The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation has unveiled architectural designs for its planned $98 million tribute to recipients of the military's highest valor award and the wars in which they fought.

The foundation has accelerated efforts to finance the 107,000-square-foot museum it intends to build on the eastern shore of Charleston Harbor in Mount Peasant, South Carolina.

Armed with a tangible vision for the site, foundation CEO and president Robert Wilburn said the next 18 months of fundraising will be crucial. The foundation has raised $14 million in cash and commitments, he said. It hopes to have $15 million more in cash and another $20 million in commitments by next spring.

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While grants like $1 million from South Carolina will play a role in a multi-pronged effort, the foundation will heavily rely on private donors, Wilburn said.

"It helps a lot to have people understand how the exhibits and the architecture will combine to create an inspirational space to convey our message," Wilburn told Army Times of the design. "We clearly have to identify people who want to give back to the country and who have been very successful, and who realize the role of the military in making this a place where they could be successful."

The foundation elected to use designs from Safdie Architects and Gallagher & Associates, a museum planning firm. The museum itself features bold, angular architecture and somewhat resembles a boxy, five-petal flower. The five sides evoke the medal's iconic star, and the star features prominently in design elements.

The main museum will be linked to a separate lobby, museum entrance and multi-purpose space by a two-level pedestrian bridge over a marsh.

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"It takes a difficult site and makes it special," Wilburn said of the layout.

The museum represents a core part of a legacy eyed by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which consists exclusively of the living recipients of the prestigious honor. There are 79 living recipients, according to the society's website.

With nine living recipients who earned their award since Vietnam, the society's number will inevitably dwindle. So through the museum and a pair of other initiatives, members hope to keep alive the memory of the 3,493 total recipients as well as promote the attributes the award embodies.

"The message we really want to get across is that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they put service above self. It's about the legacy of the medals and the ideals behind it." Wilburn, who served as an intelligence officer for the Air Force at the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. "The recipients don't want this to be a monument to themselves but an educational opportunity."

Along with preserving stories of honorees, foundation hopes the museum will "inspire visitors about the ideals of patriotism, leadership and courage, and encourage them to embrace their responsibilities as citizens in a democracy."

Medal of Honor recipient Patrick Brady, a former Army major and helicopter pilot in Vietnam, also said the society is not doing this to honor MOH recipients; to him it's about education, especially for children.

"Recipients wear the Medal of Honor for every man and woman who has served in America's armed forces, many of whom never came home from the battlefield," said Brady. "We believe there is no higher calling than service to our nation's youth, and we are pleased to support this project that will help fulfill that call."

Brady earned his medal for making several trips into enemy-held territory amid heavy fog and fire to rescue pinned-down, wounded soldiers in 1968, according to his citation. He took such heavy enemy fire, including a mine that injured two crew members, that he went through three helicopters to evacuate 51 seriously wounded men.

The museum will provide administrative offices for the museum foundation as well as the MOH Society and its foundation, which carries out other education initiatives and annually honors a small group of everyday citizen-heroes.

Plans also include a 240-seat auditorium, an event hall, conference and classroom space, a verdant grass rooftop for the multipurpose entrance building, and a 140-seat chapel.

According to the foundation's website, the $98 million includes $50 million for the museum, $20 million for exhibit design and fabrication, $10 million for site development, $6 million for parking, $6 million for fundraising and administrative costs and a $6 million contingency for overruns.