ARLINGTON, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
The National Medal of Honor Museum continues to march toward its $280 million fundraising goal ahead of a planned spring 2025 opening.
Set to open next March in Arlington, the museum has raised $263 million to date, Executive Vice President Cory Crowley said in a recent interview. He provided an update after an Aug. 14 event at the George W. Bush Presidential Library drew renewed attention to the new addition to North Texas' museum scene. Texas Capital sponsored the event and its CEO, Rob Holmes, moderated a fireside chat with Chris Cassidy, president and CEO of the museum; Charlotte Jones, an executive for the Dallas Cowboys and daughter of team owner Jerry Jones, and Medal of Honor recipient Col. Jack Jacobs.
Donors and supporters of the museum include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America and Texas Capital, as well as affluent families and individuals like the Jones family, Citadel LLC CEO Ken Griffin, former American Airlines CEO and chairman Doug Parker and Fort Worth real estate investor John Goff with his wife, Cami.
Crowley said much of the fundraising campaign has revolved around raising awareness about the museum and educating people about the Medal of Honor. The award is the U.S. military's highest decoration, recognizing those who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor.
"We had to just kind of make people aware of what the Medal of Honor was," Crowley said. "It's kind of surprising how many people don't know that."
The capital campaign has helped the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation cover everything from the design of the building to the construction and procurement of the collections and the designing of the exhibits, Crowley said. The funding also helped the foundation launch its educational arm, the National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute. The institute provides leadership development programs for youth and adults and is named after the Citadel chief executive.
Last year, the leadership institution partnered with the NFL Foundation and Dallas Cowboys to host an event at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for more than 700 high school students. Overall, Crowley said the institute's programming reached students in more than 29,000 schools around the U.S.
Construction of the museum continues to make progress ahead of next year's planned opening. Crowley said exhibits will start being installed in October. The museum is located on 5 acres of land donated by the City of Arlington.
"[The land has] got a valuation of about $5 million so just that out of the gate gave us a spot to be able to put the museum and be able to build," Crowley said. He called city leaders "tremendous partners."
The foundation plans to have a big celebration for the National Medal of Honor Museum's grand opening. The museum will open on March 25, designated as National Medal of Honor Day. Three days before the opening, on March 22, the foundation will conduct a ceremony featuring a fireworks drone show and living Medal of Honor recipients.
More than 3,500 people have received the Medal of Honor, but only about 60 are still alive, Crowley said. He anticipates about half of the living recipients will be able to attend the grand opening.
The National Medal of Honor Museum won't just be another "war museum or "history museum," Crowley said. Instead, he said visitors should expect to have a little bit of a different experience.
"It's a museum of biographies, of the life stories of people who were just ordinary Americans and then went on to do something extraordinary on a tough day," Crowley said. "What we hope is that everybody will visit the museum and realize that you're somebody just like them, and whether or not you ever put on the uniform, we all have within us the potential to do something extraordinary for someone else."
