Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum

It's RAD Days again in Pittsburgh.  If you are unaware, you should check out what free stuff is still available this Fall.  I try to stay away from some of the big attractions as the RAD day can be totally packed and just not worth trying to get in and enjoy free admission, but I decided we would take a chance on the free day at Soldiers & Sailors this year.  I'm so glad that we did!  Here are my patriotic boys (dressed in military green and they wanted to bring their American flags) before we headed into the museum.

On the way in we spotted this sign about a Jeep display.  I let the boys know to keep an eye out for a Jeep like Grampa's (easy assignment for these two!).

Then we were in the front doors and off on our adventure of whatever this museum would hold.  First of all, Tavin has been soooo into Abraham Lincoln and therefore, the Civil War, lately.  Months ago when we went to DC, Doug had purchased a book about Abraham Lincoln, but lately that interest was re-kindled and then I requested pretty much every age-appropriate book on the man from the Carnegie Library and so we have been learning so much together about this president of character and courage.  Tavin can't get enough of it!  In addition, Tavin is very into learning about the military, whether that's military dogs or on up to pilots like his esteemed Uncle Phil.  So, we couldn't go wrong at this museum full of artifacts and photos ranging across all branches of the military and all the wars the U.S. has participated in from the Civil War to the current conflicts in the Middle East.  Their most significant displays are those describing the Civil War.  It was so neat to see Tavin connect the things he's been learning in all these books with real objects illustrating it for him.  We saw ammunition, artillery, weapons, uniforms and notable characters that he knew by name.  We saw a picture of the Zouave soldiers from NY that are mentioned in his favorite book about Mr. Lincoln's boys, we saw the same chair and pistol that Mr. Lincoln was shot in/by and Tavin was enthralled (the other day we discussed how he would get to see Mr. Lincoln in heaven if he had asked Jesus into his heart, and Tavin said that he would look for his bow tie and hat to find him) and so much more.  I was just so impressed with Tavin.  My 4 year old, who is quite the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln aficionado, showed such a respect and interest for the major ideas and themes we've been learning in these books and saw presented in the museum.   Penn was quite good too.  It's definitely not a museum designed for little ones and these two were champs and Penn just tried to follow Tav's lead of looking interested at the displays.  Here are the boys in front of a cannon from the Civil War.

A picture with the military dog display.  Like I mentioned, we've researched these brave canines and their trainers quite a bit as well (I think it might be a favorite of Koen's right now, so this picture was taken to show to him).

We discovered only one radio in the whole place, it's from WWI.  Quite a cute little kit.

There were significant displays on WWII which is a war that I'm always very interested in learning more about (since I'm the daughter of a true WWII aficionado).  I took some pictures of displays that I just wanted to learn more about and it was interesting too seeing some Pittsburgh area specific people and stories involved in that war effort.  As we rounded the WWII to Korean War era corner, Penn Rye was the first to notice the Jeep.  He wanted to ride in it, but understood that wasn't allowed (thankfully).  Here they are posing for Grampa.

I took this picture for Grampa of course.  I didn't want to rely on my memory!

We found a really large model of the USS Pittsburgh (I didn't know there was one!) that was used in WWII and the Korean War.  Can you tell Tav and Penn are getting a little silly about posing for pictures?

On our way out we stopped to check out the beautiful Memorial Hall.  The Gettysburg Address is written on the wall at the front (Tav was pretty excited).

We then headed back outside to check out a few things out there while we waited for Doug to meet us for a ride home.  Here are the boys posing next to a torpedo used in WWII subs.  Don't ask me what kind of invasion Penn is at the ready for!

And here's an actual bell from the USS Pittsburgh.

Tavin wanted to pose with the soldier and sailor statues at the entrance.  Note his sweet salute (don't worry, we'll work on it).

And here's a final few pictures just to capture me and my adventuresome little guys.  I had such a great morning with you two!

I hope you got a glimpse of this Pittsburgh treasure.  A reverent, respectful memorial to all the men and women who have given their lives in service to protect our freedom.  God bless America.