Cowboys owner Jerry Jones giving $20 million to help fund new National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas

DALLAS – Jerry Jones can already hear it on a prime-time NFL telecast. The Dallas Cowboys owner imagines a national broadcast calling attention to the National Medal of Honor Museum and Leadership Institute down the road from AT&T Stadium, honoring the legacy of the medal’s recipients. Jones values that message.

“It says everything when I look at (us) saying, ‘We need to show each other love from every kind of bias we can talk about,’” Jones told USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve never seen anything that nails it like the recognition of the Medal of Honor winners and what they stood for.”

And so, on the 30th anniversary of National Medal of Honor Day — and 258 years to the day after the first Medal of Honor was bestowed during the Civil War as the highest military award for valor in combat — Jones is committing $20 million to advance the museum campaign. The funding pushes the museum to $70 million as it nears completion of its design phase, with plans to break ground next spring.

“I’m keenly aware,” Jones said of leveraging his NFL platform, “that when we endorse or we significantly recognize something special about our country, that’s going to have notice.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Medal of Honor recipient Maj. General Pat Brady recently toured the area near Arlington, Texas, where the new National Medal of Honor Museum will be built. (Photo: Jeremiah Jhass)

Values, not valor

The Jones family involvement dates to 2019. The National Medal of Honor Foundation sought to further cement the values of an award that has recognized 3,507 individuals, 69 of whom are still living. The museum location search had narrowed to two cities: Arlington and Denver.

The mayor of Arlington called the Joneses for help securing the bid. Charlotte Jones, Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer, wondered: Doesn’t this exist already? She told the foundation president if he committed to Arlington right then, the Cowboys would honor Medal of Honor recipients at the weekend’s Cowboys-Packers game. She said she would procure a visit from former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush for the occasion. Millions of fans tuning in to the broadcast would learn about the museum.

“We can (pull this off) if you agree right now,” Charlotte Jones, now the chair of the museum board, said she told the foundation. “I’m not about to call the former president if you don’t say we’ve got this.”

They struck a deal.

The potential was clear, the Joneses say, to impart values they consider increasingly relevant during polarizing times. The museum will aim to educate visitors about six values: courage, sacrifice, commitment, integrity, citizenship and patriotism. Technologically advanced exhibits about Medal of Honor recipients will highlight the racial and religious diversity among standout military members, while tracing values and traits that transcend any single war or battle.

And the museum’s mission will extend far beyond its Arlington walls. Just as Cowboys games are broadcast to tens of millions from a stadium that holds roughly 100,000, the museum’s leadership institute will amplify Medal of Honor recipients’ stories in programming across the country.

“This project is really about driving character-driven leadership and empowering patriotism and really letting people understand not what [recipients] did, but how did they do it,” Charlotte Jones told USA TODAY Sports. “What were they made of that caused them to risk not only their lives, in many instances, but the complete sacrifice they gave to our country?”

Retired Major General Pat Brady, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1969 and now serves on the foundation board, describes the distinction as emphasizing values over valor. Brady was recognized after he and his crew rescued nearly 100 wounded soldiers on Jan. 6, 1968, in Vietnam.

He said he hopes museum visitors will be inspired not only by how Medal of Honor recipients defended the country but also how they “designed, enhanced and enriched the nation” before and after the feats that earned them their medals.

“We’re not just talking physical courage – we’re talking moral courage, intellectual courage,” Brady told USA TODAY Sports. “Physical courage … can win a battle or ballgame.

“But moral courage can change the world.”

‘What we all hope to be’

The National Medal of Honor Museum isn’t scheduled to open until 2024, but it already has the support of several former presidents of the United States who are honorary directors: President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton and President Jimmy Carter. Its national advisory and leadership includes former directors of the CIA and NSA, as well as former secretaries of defense.

“Those who choose to serve our country, they are everyone: They are Black, they are white, they come from different backgrounds, they are immigrants, they are born here,” Charlotte Jones said. “They are the greatest collection of who our country is and those who truly believe in America’s ideals. They’re the ones who commit their lives to protecting that and upholding democracy.”

That diversity, the Joneses hope, will be reflected in the audience the museum inspires. They’ve already seen cheering fans of all backgrounds come together at the Cowboys' stadium 1.2 miles east. Why not at the museum?

“Everybody inside that stadium (comes) from different cultures, different ages, religions, backgrounds,” Charlotte Jones said. “But on that day, they are the same, and they all come together and they cheer and they root together and they become one.

“Well, this is the same thing, only rooted in what we all hope to be.”

Sacrifice includes more than the life-on-the-line situations Medal of Honor recipients confronted. "Let’s all pitch in," Jerry Jones said, "and love each other and do it for each other."

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.

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