Explore Virginia’s military history at these 6 museums

Since its earliest days, Virginia has had deep military connections. With its strategic waterways and forts, the state has always played a major role in defending the nation. Today, intriguing museums tell that story.

While often overlooked, their galleries are full of surprises, and several are free. They document little-known stories of heroism and service. Many display dramatic military equipment, from a battleship to helicopters to experimental vehicles that seem lifted from a science-fiction film.

Honor all those who’ve served in the military—and learn more about the state’s history—this Veterans Day and beyond by visiting these 6 military museums in and near the Tidewater region.

Soldiers at Joint Base Langley–Eustis embrace a simple quote from Albert Einstein: “Nothing happens until something moves.” As the base’s U.S. Army Transportation Museum makes clear, there are plenty of ways for that to happen. Throughout history, the Army has found novel ways to transport soldiers and supplies around the world, using everything from mules to drones.

The expansive museum brings to life the arcane world of transportation logistics. Its collection ranges from boats, tanks, and trains to helicopters and Humvees. You’ll find scores of vehicles lined up in 4 outdoor display areas and lovingly preserved in exhibits inside the building.

Its static dioramas are stunning, depicting landscapes of Normandy, France; Afghanistan; Korea; and Vietnam. You can almost feel the tropical heat in a section devoted to World War II’s Burma Road, which American soldiers followed to bring supplies to the Chinese army. A few minutes later, you may shiver while a helicopter lands in a snowy Korean field.

Visitors to the Vietnam section are welcomed with a Barry McGuire protest song. A Cold War section highlights never-adopted experiments in transportation, including the military’s attempt to build a flying saucer, which proved unstable when it climbed over 3 feet. Nearby, a life-size diorama shows a soldier atop what looks like a floating pogo stick. The aerocycle, as it was called, was supposed to hover in the air but never really worked as intended.

The final galleries suggest that tomorrow’s conflicts may feature all-terrain robot pack mules, self-driving convoys, and helicopter drones. Maybe a flying saucer wasn’t such a crazy idea, after all. Closed Sundays and Mondays; free admission. Guests must get a visitors pass at the base’s front gate.

First-time visitors to downtown Norfolk are often startled to see a giant ship that seems to have just pulled up to the end of West Plume Street. But the battleship Wisconsin is a permanent fixture—a floating museum nearly as long as 3 football fields. It’s part of Nauticus, a tourism complex that includes the Hampton Roads Naval Museum and a maritime discovery center, which is undergoing an extensive renovation.

The Wisconsin, one of the last battleships built by the U.S. Navy, saw action in the South Pacific during World War II and the Korean War. It was decommissioned in 1958, but reentered service in 1986 and later served in the Persian Gulf War. The ship was moved to Norfolk in 1998 and landed at Nauticus in late 2000.

Both guided and self-guided tours let visitors wander the ship to see everything from the mess hall to the chaplain’s office to the 16-inch guns that once fired in battle. The ship was a “floating city,” says Keith Nitka, who shared a tiny cabin onboard with 8 other sailors during the Gulf War and is now the battleship operations manager.

“Anything that you have in your hometown, and even some things that you might not, we have here on the battleship. We have a dental clinic, a full hospital with a surgical suite, 2 stores, a church, and a post office,” the former quartermaster says. The Wisconsin “was one of the biggest ships in the 1940s ever put to sea.”

Nitka adds that the Tidewater area has strong ties to the Wisconsin, which was based in Norfolk. Nearly every day, he greets visitors who once served aboard. Open daily; adults, $17.95; admission includes a self-guided tour.

An exhibit about the notorious Hỏa Lò Prison, commonly called the Hanoi Hilton, notes that Navy personnel (many of them aviators) accounted for more than a quarter of the American prisoners of war incarcerated there. Open daily; free.

The World War II area features a haunting section of barbed wire fence from Germany’s Dachau concentration camp. And the museum’s extensive collection of propaganda posters includes broadsides encouraging Americans to buy savings bonds. Another famous poster warns against sharing confidential information: “Loose lips might sink ships.” Closed Mondays and Tuesdays; adults, $7 with AAA discount.

Newly renamed Fort Gregg-Adams makes a fitting home for 2 Army museums devoted to women and quartermasters. The military post, which was called Fort Lee until April 2023, now honors Lieutenant General Arthur Gregg, who served in several quartermaster assignments just after World War II, and Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams, the highest-ranking Black female in that conflict.

The U.S. Army Women’s Museum begins with the Revolutionary War, when women served as nurses, cooks, and spies—and occasionally as soldiers disguised as men. Over the years, women’s roles evolved.

During World War I, the Army recruited women who could speak French (known as “Hello Girls”) to operate telephone switchboards relaying messages about troop movements and supplies. During World War II, the service created the Women’s Army Corps and a separate section of aviators called Women Airforce Service Pilots.

But progress was slow. One 1950s training film on display at the museum advises female soldiers on the proper way to walk, instructing them to avoid the “teenage wiggle,” “the masculine lope,” and “the debutante slouch.”

Other exhibits include oral histories from soldiers like retired Major General Leslie Purser, who recounts her experience as an ROTC cadet when she was asked to jump out of a cake at a bachelor party. After complaining, she was told, “Boys will be boys.”

Women now account for about 16% of Army personnel, serving in combat roles and ranking as high as a 4-star general. Closed Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays; free admission; guests must get a visitors pass at the base’s front gate.

The Quartermaster Museum next door introduces visitors to a little-known military role. Quartermasters keep the Army functioning by supplying uniforms, food, water, fuel, and equipment. They also have the grim task of handling the remains of comrades who die in battle.

The museum includes surprising exhibits like a mobile laundry station and mobile shower unit. One section, “From Hard Tack to Chili Mac,” traces the history of military meals. Another area shows a trailer like the one used by General Dwight D. Eisenhower during the D-Day invasion. You’ll also see how the Army uses parachutes and special containers to airdrop supplies and livestock in conflict zones.

As the museum makes clear, whatever its task, the Quartermaster Corps abides by a simple motto: “Supporting Victory.” Closed Sundays and Mondays; free admission; guests must get a visitors pass at the base’s front gate.

Charlottesville-based writer Larry Bleiberg developed a sudden fascination with tanks, trains, helicopters, and Humvees while researching this story.