The National WWII Museum--New Orleans, LA

The National World War II Museum is quickly becoming an important historical repository. According to 2012 statistics, the Department of Veteran's Affairs estimates that there are roughly 1 million WWII vets still alive. However, at an average age of 90, the "Greatest Generation" will unfortunately soon be gone.

 

This is why the Museum, housed in a sprawling campus along Magazine Street, is so important. Its  buildings (with two more on the way--the Liberation Pavilion, and Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters), Victory Garden, and other outdoor displays cover all aspects of the war: land, sea, and air. Both at home and abroad.

The Victory Garden
 

There are also three choices for food services, and every building has a ticket counter and gift shop.

The main exhibit hall is located in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion. Here, we see the progression of America's involvement in the war from preparation through the surrender of Germany and Japan. The middle part of the presentation focuses on D-Day, military codename Operation Overlord, with the massive planning and execution of the Normandy invasion.

As you move through the different rooms, which has excellent flow, there are plenty of side-rooms where you can sit and listen to oral histories of actual soldiers and others. It's good to be able to hear them tell their stories in their own words and voice. You can hear the emotion as they tell you about their experiences. There are also other rooms which show short movies on various aspects of the war.

In a tiny corner of this building is the Soda Shop, which is in partnership with famed New Orleans chef John Besh.

The rest of the campus is located on the next block of Magazine. Here are Besh's restaurant The American Sector, Stage Door Canteen (a theatre room), along with Beyond All Boundaries, the US Freedom Pavilion/Boeing Center, and the outdoor Victory Garden display, from which food services gets some of their produce.

Beyond All Boundaries, known in my family as "The Tom Hanks movie", is a 48 minute, 4D show about the War. In the 8 minute preshow, narrator Hanks explains life in America leading up to the war, the causes, and the war's history up to American involvement. As the preshow ends, the Japanese have set sail and are making final preparations for their attack on Pearl Harbor. With that, we enter the main theatre, and for the next 40 minutes, experience the war like we are actually there. Snow falls as winter comes, the seats shake as tanks roll by and bombs go off, there's smoke as guns fire, and pitch blackness and perfect silence turns to bright light and a loud bang as the Hiroshima bomb detonates. On stage, set pieces magically come and go Disney style: an old-time radio, a German guard tower, the nose cone of a B-1 Bomber. And on screen, pictures and video are set along to the actual words from FDR, General Eisenhower, journalists such as Edward R Morrow, and soldiers and others.  It is an amazing experience.

After the show, it was lunchtime. I wanted something quick, so I skipped the restaurant and went right to the Soda Shack. The Shack has burgers, hot dogs, and ready made sandwiches and salads, along with ice cream and milk shakes. The food is quick and reasonably priced.

My final stop for the day was the Boeing Center. As you may expect, this is the aviation pavilion. Featuring a B-17E Flying Fortress named "My Gal Sal", there are many aircraft on display, along with a Sherman Tank and the museum's other interactive show,  Final Mission: The USS Tang Experience.

 

"My Gal Sal"

 

The USS Tang was America's most decorated WWII era submarine, under command of Richard O'Kane. When it was finally sunk, where were only five survivors. In this 11 minute experience, you and your fellow crew members recreate this final mission. Going into the theatre--it's really a set--each audience member is given a card with biographical info of a real crew member and his assignment on ship,

I played the role of Ralph Adams, a 19 year old from Camden, NJ. My position was station #5--loading the torpedoes, or "fish". As the mission begins, we are briefed by Commander O'Kane and we are on our way. Using special effects such as lighting, sound, and overhead projection (it is a sub, after all), you get a feel of what the crew experienced. Other people were positioned at the periscope, navigation, and engine room. In turn we did our job well but finally we are hit and sunk.

 My Character Card from Final Mission

A note on the staff. Every staff member and volunteer I spoke with were very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. As a nearly 20-year museum volunteer myself, I was very impressed with the professionalism they showed guests, and how respectful they were with the subject matter and the museum's mission.

Ultimately, there are so many things to see, do, and learn at the museum that I can really only give you a quick overview here. But if you ever find yourself going to New Orleans, take the time to go. You will learn a lot.