Mark Lusby of the Beech Hill US Navy & Marine Corps Friendship Association (centre) is awarded the 2014 Colonel John Magruder Award by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation in recognition for “Base One Europe – Beech Hill Camp” museum’s work in advancing and preserving Marine Corps history.
A small museum in Derry, run entirely by volunteers, has been awarded a prestigious accolade by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
The “Base One Europe – Beech Hill Camp” museum at the Beech Hill Country House Hotel in Ardmore has been awarded the 2014 Colonel John Magruder Award as recognition for its work in advancing and preserving Marine Corps history.
The commemorative museum – co-ordinated by the Beech Hill US Navy & Marine Corps Friendship Association – is dedicated to unpacking the story of the US Naval Operating Base and US Marine Corps stationed at the hotel during World War II.
It includes a museum room and woodland trail that contain an array of stories, images, film and artefacts that evokes the war-time presence of the US Navy and Marine Corps on the site of the Beech Hill Country House Hotel and across Derry~Londonderry.
The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation hosted its 33rd Annual Awards Dinner at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, USA.
The awards recognise Marines and civilian programmes that preserve Marine Corps history across the world.
The museum received $1,000 cash prize, a medallion and a commemorative brick along the Semper Fidelis Memorial Park pathway at the Marine Corps Heritage Centre in Triangle, Virginia.
Speaking about the award, Patsy O’Kane, owner and general manager at the Beech Hill Country House Hotel, said: “Everyone at the Beech Hill Country House Hotel is aware that we are custodians of a house and demesne with a rich history, relevant to both people on both sides of the Atlantic, and through the Beech Hill US Navy & Marine Corps Friendship Association we are determined to preserve this rich association with the US Marine Corps.
“This award by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation is an important recognition of the value of the heritage we are preserving through our commemorative museum. It also a tribute to the hotel staff, volunteers, advisers and funders who have been involved in creating this project.”
The “Base One Europe – Beech Hill Camp” museum is co-ordinated by Beech Hill US Navy & Marine Corps Friendship Association as a voluntary project funded by the European Union and the Department of Agriculture NI through ARC North West. Additional funding was contributed by the NI War Memorial in Belfast, ESB Energy International and the US State Department.
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