Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2016

s Patriots Point a military museum,

the home of three aging warships and one of the

largest collections of airplanes in the nation and

a monument to the men and women who kept

the Axis Alliance from its sinister World War II

goal of world domination? Or is it a high-tech,

hands-on collection of science- and history-

related exhibits designed to entertain and educate visitors of

all ages? Or maybe it’s nothing more than a business striv-

ing to keep pace with the ever-changing demands of the

hundreds of thousands of people who visit each year.

As Patriots Point approaches its 40th birthday, the

Mount Pleasant landmark is all of the above and much

more, according to Mac Burdette, who has served as its ex-

ecutive director since 2010. Though the decorated World

War II aircraft carrier USS Yorktown is its centerpiece,

on its flight deck are jet fighters from a much later era of

aviation history. And visitors also can take a firsthand look

at two other vitally important pieces of America’s past: the

Vietnam War and the Cold War, the decades-long standoff

By Brian Sherman

Get the

Point?

It’s More than a MuseuM