Navy Seal Museum, Fort Pierce

During the Second World War, Fort Pierce became the site of a US Navy Demolition School. A Seabee battalion built obstacles (similar to those of the enemy) in the waters offshore and frogmen practised blowing them up. Nowadays, you can see these obstacles on the grassy grounds of the Navy Seal Museum, along with a heavily-armed patrol river boat used by Seals in Vietnam, a UH-1B helicopter from the Vietnam war, two training Apollo space capsules that frogmen met upon splashdown and connected to a flotation collar to keep from sinking, a LCPL or "cast and recovery" boat with a cool shark design, and an SDV or wet submersible that is filled with water and flown like an airplane underwater. SDVs have been involved in many clandestine missions (it is a secret how many frogmen can fit in them) and were used in Operation Desert Storm to clear waterways of underwater mines and in Operation Iraqi Freedom to secure Iraq's offshore oil and gas terminals so they wouldn't be used to flood the gulf with oil as Saddam Hussein had done in the previous war. Inside the museum there are some fascinating exhibits. One shows a lifelike scene representing a raid on a suspected cache of Viet Cong weapons. These caches were camouflaged and defended with booby traps and punji sticks which would puncture you with filth when stepped on and lead to infections. Scary. Four to six Seals would arrive armed with a variety of weapons, unnoticed until they were only an arm's length away. There are exhibits about the Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Training Base, naval demolition units, Atlantic operations, and Pacific operations (this exhibit has a large, attractive globe). In the back is a huge, warehouse room where there are two humvees heavily reinforced with steel plating and extra thick safety glass to protect occupants- check out how thick the glass is! There is a miniature display made with toy-like army figures and helicopters to show what happened in Osama Bin Laden's compound hideout in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. This is very interesting. A piracy exhibit discusses how pirates in places like Somalia attack from shipping lanes, and how economic prosperity and the rule of law are the solution to this modern-day problem. After your visit, head behind the museum to the gorgeous Pepper Park Beach for a swim or stroll.
If you like history, you will love the St Lucie County Regional History Center, a fantastic museum also in Fort Pierce.

Directions

Navy Seal Museum is located at 3300 N. Hwy A1A, Fort Pierce FL 34949, call (772) 595-5845.Exit Highway 95 at Orange Ave and head toward the ocean for 4.5 miles. Turn left on US Hwy 1. After 1.7 miles,  turn right on A1A and head over the causeway. Turn left on Atlantic Beach Blvd. The Navy Seal Museum will be on your right. Turn right into the driveway south of the building. Parking is free.Cost is $8 for adults, $4 for children aged 6-12. Open Tues-Sat 10-4, Sun 12-4. Closed Mondays.

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