The National World War II Museum

We had a day here before Rebecca and Chris arrived, which we took advantage of. There is a World War II museum here that is amazing! It is very well done, and includes a film produced and narrated by Tom Hanks - Beyond All Boundaries. A short pre-film sets the stage for the film by explaining the background in Europe and in the US prior to the war. The comfy leather seats for the main film vibrate when tanks or planes come near. When you get to the Battle of the Bulge, snow falls from the ceiling and cool air blows through the theater. All throughout the film they use direct quotes from people who were there, read by people like Gary Sinise, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Garner, and Kevin Bacon. The film takes the war from the very beginning to the very end. It was awesome!

The museum does not allow flash photography in the main museum, so my only photos are from the temporary exhibit on the ground floor. From there, you start with the war in Europe as you go up. You cross over a walkway and learn about the war in the Pacific as you go down. All throughout the museum, there are booths where you can sit and hear about various topics from the people who lived it. The museum has a program for recording the memories of veterans.

The museum itself is a work in progress. There are currently three buildings - the main museum, the auditorium for the movie, and a building where items are refurbished for display in the museum. There is a gift shop, of course, with very interesting items. You can buy dresses in 40's styles, flight suits and Navy uniforms for kids, CDs of music, and the standard things like coffee cups, books, T-shirts, etc.

After the museum we did a little shopping at a Bed, Bath and Beyond. The coolest part was this - it was a 2-story store and had a small escalator for shopping carts next to the people one. I took a picture. Steve said it was "country come to town".

These landing craft were used in both theaters of war. Many of them were built here in New Orleans.

These landing craft could get in close because of the shallow draft. They could unload quickly through the wide door, with four people in full gear easily getting out at the same time.

An early "duck".

Note the artwork on the door.

This is what the completed museum will look like.

Hitler built walls like this all across France, using literally tons of concrete and steel.

These were above-ground bunkers for German sentinels.

My "country-come-to-town" photo. There were handy shopping cart escalators for up and down.