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Here’s a lifelike Marine mannequin from the exhibition space called the Leatherneck Gallery.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., is a striking site to behold.

WHILE AMERICA’S BRAVE and highly trained military men and women and their families help weave the fabric of contemporary American history today, the heroic story of one of the elite branches of the U.S. military, the Marine Corps, has been put on permanent display.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps opened its doors on Nov. 10, 2006, on a 135-acre site adjacent to the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.
Interesting enough, the birthplace of the Marines was actually a pub in Philadelphia called the Tun Tavern. Legend has it that Capt. Samuel Nicholas began recruiting Marines in the Tun Tavern on Nov. 10, 1775. By 1798, an official act of Congress actually created the U.S. Marine Corps.
The museum’s architecture rivals that of major national museums, and its collections tell the story of the Marines. Designed by the architectural firm of Fentress Bradburn and about 20 miles from Washington, D.C., the museum is stunningly visible from Interstate 95. Its architectural centerpiece, which ascends 210 feet at its pinnacle, is a dramatic glass and steel structure inspired by the world-famous image of a group of Marines raising the American flag over Iwo Jima during World War II.
Based on the composition of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s photograph, the overall form of the museum immediately reminds visitors of the struggle, sacrifice and success of the Marines throughout history.
For instance, the main entrance evokes the feeling of the approach of the beachhead from a military watercraft, and the interior galleries use interactive signage, audio/video and lasers to simulate the Marines’ experience. The exhibition designers’ attention to detail is obvious through the use of large-scale photography, famous quotations defining Marine Corps heroism and life-size exhibition mannequins modeled after actual Marines, which together make a visitor’s experience a strikingly true-to-life didactic and emotional one.
The museum highlights the corps’ rich history. Some of the impressive objects on display include the first and second American flags raised on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945, an F4U Corsair fighter aircraft like those flown by Marines in the Pacific during World War II, a UH-1E “Huey” utility helicopter used during the Vietnam War, an early 19th-century Mameluke sword and a leatherneck stock that was worn around the necks of Marines in the 1700s to protect them from sword slashes of the throat.
Of course, “leatherneck” remains the modern-day nickname for Marines.
The museum’s combat fine-art gallery lets visitors view paintings highlighting subjects of Marines on duty and American military history produced by esteemed American artists Howard Chandler Christy, James Montgomery Flagg and Marine Corps combat artists Staff Sgt. USMC Tom Lovel (1909-1997) and Colonel USMC Donna Neary.
Beyond measure
This new museum, I believe, will quickly become the barometer by which all other major contemporary American military and history museums will be measured. Only a few short months from its unveiling, it is not only a tribute to our brave Marines but already deemed an unmistakable “must-see” museum destination. The National Museum of the Marine Corps is a vastly important history and learning center, breathtaking exhibition and preservation space and truly an emotional site to behold.