MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT -- There are few places that can offer the sights, sounds … and even feel of history like the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Virginia. Forty-Four Marine noncommissioned officers with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron here discovered that fact during a visit to the museum April 22.
The museum featured several galleries that highlighting significant battles helping to recreate the sounds, sensations and legends of the Marines and the Corps since 1775.
“Visiting the museum was a great experience” said Cpl. Heather Moore, an administrative specialist. “It was really neat walking through all the different battles and seeing how our Marine Corps has advanced and how it just continues getting better.”
According to Moore, the purpose of the trip was to build camaraderie between the squadron’s NCOs and to step out of the normal day-to-day duties to see how the Corps got to where it is today.
“There isn’t a better place to take a group of Marine NCOs than the Marine Corps Museum,” said Moore. “We learned a lot about the history of the Marine Corps when we first joined, but this trip has given us the opportunity to experience it and learn from it all over again.”
According to Sgt. Tobin Wheeler, an aircraft rescue firefighter, walking through the history of the Corps as an NCO gave the Marines a sense of pride in what those before them had accomplished.
“I always enjoyed and had a passion for history,” said Wheeler. “So to know this trip was going to be kind of a bonding experience and a time for NCOs to meet each other and reminisce on Marine Corps history - I really enjoyed it.”
Several of the Marines took the time at the museum to search for family members or friends in photos from different decades and wars.
“My favorite part of the trip was the Korean War memorial,” said Wheeler. “My uncle was there and I always look for pictures of him. It is really awesome to come here and be able to make a connection, walk through what they felt and see some of the things they may have seen.”