Museum visits soar

The Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is significantly more popular this year, a trend that officials attribute to the renovated Medal of Honor Museum.

Some 12,311 more visitors bought tickets for Patriots Point from July 1, 2007, through April of this year compared to the same period last year, the latest available figures, said Patriots Point Development Authority Director of Communications Jim McElroy. The museum underwent a nationally publicized $1.5 million redesign and reopened in May 2007.

'When you have something new and compelling, often you reap the benefit of that,' McElroy said. Prior to the current fiscal year, the museum had been experiencing a five-year trend of declining attendance, McElroy said.

The 7 percent increase in ticket sales is attributed to more tourists going to the museum, he said. The result is more funds for the ongoing task of maintaining aging ships, such as the Yorktown.

Patriots Point received national TV and newspaper coverage when the museum reopened. A black-tie dinner featuring NBC News anchorman Brian Williams was held on the flight deck of the Yorktown. Williams' news show broadcast from Patriots Point.

The 2,500-square-foot Medal of Honor Museum is more than twice the size of the old one.

It uses 21st-century, push-button technology to tell stories of Americans honored for bravery under fire. Some of the stories are from the days of horseback cavalry. Others come from the era of smart weapons and fighter jets.

The new museum is interactive and geared toward a younger generation, with features such as a tunnel of murals that depict battles from different generations. It has flashing lights, booming guns and soldiers yelling commands. It's a far cry from the old museum, which was a traditional display of medals and photos. Mount Pleasant Mayor Harry Hallman raised nearly $1 million for the new $1.5 million museum.

Nearly 3,500 fighting men and women have received the Medal of Honor, the country's highest recognition for combat valor. The stories of 16 honorees are told in detail in video stories. They include Ralph H. Johnson, for whom the Veterans Affairs Medical Center is named.

Museum artifacts range from a Civil War battle drum to a German Luger

captured during the Battle of the Bulge. There are 103 living Medal of Honor recipients.

On June 2, President Bush bestowed the Medal of Honor posthumously upon Ross Andrew McGinnis of Knox, Pa. McGinnis is credited with saving the lives of four soldiers when an enemy insurgent tossed a grenade into a Humvee in Baghdad on Dec. 4, 2006. Reacting quickly, McGinnis, 19, pinned the grenade between his body and the vehicle, absorbing most of the explosion.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at pfindlay@postandcourier.com or 937-5711.