Arrive Magazine - May/June, 2013

U.S. Army
Heritage & Education
Center in Carlisle
A S;;;;;;’; V;;;
The Cumberland Valley o;ers close encounters
with U.S. military and Civil War history

;When visitors enter the museum, they are given a card imprinted with the image of a soldier’s dog tag—and they need to hang on to it. It’s a ticket to a rich, personal experience at the U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley, an area chock-full of historic sites, including many from the Civil War.

The center, in Carlisle, is the prime institution for U.S. Army
history and is an important research destination. For visitors,
the center is dedicated to “telling the Army story ... one soldier
at a time.”
A new exhibit, “The Soldier Experience,” brings that mission
home. At various points in the exhibit, which spans from the
Spanish-American War to the present, visitors have the chance
to scan that dog tag they’ve been holding and hear the story of the
real-life soldier who was associated with it.

Outdoors, the idea of getting a soldier’s view continues on the Army Heritage Walk, a mile-long trail of hands-on (and feet-on!) exhibits that include a Cobra helicopter, a World War II obstacle course system and a Civil War encampment.

The Civil War heritage of the Cumberland Valley is especially significant now during the 150th anniversary of the war years of 1861–65.

And the Heritage Center is
presenting a special exhibit
focusing on 1863, the year Confederate troops marched into
Cumberland County on their way to the eventual conflict
in Gettysburg.

EVENTS
The U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center
“Understanding War Through Imagery:
The Civil War in American Memory.”
717-245-3972; usahec.org

Cumberland County Historical Society
“1863: Invasion in the Valley,” through Oct. 26.
717-249-7610; historicalsociety.com
“Mechanicsburg: Commemoration of the 150th
Anniversary of the Invasion.” A series of events
June 28–29. 717-766-1899