National Museum of the Marine Corps

The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, is south of Washington, D.C. We stopped in on our way back from Williamsburg, though we arrived late and it was only open for an hour. To maximize our enjoyment, we decided to focus on the World War II exhibit.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

The lobby features many vehicles (mostly aircraft) used by the Marines in their recent history. The lobby leads into the galleries along the perimeter of the museum. The exhibits run through the history of the Marine Corps starting with the War for Independence in the 1770s all the way to the 2000s.

The main lobby

More of the lobby

Before visitors get to the history, displays explain the experience of young men and women who join the Marine Corps today, including some interactive experiences of boot camp, where people learn the fundamentals. 

Marine hair cut

Getting chewed out by a drill instructor (not sure you get a choice in the real experience)

Sample of an obstacle course (not interactive)

We headed over to the World War II exhibit, called "Uncommon Valor." Most of the exhibit is focused on the Pacific Theater, where Marines were the first to storm many of the islands as the United States fought its way across the ocean towards the Japanese homeland.

Entrance to WWII exhibits

States of the nations going into the war

A bit on dancing back in the day!

This machine gun nest shows a M1917A1 Browning, a .30 caliber weapon that could fire between 400 to 520 rounds per minute. The effective range was 2,500 yards, just under a mile and a half. It was used for anti-aircraft fighting as well as ground fighting.

Gun nest

The Montford Point Marines exhibit talks about the training and deployment of African Americans as Marines during World War II. The 51st and 52nd Defense Battalions were, other than the white officers, manned entirely by African Americans. Segregation was still the status quo in World War II. A separate battalion allowed the men to serve. They fought in the Pacific theater, serving on Guam, the Marshall Islands, and various atolls.

Beginning of the exhibit

On a tank

Plenty of weapons from World War II were on display.

Various personal weapons

An artillery nest?

A jeep

The Marines expanded their recruitment to include women. During World War II, they did not fight on the front line but did take on other roles, especially in the United States, freeing up other Marines to be deployed. 

Recruitment poster

This Japanese flag was captured on one of the islands and many of the soldiers from the fight signed it.

Trophy of war

The flag raised on Iwo Jima is on display, along with some information about the event. Marines used a nearby water pipe as the flag post. Originally a small flag was put up, but then with a photographer nearby, a larger flag was raised and the iconic photograph was taken.

The famous Iwo Jima Flag

Another exhibit tells the story of the Navajo Code Talkers. These Native Americans were used for communication because the Navajo language was so hard for the enemy to decode.

The Navajo Code

Once islands within bombing range of the Japanese Islands were conquered, the end of the war was only a matter of time. To avoid a costly invasion of the Japanese main land, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki, to convince the Japanese to surrender.

The ending

We still had some time left and look around some more. We visited the Korean War exhibit.

Helicopter used by Marines during the Korean conflict

Other weapons

Korean city simulation

Some of the winters were bitterly cold in Korea and one room is kept very cold to let visitors experience it. Since the museum was about to close, we assumed the air conditioning had been turned off because it was not that cold inside.

Experiencing frigid temperatures

At least my son put his hands in his pockets!

A landing vehicle, LVT-3, is on display and visitors can walk up into it. The vehicle is amphibious, allowing landings at different places and in different situations.

Boarding the vehicle

Ready to come off

As we were walking out, I saw this display of various insignia used by the Corps in the 1800s.

The museum has a lot more to see, including extensive outdoor displays. Maybe we will get back at an earlier time in the day, and in cooler weather, to enjoy more of the museum.