum will help move that curriculum forward.

As part of the events surrounding the museum’s soft opening, Medal of Honor Recipients visited Summerville High School through the program. Additionally, two Medal of Honor Recipients held a panel discussion on leadership and values with Dr. Tonya Matthews, CEO and president of the International African American Museum.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society each years recognizes civilians who demonstrate acts of extraordinary heroism through its Citizen Honors awards program, including community service awards, Young Hero Award and Single Act of Heroism Award, among others.

The National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership plans to expand and build a $75 million conference center and values-based immersive experience on land adjacent to the Yorktown to further its mission. The organization announced it will create a companion educational program inspired by the values of the medal at the college and the corporate level, Falkenbury said.

There are ongoing sponsorship opportunities for the mission and the Society is always accepting donations of Medal of Honor artifacts to add to its robust collection.

“The Medal of Honor Museum is a museum that highlights the potential in all of us to do heroic things in our everyday lives,” said Slabinski at the soft opening. “This museum is not just a place of remembrance, it is a place of learning. May this museum stand as a beacon reminding us all what a profound impact each of us can have on the world, inspire us to be courageous in the face of adversity, to stand up for what is right and to strive for a brighter future for us all.”