Army Transportation Museum comes to life

Joint Base Langley-Eustis community members celebrated the ninth annual Night at the Transportation Museum, Oct. 29, 2018, with decorations for Halloween and providing a safe place for the military community to take their children trick-or-treating.

Museum staff decorate with cobwebs, skeletons and lights throughout exhibits. Along with decorations, volunteers dress in period Army uniforms and acted out scenes from exhibits’ time period.

“We have lots of volunteers that are dressed up and in the exhibits themselves,” said Hamel. “When the kids come through, the (volunteers) come to life. They talk a little about that time and then give them candy. It is a safe place to do trick-or-treating and learn about history.”

Starting from the Revolutionary War, to the Korean War and ending in the most current American conflict, the Iraqi and Afghanistan campaigns, children 12 years and under, and their parents learned how U.S. Army transportation and the personnel impacted each conflict.

“The museum showcases the role of transportation in the Army, so, as they say, ‘nothing happens until something moves,’” said Alisha Hamel, U.S. Army Transportation Museum director. “The role of the transporter in the Army is imperative because nothing can happen until troops and cargo get there. So they can feel pride in knowing they are the reason that the Army got there and accomplished the mission, and this museum does that through time.”

Children and parents were not the only ones who enjoyed the trip through history with a twist of Halloween, so did the volunteers, said U.S. Army Private First Class Julie Hale, McDonald Army Health Center medical logistics specialist.

“I volunteered to have a great time here tonight and to help educate the children a little bit about the history of the transportation in the U.S.,” said Hale, “Just too really put smiles on the kids’ faces.”