FREE Admission At National Consitution Center for Vets Nov. 11

                                      HONOR OUR NATION’S SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN:

A COMPELLING VETERANS DAY CELEBRATION

AT THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER

FREE admission for all veterans

Philadelphia, PA (October 25, 2010) – The National Constitution Center will pay special tribute to our nation’s servicemen and women on Veterans Day, Thursday, November 11, 2010 starting at 10:00 a.m.  Highlighting the Center’s celebration: visitors will have the chance to thank soldiers stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait via live videoconferencing technology provided by Telikin.  The USO of Pennsylvania & Southern New Jersey also has coordinated opportunities for military families to chat with their loved ones overseas.  The event takes place against the backdrop of the Art of the American Soldier exhibition.  Museum admission will be FREE for all veterans all day.

    From 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., veterans will share their experiences in the Armed Forces and on the home front in the “Domestic Tranquility” section of the Center’s core exhibition, The Story of We the People.  Speakers include local Vietnam veteran John Campbell, author of They Were Ours: Gloucester County’s Loss in Vietnam.

    In homage to our nation’s servicemen and women, visitors are invited to participate in a moment of silence and a wreath-laying ceremony on the Grand Hall Overlook at 11:00 a.m., featuring the Drexel University Color Guard, a performance of “Taps” by the Bugle Corps, and a performance by the 28th Division Band.  The event will conclude with an Army flyover. 

    At 12:00 p.m., guests can enjoy a performance by the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, part of the 3^rd U.S. Infantry Regiment and the only unit of its kind in the Armed Forces.  The performance will evoke the days of the American Revolution as musicians perform in uniforms patterned after those worn by the musicians of General George Washington's Continental Army.  From 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., the Coast Guard Silent Drill Team will perform its unique silent precision exhibition drill, which includes a rifle inspection sequence demonstrating elaborate rifle spins and tosses.  

    Throughout the day, children and their families can participate in military muster drills, flag-folding demonstrations, soldier protocol workshops, and more.  At activity stations in the Grand Hall Lobby, visitors also can write letters to soldiers and visit information tables from veterans’ service organizations from across the country, including Big Brothers-In-Arms, Drumhike, Operation Bedding, Warriors’ Watch Riders, The American Warriors Watch Coalition, and The Wounded Warrior Riders Project.

    In addition, visitors can join in interactive shows, including: A Day in the Life of a Soldier, which demonstrates soldier life during the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and World War I; The African American Soldier’s Story, hosted by the African American Museum in Philadelphia; and A Soldier’s Life for Me, during which a reenactor from the American Revolution provides a detailed account of the lives of Revolutionary soldiers, from their weapons and attire to their rations and supplies.

    During Letters Home: Soldiers’ Voices Through American History, an actor will perform a dramatic reading of letters written by soldiers from the Revolutionary War to the present day in the “Domestic Tranquility” section of the Center’s core exhibition, The Story of We the People.  

   To conclude the Center’s Veterans Day celebration, visitors can enjoy performances at 3:00 p.m. by the Marine Corps Band, Silent Drill Platoon, 28th Division Army Reserve Band, and a drum and bugle corps.  A special commissioning ceremony will also take place on the Center’s Grand Hall Overlook.

    All visitors will have access to Art of the American Soldier, the highly-acclaimed exhibition created by the National Constitution Center in conjunction with the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the National Museum of the United States Army.  Art of the American Soldier unveils powerful works of art created by American soldiers in the line of duty. Drawn from the Army’s rarely seen collection of over 15,000 paintings and sketches, the exhibition showcases the artistic response of soldiers from World War I through the present day. 

    The Center has also launched a special online gallery at www.constitutioncenter.org/artoftheamericansoldier, where active military and veterans from all branches of the Armed Forces can submit artwork reflecting their time of service.  Selected works from the online gallery are currently displayed on a monitor inside the Art of the American Soldier exhibition.  Veterans also are invited to share their experiences with visitors inside the exhibition and can sign up to participate in gallery talks at www.signupgenius.com/go/veteran.

    Admission to Art of the American Soldier is FREE with regular museum admission of $12 for adults, $11 for seniors ages 65 and over, and $8 for children ages 4-12. 

On Veterans Day, admission is free for veterans. Admission is always free for active military personnel, career military retirees, and children ages 3 and under. Military families receive $2 off admission.  Group rates are also available.  iPod audio tours cost an additional $5.  The Art of the American Soldier iPod tour has been generously underwritten by Team Clean, Inc.  For ticket information, call 215.409.6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org. 

   The Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company and The Coca-Cola Company are the presenting local sponsors for the Art of the American Soldier exhibition at the National Constitution Center.  Official media partners of Art of the American Soldier are CBS 3 (KYW-TV) and The CW Philly 57 (WPSG-TV), The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Big Talker 1210AM WPHT. CBS 3 (KYW-TV) and The CW Philly 57 (WPSG-TV) are part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation.

    Army art is furnished courtesy of the Department of the Army, Center of Military History.  Sponsorship of this exhibition does not constitute an endorsement by the Department of the Army of the sponsor's products or services.

    The National Constitution Center, located at 525 Arch St. on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the ideas and values it represents.  The Center serves as a museum, an education center, and a forum for debate on constitutional issues.  The museum dramatically tells the story of the

Constitution from Revolutionary times to the present through more than 100 interactive, multimedia exhibits, film, photographs, text, sculpture and artifacts, and features a powerful, award-winning theatrical performance, “Freedom Rising.”  The Center also houses the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach, which serves as the hub for national constitutional education.  For more information, call 215.409.6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org. 

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