Corey Gaffer Photography LLC
Corey Gaffer
They are ordinary people: part-time mail carriers, Eagle Scouts, and immigrants. They worked at insurance companies and nursing homes, gas stations, and department stores. Some played basketball in high school. Others grew up in foster care. One was a former “problem child” who was so disruptive in class that his parents moved him to multiple schools. They are career military men and draftees, migrant workers and graduates of Harvard Law. They are fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons.
They are Medal of Honor recipients — and their extraordinary acts of courage are celebrated at the new National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington. Located in the heart of the entertainment district by AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field, the $270 million museum opened to the public March 25, National Medal of Honor Day. The museum complex perches on five waterfront acres at Mark Holtz Lake and features 31,000 square feet of exhibition space.
Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, the building is nothing short of spectacular. The main exhibition hall seems to hover several stories above the ground, supported by five massive columns that represent the five branches of the United States Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard). The distinct design evokes the heavy burden that service members bear, as well as the uplifting stories inside. Two floating staircases and glass elevators link the sunken courtyard below with the upper exhibition hall, whose metal-clad exterior recalls the strength of steel as it emerges from the blazing fire of a forge.
“It’s unbelievably majestic,” says Chris Cassidy, president and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Foundation. “I think it will become an iconic building in our country, not just because it’s the Medal of Honor, but because it’s a really, really unique building. We’ve already had architecture tours sign up.” A former Navy SEAL and Chief Astronaut at NASA, Cassidy spacewalked on multiple space shuttle flights and earned two Bronze Stars for combat leadership in Afghanistan. He’s well suited for his new mission: preserving and sharing the legacy of Medal of Honor recipients. “It’s not just a museum for the military buff in your family,” he says. “This is not just an attraction for dad, who drags along his spouse and their begrudging kids. We have tried to make it interesting for all people because we’re telling stories of courage.” The building’s impressive architecture is simply a prelude to the riveting narratives of the people inside, ordinary men (and one woman) who bear an award born when America itself was in the midst of a fiery forge: the Civil War.
Established in 1861 by President Abraham Lincoln, the Medal of Honor is our military’s highest award for acts of valor. It’s presented to those who risk their lives above and beyond the call of duty to defend America and our cherished ideals. Stringent requirements must be met for a service member to earn the medal, the only American military decoration worn around the neck.
Recipients must distinguish themselves with outstanding acts of bravery that occur in one of three situations: while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States, while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing force, or while serving with friendly foreign forces that are engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force. Thorough documentation must be submitted within three years of the act of valor, including two sworn eyewitness statements and detailed reports on the battlefield, the setting, and the act itself. Recommendations are approved by the President, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, who bestows the award in the name of Congress (which is why it’s sometimes called the Congressional Medal of Honor).
“There’s no other honor that has that same weight to it, so that’s why I think it’s important for Americans to know what the medal means,” says Cassidy. Recipients are a select few. Out of 40 million Americans who have served in the military since 1861, only 3,528 (less than .01%) have received the Medal of Honor. Almost half were presented during the Civil War when it was the only medal that existed; today there are many more. But the Medal of Honor stands above them all as the ultimate award for heroism. Recipients are never called winners, for the medal is earned, not won. It often weighs heavy on the necks of those who wear it, a symbol of the sacrifices they have made — and the sacrifices of all who have served, many of whom never came home.
The road to Arlington
Olaf Growald
Now, 164 years after the Medal of Honor’s inception, we finally have a national museum that pays tribute to those who earned it … but it took a long journey to get here. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the fraternal organization of medal holders, has been headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, for decades. It was usually just presumed that any new National Medal of Honor Museum would be built there. But the land on offer was marshy and required a hefty investment simply to render it viable. Was there a better location?
Thoughts naturally turned to the nation’s capital for the national museum. “But it’s quite an endeavor to build a museum in Washington,” says Cassidy. “There’s not a ton of real estate, and it’s controlled by Congress. It’s a whole process to get authorized.” For example, the National African American Museum that opened in 2016 required 25 years from its conception to reality. But Medal of Honor recipients couldn’t wait that long. “They’re not getting any younger, and we wanted as many of them to be a part of it as possible. If we waited 25 years, or even 20 years, all the Vietnam guys would be gone.”
So the National Medal of Honor Foundation requested museum site proposals in 2018, and 20 cities submitted bids. It all came down to a contest between Denver and Arlington, and Arlington came out ahead. “The city of Arlington was super excited and effectively gave us the plot of land where we are now. And it’s just so patriotic here in the DFW metroplex that it was a no-brainer.” Arlington is in the center of the country with a major airport nearby, and millions of people already travel to the city every year for sports games and concerts. “It’s a great location, and, boy, was it ever a good decision. The city is so proactive at helping and accommodating to make the process go smoothly.”
Construction began in March 2022. Despite a few COVID-based snags with the international supply chain, construction proceeded apace on the museum, which is entirely funded by private donations. Major donors like Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Ken Griffin, John and Cami Goff, Alan and Bonnie Petsche, BNSF Railway, Lockheed Martin, and the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation helped the museum to achieve its $270 million fundraising goal.
“It doesn’t mean we take our foot off the gas pedal,” Cassidy says. “Ticket sales will go a long way, but they don’t fund the whole thing.” Hosting special events is another significant part of the museum’s business model. It has multiple state-of-the-art venues of varying sizes, including a lecture space, an outdoor amphitheater, and a Great Hall with the capacity to seat and feed 400 people. More than 75 events are already scheduled for 2025, from corporate board meetings to birthday parties, to take advantage of the museum’s monumental setting.
A walk through the museum
Corey Gaffer Photography LLC
Corey Gaffer
Feelings of reverence arise as you enter down a sloping ramp into a sunken glass atrium called the Rotunda of Honor. The five columns for the five branches of service ascend from the floor (a light cannon shoots out the top of the museum at night to represent the sixth branch, the Space Force, which has no Medal of Honor recipients yet). Natural light fills the space from a circular skylight cut through the exhibition hall above. The gold Ring of Valor encircles you, inscribed with the names of all 3,526 Medal of Honor recipients.
This ground floor is free to access and houses the museum shop, café, education center, and event spaces. It’s also the headquarters of the Griffin Institute, a leadership organization whose programs feature Medal of Honor recipients as part of the courses. “They’re in the classroom with you,” says Cassidy. Three centers cater to adult professionals, military-focused college students, and K-12 schoolchildren. Youth initiatives address the nation’s character gap by developing integrity, courage, commitment, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism — values shared by all who wear the uniform, whose strength and protection we depend on yet far too often take for granted. Thirteen school districts have already signed up for field trips. “We don’t want there to be any barriers to entry for schools,” says Cassidy. “We’re aiming for, and on target for, all those programs to be free.”
To reach the main exhibit hall on the upper level, you’ll travel up one of the glass elevators or curved, floating staircases. But don’t expect to see a chronological account of America’s military endeavors. Many other museums do a fine job of walking you through our battles and wars — but this is something different. “This is not a military history museum,” explains Cassidy. “It’s a museum of stories about people who did something extraordinary when there was a need for it. We really want to highlight those individual people.” The museum includes all 3,526 Medal of Honor recipients in some way, focuses on 70 of them, and offers a deeper dive into 20 of their stories.
Corey Gaffer Photography LLC
Corey Gaffer
You’ll start by watching a six-minute video in an immersive 360-degree theater. “It’s a really moving video in recipients’ own voices,” Cassidy says. “You’ll have video and sound all around you.” After exiting the theater, you’ll discover more than a dozen circular display “islands” scattered through the square-shaped exhibition hall. They tell the narratives of recipients’ lives in robust detail through audiovisuals and interactive displays like scrolling touchscreens. Personal artifacts evoke each individual’s journey with touching insight, from footballs to movie posters. “Some artifacts pertain to military service, but many don’t. The focal point is not the medal itself; it’s about the items that tell that person’s story.”
You can also have virtual conversations with five Medal of Honor recipients through a cutting-edge, interactive video display powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Each person spent several days answering hundreds of questions on video while wearing the same clothes and sitting in the same chair. The AI software analyzes the recorded answers and integrates the data to create a life-size video image of the recipient that you can interact with. “They can have a conversation with you,” says Cassidy. “In fact, the more questions you ask it, the smarter the AI gets. What’s your favorite ice cream? How many kids do you have? Tell me about the day you got the medal.”
Coming face-to-face with a medal recipient, even a virtual one, is a powerful way to connect with these real-life heroes. “We wish we could record all 61 of the living recipients. In addition to being an interactive conversation, it’s a way for us at the museum to capture their story and their content so we have it forever, before they are no longer with us.”
Visitors can explore the museum’s collection further with the free Smartify app, accessible through your mobile phone and its camera. Smartify uses augmented reality and image recognition technology to identify a scanned object and instantly provide additional details, such as its historical context or related artifacts. You can save interesting information on the app to read later at your leisure, and you can even generate a customized audio tour of the museum based on your interests and time available (Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum also uses the Smartify app).
The National Medal of Honor Museum officially opens on Tuesday, March 25, and will host a Grand Opening celebration the previous Saturday, March 22. Taking place on the museum’s grassy lakefront grounds, the festivities will begin a few hours before sunset with food trucks, national singing talent, and military musicians. Fireworks will mark the momentous occasion, and 1,500 drones will take to the sky for a synchronized, illuminated performance. The free, family-friendly event will also include plenty of kids’ activities, and guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to better enjoy the show.
For children — and all of us — a trip to the National Medal of Honor Museum provides a vital counterbalance to the values promoted daily in the digital realm: self-centeredness and superficiality, sensationalism and outrage, the filtered and the fake. At the museum, the heroes are real, which makes them far better than any Marvel fantasy. These men had no magic hammers, no shapeshifting skills, no turbo-charged strength. But they had one another — and they each had the ability inside of them to live with courage, as do we all.
Most of us will never encounter the harrowing situations that these medal recipients faced, but bravery isn’t just for the battlefield, says Cassidy. “Every single one of us needs courage to have a hard conversation at home or at work, or to deal with a traumatic health condition that you or your loved one is going through. It takes courage to decide if you should move across the country or quit your job and take a different job. Courage comes in all different ways and sizes and shapes.”
By connecting us with the remarkable acts and profound humanity of those who serve, the National Medal of Honor Museum calls forth the hero within every one of us. Even amid life’s most difficult challenges, we can choose to act with courage and integrity — and to honor these ordinary people whose extraordinary sacrifices allow us to live free in the home of the brave.
The National Medal of Honor Museum is located at 1717 E. Randol Mill Road, Arlington, TX, 76011, and shares a parking lot with the Arlington Museum of Art and the Sheraton Hotel. Tickets and additional information are available at mohmuseum.org.
