World War II Museum (New Orleans)
Had a friend in from out of town who had never been there...took her and the two boys yesterday.
A trip to NOLA is worth it for this place alone.
It began as the D-Day Museum and has expanded to cover the whole American involvement in the war, including Pearl Harbor and the ensuing war in the Pacific.
Besides the usual museum pieces (which are impressive in their own right) of uniforms, jeeps, equipment, arms, cannons, fighter planes etc...their is a vast array of maps that spell out the road to Berlin and the road to Tokyo, with countless first hand accounts by soldiers & officers on all sides of the conflict. Mainly American accounts (as it should be!) but there are stories from the Germans and Japanese also.
The best experience was a short movie titled Beyond All Boundaries, narrated by Tom Hanks (a huge supporter of the museum) which is a brief synopsis of our involvement from start to the surrender of Germany & Japan. It's in 4D and was an all encompassing journey. Our seats rumbled and shook, it "snowed" in the theater, got "smoky" from exploding bombs...we were in the jungles of Guadalcanal, in the air above Midway, in a liberated concentration camp, and on the beaches of Normandy.
What a truly moving experience!
By the end i was nearly in tears...the final moments are a moving recognition of the tremendous sacrifice our country made, at home and abroad. I recommend everyone have this experience.
They truly were the greatest generation.
God Bless America
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