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February 2024 by Kelly C.
As I spent week at Paris Island on at an educators conference, we were brought to the Paris Island museum.Alton Khon, a Vietnam war veteran that was lost in the trenches for 58 days with his platoon greeted us with a warm welcome he and only one other marine survived to tell the story when they were rescued. He now serves as a living history in the museum, he's an ambassador for the museum for all those who enter. The Marines took over repairs island in 1915. The history that embodies me this museum is from 1915 to present.
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November 2022 by Melissa Coleman
Super friendly and helpful.
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April 2022 by Scott R.
Can down to see the museum. Last time I was at Parris Island I was graduating boot camp some 29 years ago. Very easy to get on the base to see the museum. Just need a drivers license, registration and insurance for your vehicle.
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April 2022 by Roberta M.
Be prepared to enter the base, especially if you are civilians. We do not have military ID, but were prepared to provide our driver licenses and vehicle registration, as were others a head and behind us. Understandably in today's world, they must be careful about who is allowed on base. My husband is a non marine veteran, but doesn't have a military ID card and doesn't carry his DD214. We were politely asked to pull over to the side, as were others. The vehicle was inspected, including our coolers (we were traveling and it was too early to check in to our hotel). All those interacting with us at this time were quite polite while they did what they were supposed to do. We also after having a bit of a hard time finding the museum, that it is not 111 Panama St., which is what I got from the information. Initially we seemed like only two of a few people in the building. However after awhile, we were joined by probably 100 or more recruits. One can overdose on military history, if you or a family member isn't personally involved. However, the museum is set up chronologically so it's easy to go to specific sections of interest, such as the Korean War, Vietnam, etc. I particularly enjoyed the section about how and why Parris Island was established as a training camp for the Marines, and how the island was developed. In addition, what made the exhibit 5 vs 4 star for me, was the film providing and overview of the 3 phases of recruit training at the end of the exhibit on that topic. It was while we were watching that amazing visual summation, that recruits began coming in. There is indeed imperfection in our democracy, but it was inspiring to see these mostly young recruits who have volunteered for arduous training to become among America's best troops.
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February 2022 by Chris Hamilton
Never going back. I gave them a blues coat to be dry cleaned. When I got it back, they had lost the white collar strip that goes with the coat at the offsite location where the items actually get cleaned. And worse than that, the coat had been altered so it was loose fitting. All I had asked was for it to be dry cleaned and it got altered right before I had to wear it. The staff said there was no way it could have gotten mixed up, but when I showed them the seams where material had been taken out, they basically said they couldn’t do anything about it. They said they could reimburse the lost collar through the finance office with a check in the mail.
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June 2021 by Joe J.
Not a huge museum, but they do not waste any space. Theres a lot of history packed inside. It was cool to get to learn about the start and history of the corp. It was also nice to get guided through by my newly graduated marine. Not sure if this location is open to the public, but it's a great place to check out on family day and after graduation.
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April 2021 by Steve S.
This museum is on the Parris Island Marine Training Base and not open to civilians. We went, but were turned away at the gate.
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April 2021 by Nick Powell
Had my uniform rush ordered and it was 2 days late, still made me pay the rush fee
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February 2021 by Joshua Castillo
The first time using them, they were great. After that 1st time, it is almost been a month and I still have not received my Uniforms or name tapes.
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February 2020 by Edwin B.
I was station at MCRDPI from 1995 to 1999 and now I am here again over 20 years later. First visit to the museum in my 25+ year career of active duty service. I did find my visit historically interesting and learned a lot which I never knew. Despite all, I was very disappointed that little to nothing was depicted about the Montfort Point Marines and when they started training at Parris Island, once the Corps ended it's segregation policies. People travel from all over to visit PI for graduations and it's a shame that our history is basically "white washed" without any acknowledgement. It matters because they definitely have displays for women joining the Corps. I believe it should be one and the same. To my knowledge after asking, there are no plans to change anything about it. I would love for someone to explain to me why this is acceptable! You can't pretend our colorful history (being good and bad) never existed. This is why my rating will not go past 2 Stars.
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July 2019 by Chris H.
Parris Island. The United States Marine Corp. They both ooze history. So why not make a museum to honor them both? Makes perfect sense. The museum is broken into separate eras beginning with the birth of the Corps. It's a pretty typical museum setup with actual uniforms and weapons on display behind glass with lots of reading about events of the time. Lots of reading. There are two floors worth of Marine Corps history on display. One wing of the building covers the history of the island. There's 500 years of history under the tall grass and marsh land. On display are finds from excavations done on the island over the years. Honestly, it's a nice break from the military overload you'll experience in the rest of the museum. The other wing explains what Marine recruits experience on the island. It's a small section but it wraps up the display nicely. This museum is one of the things you have to do when visiting here. And you'll appreciate the air conditioning, I can assure you.
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May 2019 by Renee P.
We went at 3:30, museum closed at 4:30 and guard would not let us on base "that close to closing". The museum was not going to take more than a half hour I'm sure. So it seems everything is at the discretion of the mood of the gate attendant.
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April 2019 by Terrence M.
I absolutely loved this museum. My wife didn't think she would enjoy but she did. I am not a vet but it was still worth going to, well worth going to. In fact we are planning another trip given how much there was to see.
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April 2018 by Sarah S.
A great stop by when driving between Charleston and Savannah. The museum is about recruit training, local history regarding the revolutionary war, and lots of military history. A great way to spend about an hour.
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April 2018 by jake urban
Don't go here! Pressed out every crease in my Creighton and gave me railroad tracks that never end.
