Museum of the Bible offers free admission to National Guard members protecting nation's capital
The Museum of the Bible is now offering free admission to members of the U.S. National Guard, while large numbers remain deployed in Washington, D.C.
The museum’s free admission deal for National Guard members began Monday and will continue until Easter Sunday, which this year falls on April 4.
“We are so grateful to the servicemen and women of the National Guard for keeping us safe, as they are among the first to respond when crises arise,” Harry Hargrave, the museum’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
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“While free admission is but a small token of our esteem, we want to honor them for the sacrifices they have made and continue to make every day.”
A museum spokesperson told The Christian Post in comments emailed Wednesday that they “wanted to honor the service and sacrifice of the men and women who are protecting all of us here in our nation’s capital.”
“The museum is located just three blocks from the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall, so we see National Guardsmen in our area every day,” the spokesperson explained.
“Last month, a private donor contacted us about providing tickets to the soldiers stationed here. This generous donation helped us to extend the free admission offer to all National Guard troops through Easter.”
Thus far, around a few dozen members of the National Guard have taken advantage of the free admission to visit the museum, according to the spokesperson. The museum normally charges $24.99 per adult ($19.99 if ordered online) for admission to the museum.
“Given the challenging circumstances, we’re really encouraged by the many people who want to learn more about the Bible with us,” the spokesperson continued.
“We’ve seen our online engagement increase as we provide new virtual programs and ways to explore the Bible’s history and impact, such as our podcast and Storytime series for kids.”
Approximately 25,000 National Guard members were deployed to Washington in January in advance of President Joe Biden's inauguration to keep the peace during the ceremony.
The large deployment was spurred in part by the Jan. 6 protests, in which hundreds of Trump supporters and others stormed the U.S. Capitol on the day in which electoral votes were counted for the 2020 presidential election.
Last month, it was announced that nearly 5,000 National Guardsmen would remain in the District of Columbia until Mar. 12, per the request of U.S. Capitol Police.
“The number was based on different missions that … the National Guard members would be supporting, response force, perimeter, security, those kinds of mission sets,” explained Pentagon official Robert Salesses to lawmakers, as reported by CNN.
“We’re trying to determine with them is what is the right level of security that they need from the National Guard considering that the circumstances have changed.”
