Museum of American Exceptionalism
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Valor

Where Americans went when ordered, and what they did when they got there.

1863–1950 · 13 exhibits
  1. Andrew Jackson rides among his gunners and riflemen as the British assault breaks on 8 January 1815 (Dennis Malone Carter, 1856).
    1815Open nowThe Battle of New OrleansJackson’s line of riflemen, pirates and militia shattered a veteran British army in half an hour.2,000+British casualties
  2. 1847Opening soonTo the Halls of MontezumaWinfield Scott landed at Veracruz, cut loose from his supply line and marched on an enemy capital, winning every battle.6months
  3. The 20th Maine charges down Little Round Top with fixed bayonets, 2 July 1863, in H. Charles McBarron Jr.'s National Guard Heritage painting.
    1863Open nowLittle Round TopAt the far end of the Union line at Gettysburg, out of ammunition, the 20th Maine fixed bayonets and charged downhill.386men of the 20th Maine
  4. 1898Opening soonSan Juan HillRoosevelt’s Rough Riders and the regulars charged up the heights outside Santiago under fire and took them.1day
  5. Sgt. Alvin C. York at the hill in the Argonne where he captured 132 German prisoners, 1919
    1918Open nowSergeant YorkA Tennessee marksman in the Argonne Forest silenced a German machine-gun nest and marched 132 prisoners back.132prisoners
  6. How Twenty Marines Took Bouresches (Belleau Wood, June 1918), painting, 1919
    1918Open nowBelleau WoodTold to fall back, a Marine captain answered “Retreat? Hell, we just got here.” Then the Marines took the wood.26days
  7. Dauntless dive bombers of Scouting Squadron 8 from USS Hornet close on the burning Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma, 6 June 1942 (80-G-17054).
    1942Open nowMidwaySix months after Pearl Harbor, American dive bombers set three Japanese carriers burning in a few minutes. Before dark they got the fourth.4carriers sunk
  8. A B-25B clears the bow of USS Hornet at the start of the Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942, as sailors watch from the island (80-G-41196).
    1942Open nowThirty Seconds Over TokyoFour months after Pearl Harbor, 80 volunteers flew Army bombers off a Navy carrier and struck Japan.16B-25 bombers
  9. Rangers' command post atop Pointe du Hoc with the U.S. flag spread to stop friendly fire, June 1944
    1944Open nowThe Boys of Pointe du Hoc225 Rangers climbed a sheer cliff under fire and destroyed the guns aimed at the D-Day beaches.100ft of cliff
  10. 101st Airborne troopers move out of Bastogne after the ten-day siege, 1944
    1944Open nowBastogneSurrounded and told to surrender, the 101st Airborne’s acting commander sent back one word.Nuts!the reply
  11. Marines raise the larger second flag as the first comes down atop Mount Suribachi, 23 February 1945
    1945Open nowIwo JimaThirty-six days on eight square miles of volcanic rock. More Medals of Honor than any other battle of the war.27Medals of Honor
  12. 1st Marine Division column breaks out from the Chosin Reservoir, December 1950
    1950Open nowChosin ReservoirSurrounded by 120,000 Chinese troops at twenty-five below, the Marines attacked in a new direction: out, all the way to the sea.17days
  13. 1991Opening soonThe 100-Hour WarThe ground war to free Kuwait ended in 100 hours. The fourth-largest army in the world was routed.100hours