Our first stop was Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. It is located on the northern shore of Charleston Bay on the Cooper River and is home to the USS Yorktown (CV-10) a WW II era aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1943 and decommissioned in1975. It is the second Yorktown carrier, the first being sunk in the Battle of Midway in 1942.
Patriots Point is also home to the WW II destroyer USS Laffey (DD-724), a famous ship that survived 22 Kamikaze attacks during the battle of Okinawa. There is also a post WW-II diesel submarine, USS Clamagore (SS-343) berthed there. In addition to the ships there is a Medal of Honor museum, an Apollo 8 Mission Exhibit, a Cold War Submarine Memorial, lots of historic aircraft and a unique Vietnam Experience exhibit, recreating highlights of the war in a living history format.
After touring the Yorktown and the Laffey we had lunch at the snack bar in the Yorktown and got ready for the next activity, a 15-minute boat trip and one hour tour of Ft. Sumter that departs from Patriots Point.
The trip out to the fort was pleasant. It wasn't too windy and the water was almost calm. Along the way we got to see lots of activity as the waterway is used by boats large and small. There is also a very beautiful bridge across the Cooper River.
Ft. Sumter is now a National Monument administered by the National Park Service. It is only accessible by ferry service by a park concessionaire. The trip to the fort takes about two hours, including travel time and is controlled by park service rangers, one trip at a time.
Ft. Sumter today looks very different than it did at the start of the Civil War. It was continuously bombarded, first by the Confederates to start the war and later by Union Naval forces throughout the siege and blockade of Charleston Harbor until the war's end. The fort was virtually destroyed, and after the war the Army attempted to put it back in shape. From 1876 to 1897 it was not garrisoned and served mainly as a lighthouse station. The impending Spanish American War renewed activity there - deferred maintenance of the installation was addressed and new guns were installed. During WW I the fort was garrisoned for the next 20 years. The outmoded guns were removed during WW II and antiaircraft guns were installed late in 1945. The fort was then transferred from the War Department to the Park Service and designated a National Monument in 1948. It was a nice visit to a historic site and another old fort we have added to the list of ones we have visited.
After we returned to Patriots Point we visited the Vietnam Experience exhibit. It is like nothing we have ever seen before regarding Vietnam War History - a living history exhibit that attempts to create what it was like being there.
You start in a Quonset hut containing displays and artifacts with a theater playing video clips of life and activity during that time and reminiscences of veterans who were there. You then go outside to exhibits, including a US Navy Advanced Tactical Support Base (Brown Water Navy), a US Marine Corps Artillery Firebase and the Battle of Khe Sahn during the Tet Offensive in 1968. The exhibits are augmented by the sounds of gunfire, helicopter noise and other associated battle sounds including explosions. There are also hoochs with exhibits of a medical facility, living quarters and a mess hall. There is also a gun/watch tower that sometimes guarded a compound in the field.
There were also Vietnam era helicopters and military equipment and weaponry on display throughout the grounds of the exhibit. It was all pretty realistic as it could be, especially with the battle sounds. I can see where the experience might be disturbing to some veterans who experienced Vietnam on the ground, bringing back unpleasant memories, but on the other hand, perhaps it might give children some idea of what their parents and grand parents went through back then.
