Active Military to Receive Free Admission to the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College This Summer

FULTON, Mo., May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Active United States military members and their families will be admitted to the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton, MO free-of-charge this summer, it was announced today by Westminster College President Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande.

The National Churchill Museum, a member of the Blue Star Museum program, is opened from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, and typically charges a fee ranging from $6.50 to $8.50 for children and adults.

"However, we are waiving admission fees for active duty GIs, including members of the National Guard and Reserve units, and their families this summer to salute their service and acknowledge the sacrifices they and their families make to help protect our country," Akande said.

Timothy Riley, the Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout Director and Chief Curator of the National Churchill Museum, said the Museum recently became a member of the Blue Star Museum program, a service provided through Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the MetLife Foundation. The National Churchill Museum's participation is made possible by a gift from Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout.

Blue Star Families, which was founded in 2009, provides an array of benefits and services for active duty military members and their families. They include the Blue Star Museum program, which also offers free admission to more than 20 history, fine arts, children's, and science museums, and nature centers across Missouri, and hundreds more nationwide.

For admittance, GIs and their family members are required to present their military IDs, Riley said.

The Blue Star organization also offers a youth-focused Parent Toolkit to help prepare kids for their museum tours.

"The National Churchill Museum is devoted to promoting the life, leadership and legacy of the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill," Riley said. "We believe military men and women, their families and everyone else would enjoy visiting our Museum, where they will learn more about Churchill and come to fully appreciate his commitment to service and true leadership."

The National Churchill Museum is a state-of-the-art museum that combines interactive sight, sound and touch technology to tell Churchill's story before, during and after World War II. It is located in the magnificent Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, a 17^th Century Christopher Wren church that had been left in ruins in Central London following the German blitzkrieg during World War II.

The church was disassembled and brought from London stone-by-stone to Fulton, where it was rebuilt in 1969 to commemorate Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in 1946, which started the "Cold War" against what was then known as the Soviet Union.

For information about the National Churchill Museum, go to www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org, or find us on Facebook/Churchill Museum, or on Twitter @ChurchillMuseum.

SOURCE National Churchill Museum