![]() ![]() They include George Custer’s grave (though how much of Custer was actually recovered from Little Big Horn and re-buried here is debatable). ![]() ![]() However, it’s well worth it to see the beautiful views of the river, Trophy Point, where dozens of cannons captured in different wars are displayed. The museum is outside the military academy and easily visited, but since 9-11, you can only enter the academy on guided tours. ![]() WEST POINT: Trophy Point is at a beautiful and strategic bend of the Hudson River in New York. Some 75 percent of the generals in the Civil War on both sides went to West Point and were friends and classmates at the military academy here and the museum has such strange items as drawings done by Ulysses S. WEST POINT: The beautiful strategic bend in the Hudson River visible from Trophy Point. The official West Point Museum opened in 1854 and is the bucket list stop for all military buffs with pistols owned by George Washington, Napoleon, and Adolph Hitler dioramas of famous battles the “unused” backup shell of the second atomic bomb and every type of gun, sword, and cannon known to warfare. The entire military campus is more or less a museum because when the British army surrendered at Saratoga in 1777, the trophies and captured cannons from the battle were stored at West Point, and over the years since, other items captured in wars have been displayed here. Located north of New York City at a strategic bend of the Hudson River, West Point was the most fortified position in the American Revolution and after the war became home to the U.S. These represent only places I have visited and not a comprehensive list. We don’t seem, as a nation, to have learned many lessons yet, but there is always hope.Īs we begin to end our longest war in history, the one in Afghanistan, here are some places to remember those Americans who have fought, for whatever reason, in the name of the United States. Perhaps through this remembrance, there are some lessons to learn for the future. With so much history of warfare in this country, it is natural that there would also be museums to try to interpret what happened in these battles and engagements, why they happened, remember those who were in command, and most of all, honor those poor souls behind the guns, the men and women who just followed orders and bore the brunt of the fighting and casualties. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” And, of course, honor to the women in both cases. Put aside for a minute the motivations behind all these conflicts and one thing remains, a thought perhaps best expressed by Abraham Lincoln: “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. NAVY SEAL MUSEUM: It is simply incredible to see the equipment, weapons and computers that Navy SEALS must use today.īut you have to remember the almost continuous warfare with Native Americans in the 19 th century and the dozens of military interventions, “peace-keeping” missions, military outposts, and all the troops stationed at embassies around the world, not to mention troops engaged in occasional domestic violence, like the Civil War. That would make America seem like one of the most war-like nations in all history. At first glance, that statement seems impossible. The United States has been at war or had military troops engaged in “harm’s way” for 227 out of the 245 years since 1776, or about 92 percent of the time. America’s History Has Spawned Many Impressive Military Museums. Other troops are scattered all over the battlefield in different places where they made a last stand, or tried to escape. Custer’s grave is in the center with black ink, surrounded by some of his men who fought to the end with him. ![]()
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