Visit the Navy SEAL Museum in Ft. Pierce, Florida
It's well worth the trip.
I’ve always been a Navy fan, not of the football team—although I’m sure they are lovely people—but the branch of the armed services. I don’t know if it’s the fact that multiple family members are and were Navy veterans or because of my obsession with Top Gun in the 1980s, but I’m partial to the Navy, and I’m fascinated by the SEALs.
In fact, I’ve written a couple of articles in the past about the Navy SEALs, so I’ve had a chance to do some research on them. In one article, I asked the question, “Are Women Capable of Becoming Navy SEALs?” which originally appeared in Acculturated in 2017. (The answer, of course, is yes.) In the other, “Your Mother Was Right, Making Your Bed Is the Beginning of Success,” I reviewed a book by retired Navy SEAL and former commander of all US Special Forces Admiral William McRaven called Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World. The book is based on a commencement speech Adm. McRaven gave to the graduating class of the University of Texas and makes a great graduation gift.
Today I want to talk about one of my favorite travel finds—the Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida. For about 20 years, my mom and dad had a house in Vero Beach just up the coast from Fort Pierce. When we got in beach mode, we rarely wanted to go anywhere but to the beach and out back to the dock to fish, but our last trip down, Dad said he wanted to visit the museum because the neighbor across the street was a docent there and he’d always wanted to visit. So Dad and I grabbed Daniel, loaded up the van, and headed down the A1A.
The Navy SEAL Museum is spectacular and well worth a detour from wherever you are along the Treasure Coast. There is a lot to explore outside. They have sculptures, World War II era beach training obstacles, tactical boats, and an obstacle training course you can try yourself once you go inside and sign a waiver.
Inside in the main gallery, the museum has Desert Storm vehicles, an extensive weapons collection, a Black Hawk helicopter, and a lifeboat of the Maersk Alabama. What is the Maersk Alabama, you ask? It’s a containership that was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia on April 8, 2009. The US Navy sent the destroyer the USS Bainbridge to assist, and after a three-day standoff, three Navy SEAL snipers fired from the deck of a ship through the lifeboat windows killing three of the pirates holding the Maersk Alabama’s captain, Richard Phillips, hostage. Phillips survived the ordeal. Captain Phillips, a movie starring Tom Hanks in the lead role (of course), portrays the events of those days.
The museum also has a Cold War gallery with exhibits on the Korean War and Vietnam War as well as exhibits on Desert Storm. Their World War II exhibit is very well done and particularly captivating.
The Navy Seal Museum opened on Veterans Day in 1985 and draws thousands of visitors each year. The museum is located on the A1A on the original training grounds of the first Frogmen, aka Naval Combat Demolition Units and Underwater Demolition Teams of the World War II era. The museum was founded to educate the public on the history and mission of the Navy SEALs and supports SEALs and their families through their Trident House Charities. These include a respite house for Special Operators and their families as well as other military personnel, financial support for families, and scholarships for the children of Special Operations members.
Even if you can’t visit right away, there are lots of ways to interact with the museum online. The website has great information on the history of the Navy SEALs. They also host a podcast called The Friendly Fire Podcast and have an online lecture series.
Dad and I had a great visit the day we went. We didn’t realize they close at 4 pm, so we didn’t give ourselves enough time to see everything as in-depth as we would have liked to. The museum was also very easy for Dad to navigate with his scooter and still be able to read all the exhibits.
One of my favorite things in the museum was all the information on how integral working dogs are to the SEAL mission. The museum has its own Multipurpose Canine named Raven who is a Belgian Malinois trained in the same skills as other Navy SEAL Working Dogs. Sadly, Raven was not onsite the day we were there so I didn’t get to meet the Good Boy.
My dad died last February, and he had asked that some of his ashes be scattered at Vero Beach, so we’ll be making a trip back down as soon as the worst of COVID is behind us. When we go, I hope to make a second trip to the Navy SEAL museum and take more of my family this time. Hopefully, Raven will be there too.
Interesting Stuff From the Interwebs
The world is a bit chaotic and distracted this week, but I did find a few interesting things that broke through the noise. First, you need to go grab a tissue for this one.
It’s so important to learn CPR!
In honor of it being cold as blue blazes in Georgia this week, here is Crosswalk The Musical: Frozen.
Sweet Tea is a politics-free zone, but politics has taken over the news cycle for the moment, and I have something I want to say to you about it: We are going to be OK. Our country is going to be OK. My neighborhood backs up to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park where over the course of a few days in the summer of 1864 more than 3,000 Americans died in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Civil War. I walk my dog by the Illinois Monument erected on the infamous “Dead Angle.” America has come back from civil war; we will come back from this. Just keep loving your neighbor, and let’s all focus on the things that are most important—caramel cake, pecan pie, deviled eggs, and sweet tea.
Until next time,
Karla