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1,600 Museums Offer Military Families Free Tickets

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 1,600 museums across the country will offer free admission to active-duty military personnel and their families this summer in a program that has more than doubled in size since 2010.

The expanded Blue Star Museums initiative was announced Tuesday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where more than 40 museums are participating. The offer of free admission runs from Memorial Day until Labor Day.

The program began in 2010 as a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families and the Defense Department. It's adding 300 new museums this year.

New participants include the American Civil War Center in Richmond, Va., the New Mexico Museum of Space History, San Francisco's Children's Creativity Museum and the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado.

Click here for a state-by-state list of participating museums.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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