Military members and their families can tour Georgia Southern University’s attractions for free through Labor Day.
The Blue Star Museums program began in 2010, and now more than 1,500 Blue Star Museums around the nation, including Georgia Southern’s Museum and Center for Wildlife Education, are offering free admission to active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, National Guard and Reserve members who visit with up to five family members. The locations at Georgia Southern offer a window into the natural and cultural history of Georgia’s coastal plain, and the military’s role in that history can’t be overlooked.
“One can't fully understand the history of Georgia's coastal plain without understanding the unique role the military has had in physically and culturally reshaping this place,” said Brent Tharp, the director of the Georgia Southern University Museum. “Knowing what a vital part of the story they are and how much our soldiers and their families have sacrificed for us, we are proud to be a participant in the Blue Star Museums program for the second year.”
Among the attractions of Georgia Southern’s Museum and Wildlife Center, visitors can see three live bald eagles, a flight show featuring numerous birds of prey, a 78-million-year-old fossilized Mososaur skeleton and artifacts from Camp Lawton, a Civil War prisoner of war site discovered in Millen by Georgia Southern students and faculty.
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration of the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and more than 1,500 of America’s children’s museums, history and science museums and nature centers.