For Our Troops

by Sarah Teach

Memorial Day 2011 has come and passed, but Nantucket offers a lingering gift to the families of active duty military personnel. Now until Labor Day (September 5), several island museums are giving free admission to military families! The Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum as well as all museums operated by the Nantucket Historical Association and the Maria Mitchell Association can be accessed free of charge to military ID holders and up to five immediate family members.

Nantucket isn’t the only place with this arrangement. In fact, more than 1,324 museums in all 50 states and D.C., Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are participating in the Blue Star Museums Initiative. This program is a partnership between Blue Star Families (an organization that raises awareness of the challenges and strengths of military family life), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and participating museums. 

Now in its second year, the Blue Star Museums Initiative focuses especially on benefitting the one million children who have experienced the deployment of a parent. It offers families a chance to visit museums during a summer when many have limits on both resources and time to spend together. NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman says, “Blue Star Museums may be the program at the NEA of which I am proudest. [It] recognizes and thanks our military families for all they are doing for our country, and simultaneously begins young people on a path to becoming life-long museum goers.” We all know that Nantucket is a hotspot for fantastic museum opportunities, making the island an ideal location for this program to be offered.

Free admission is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, including those stamped URW and DB. These include active duty military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard), National Guard and Reserve members.

To encourage your military friends and loved ones to visit. The museums here are reflections of American history, perseverance, and freedom and they offer learning opportunities that are not to be missed!  Special or limited-time museum exhibits and activities may not be included in this free admission program; check with individual museums.