An inside look at the future National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The newest museum being built in DFW is using technology to tell stories of the bravest among us: Medal of Honor recipients.
The Medal of Honor is the only award bestowed across all branches of the military; it's also the most difficult to attain.
"It's the only medal given by the president in the name of congress," said Cory Crowley, the museum's executive vice president. "You get through the Department of Defense, all the generals, all the bureaucracy, then you have Congress and the president who still have to sign off."
While 40 million people have served in the armed forces since the Civil War, fewer than 4,000 have received the Medal of Honor.
"It takes something special inside of you to say, 'I'll jump on a grenade,' or 'I'll fly my helicopter in under enemy fire four times in one night and land in a mine field to pick you up,'" said Crowley. "Those are extraordinary things."
Those stories are the driving force behind the Medal of Honor Museum, which is being built in the heart of Arlington's entertainment district. Crowley says the space won't focus on specific conflicts or military branches; instead, each exhibit will connect you to different types of heroism.
"There could be those that received the Medal of Honor by saving the life of someone else, by coming to the rescue," said Crowley. "[Or] by sacrificing their own life."
As soon as visitors walk in, they will be surrounded by screens recreating real-life history.
"So, you feel like you where there when that Medal of Honor action took place and have a better sense of what was going through the mind of that recipient in the moment and how they made the decision to do what they did." Crowley says the videos will also show how terrain and climate played a role.
You'll even have a chance to ask questions of the heroes - and they will answer. Crowley says organizers have spent hundreds of hours filming living recipients to create artifical intelligence that will allow visitors to have unique conversations.
A few of the displays are in a temporary space a block from the construction site, where some workers, like Martin Pascual, are veterans.
"[The recipients] were like heroes to us in the service," said Pascual. "To come back years later and actually be a part of it, it's incredibly humbling."
The museum is set to open in 2024, along with a leadership institute, classrooms, a theater and more.
The space will be about far more than the military, says Crowley. It's about the strength of the human spirit.
"This is not a military history museum. This is a museum about people who were ordinary Americans, who signed up to serve their country the same as 40 million other people did," said Crowley. "But on a dark day, under the worst of circumstances, they did something incredible."
Learn more about the museum and the Medal of Honor here.