South Carolina Military Museum — Attraction in Columbia

Visited 8/23/24 for the first time. Was greeted by an extremely nice lady at the door [sorry I don’t remember your name!]. Chatted a bit as she outlined some of the exhibits and the layout of the museum.

On with the show!

Lots of original uniforms and firearms (and much, much more) from the Revolution to Iraq. All meticulously labeled with brief explanations. Very few replicas. Many scale models of vehicles and dioramas.

I especially appreciate the repeated showcasing of South Carolina Medal of Honor winners and other distinguished soldiers, airmen, and sailors. Not to mention featuring daily life of your regular Joe. We simply cannot do enough to recognize these American patriots.

The museum is MUCH larger than it appears. So you could breeze through for 20 minutes or spend several hours.

I greatly appreciated the restored vehicles. Each was clearly, lovingly done by folks in the know. All looked like they were fresh out of the box, so to speak.

I wouldn’t recommend for young children of a certain age, so parents gauge accordingly. That being said, I am looking forward to bringing my 6-year-old grandson. I think he will go bonkers.

I could go on, but I think my sentiment is understood.

Big...

I'm a museum guy, and I love military museums, especially those that have WW2 displays. We actually rearranged our hotel stay in Charleston so we could make a Saturday stop here. They're not open on Sunday.

This museum is definitely one that is worth the price of admission, which, as it turns out, is free. The museum does gladly accept donations, which I was happy to contribute to. As the name of the museum implies, it focuses on South Carolinas contribution to military history, including native American history.

Again, my focus is on WW2 history, which there is plenty to see. However, if your particular passion is Revolutionary, Civil, WW1, Cold War, Vietnam, and more, you will not be disappointed. The curators have done an incredible job putting together the artifacts, displays, and vehicles that rival many larger military museums.

We spent 1.5 hours going through the museum, and I could have easily spent another 2 hours there, but this was a stop to our final destination near Greenville, and we needed to get back on the...

Located in the shadow of the Universtiy of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium, it’s operated by the South Carolina National Guard and located in the Guard’s compound on National Guard Rd off of Bluff Rd. It isn’t the easiest thing to find and you have to pass through a guard post to get back to it, but it is well worth the visit for any History or Military History buff. The South Carolina Military Museum presents the Military History of South Carolina primarily from the National Guard perspective, from the Spanish explorers in South Carolina through today. It is indeed a hidden gem and is well worth finding. They have a great collection and friendly veteran volunteers full of interesting stories and information. There’s no admission since it’s a government museum, but there is a collection box you should drop a donation in; operating a museum like this isn’t inexpensive and their government budget doesn’t...