Museum is Last Chance to Honor Medal of Honor Vets

When on Wednesday Patriots Point and the Medal of Honor Society announced plans to build a $100 million Medal of Honor Museum on waterfront property in Mount Pleasant, they did so against a racing clock.

“We only have 81 living recipients, and at some point we aren’t going to have any,” said Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, a recipient of the medal. “So if we want to leave a legacy behind, we have to get with it.”

Living recipients range in age from 24 to 95 years old, and their ranks dwindle daily.

Since it’s creation after the Civil War, the Medal of Honor has been awarded to just 3,476 members of the military. The process takes 2 to 3 years, Livingston said, and the President presents the medal.

Barring a major shift in world affairs and a change in modern warfare, there aren’t many chances for future recipients, said Livingston, who also chairs the Medal of Honor Society.

“The current war has been going on for 10 years, and there are only three living recipients (from the war on terrorism) … there may be one or two more, but no more than that,” Livingston said. “We just don’t involve ourselves with mass forces in the way we did when I was in combat.”

Patriots Point on Wednesday announced the establishment of a non-profit organization to raise $3 million to $5 million in seed money to get the museum project started. They plan to raise the full amount with a professional fundraiser and are aiming to complete the project within four years.

It’s a sweeping, multi-story glass building. Patriots Point has asked the town of Mount Pleasant to realign Patriots Point Boulevard to free up the 10 to 12 acres of waterfront property necessary for the project. The building will replace a Medal of Honor museum already on board the USS Yorktown.

Officials estimate an additional 200,000 annual visitors on top of the 500,000 who already visit Patriots Point each year. The Cooper River tourist attraction won’t spend any money to get the project off the ground, though it will be heavily involved in planning and fundraising. The benefit, however, is that it will collect a portion of the museum’s ticket sales when it’s finished.

It’s a good deal for Patriots Point, which has suffered in recent years under mounting debt. It still owes $9 million to the State of South Carolina for a loan to repair the historic USS Laffey gunship, which nearly sank in Charleston Harbor after years of saltwater corrosion.

Patriots Point’s principle attraction, the WWII-era USS Yorktown, has similar damage and it could cost $100 million to shore up its problems. The submarine Clamagore, also has significant damage and may be sunk as a natural reef if a veterans group can’t come up with the estimated $3 million needed to repair its paper-thin hull.

The location of the new museum makes sense, officials say, because Civil War veterans were the first receive the medal and that war began on Charleston Harbor. From a tourism perspective, the new attraction seems like a good fit.

“Patriots Point is already one of our top attractions in the Charleston area, so (the Medal of Honor Museum) will add to that ambience,” said Helen Hill, executive director of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Charleston enjoys about 5 million annual tourists. Most come to enjoy the region’s historic offerings, and military history plays a big role, she said.

“Today’s traveler is looking for the authentic experience,” Hill said. “The great thing about this attraction is the new visitors that it will bring.