Insider Trips: 2023 Bus Trips
This Summer, the Virginia War Memorial Foundation’s “Insider Trips” are taking Supporters and Friends to new places.
This summer, the Virginia War Memorial Foundation is once again hosting a series of Bus Trips open to all friends and intrepid historians. We just completed our first journey last month, in partnership with the Historic St. John’s Church Foundation. A group of supporters joined us for a special director-led tour of the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis in Hampton Roads. Following lunch at the Ft. Eustis Officer’s Club, we braved the rainy weather for a guided tour of Yorktown Battlefield. We were joined by historian, award-winning author, and speaker Bert Dunkerly. Dunkerly took our group on an up-close tour of the battlefields, complete with reference maps and even portraits of the generals involved. Highlights included visits to Parallels 1 and 2, Redoubts 9 and 10, and Surrender Field.
Virginia War Memorial Foundation volunteer Lee Ball attended the bus trip and commented, “I’ve lived in Virginia all my life and had visited Yorktown Battlefield many times, but I had never been to the Surrender Field observation deck or to Redoubts 9 and 10. Knowing that we were standing on the site where American Independence was achieved was inspiring. One of the folks on the trip remarked to me that he had never understood the significance of Yorktown until Bert’s presentation. I suspect others had a similar conclusion.”
This trip was not only a great opportunity for the staff of the VWMF to share hands-on history with our friends, but also an opportunity to work towards our long-term strategic goals, outlined in our “Long Range Plan,” approved by our Board of Directors in April 2022 and available online. One of our goals is to “establish a physical presence beyond Richmond,” and another one is to “pursue collaborations and partnerships to increase awareness and promote the mission.” This trip allowed us to do both, as we worked with the St. John’s Foundation, a new museum partner, and we visited a region of the Commonwealth outside of the Richmond metropolitan area.
This summer and fall we will be hosting two additional Insider Bus Trips, available to anyone 21+ who is interested in attending. On Wednesday, August 9th , we will be visiting the MacArthur Memorial and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum. On September 13th , we will take our final bus trip of the year to Ft. Monroe for a visit to the Casemate Museum, which focuses on the military history dating back to the early 1600’s.
If you are interested in joining your fellow “Insiders,” please CLICK HERE to learn more or register to join us.
