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Pearl Harbor still evokes
vivid national memory
The National World War II
Museum commemorates anniversary
NEW ORLEANS (December 5, 2007) – When the smoke cleared
at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 2,333 Americans had
been killed and 1,139 wounded. The US Pacific fleet was
devastated. The nation that had been hoping for peace
was now mobilizing for a war that would change the
United States and the world forever.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called it “a day
that will live in infamy.” Sixty-six years later and
half a world away, The National World War II Museum in
New Orleans remembers Pearl Harbor. “The attack on Pearl
Harbor plunged this nation into World War II,” noted
Museum President and co-founder Gordon “Nick” Mueller,
Ph.D. “But amidst the tragic losses, the teamwork,
courage, ingenuity and determination of the American
Spirit shone through. That’s what we honor and celebrate
every day at The National World War II Museum.”
With the numbers of World War II veterans in rapid
decline, the Museum has an urgent mission to collect and
preserve the stories of the men and women on the
battlefront and the Home Front during this extraordinary
moment in world history. Museum historians work
throughout the country to capture these priceless
stories in first-person video histories.
The National World War II Museum permanent exhibitions
in fascinating and moving displays that include carbon
copies of the radio transmissions that delivered the
news that America was under attack, oral history
listening stations where ordinary men and women tell
their individual stories, and a small portion of the USS
Arizona where 1,177 crewmembers lost their lives. In the
Museum’s $300 million expansion now underway, even more
of the extraordinarily dramatic Pearl Harbor story will
be told. The Museum’s curators and research staff
continue to acquire both artifacts and oral histories to
further illuminate the magnitude of this dark day.
“Pearl Harbor was the beginning of a harrowing journey
for our country,” noted Governor Pete Wilson, Chairman
of the Museum’s national Board of Trustees. “With so few
witnesses left to share the emotions, hopes and fears of
that dreadful day, it is more important than ever that
we seek out that history. We not only invite the public
to visit the Museum, but also to look for people in
their own lives and communities whose stories need to be
preserved. Just as it was in World War II, we are truly
all in this together when it comes to preserving these
priceless stories for future generations.”
The Museum already has filmed a number of profound Pearl
Harbor oral histories. Radioman 3rd Class Everett Hyland
was severely burned and wounded on the battleship USS
Pennsylvania. George Brown was trapped in the capsized
USS Oklahoma after it was hit by more than seven
torpedoes. John Finn received the first Congressional
Medal of Honor in World War II for securing and manning
a machinegun in a completely exposed section of the
Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station. Although painfully
wounded many times, he continued to return enemy fire.
He is the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient and the
only surviving recipient from the Pearl Harbor attack.
For the first time, the Museum’s international travel
program is offering a unique Pearl Harbor tour featuring
noted historians and the opportunity to travel with
Pearl Harbor veterans to the sites where their lives
became a major part of the nation’s history. This
exclusive weeklong adventure begins on February 29, 2008
in San Diego with a visit to the San Diego Air & Space
Museum and the USS Midway. The group will then travel to
Los Angeles with a tour of the American Merchant Marine
Veterans Memorial along the way. After a flight to
Honolulu, guests will check in at the historic “Pink
Palace of the Pacific” The Royal Hawaiian, a luxury
hotel where servicemen in the Pacific Fleet would come
for R&R during World War II. There will be an extensive
tour of Oahu and the actual Pearl Harbor battlefields,
airstrips, sunken battleships and military bases that
still bear the scars of that brutal attack. Other stops
include the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island with
a behind the scenes tour of the island, a VIP tour and a
welcome address from Historian Daniel Martinez of the
USS Arizona Memorial and a wreath laying ceremony at the
National Memorial Cemetery or “Punchbowl Cemetery.”
To speak with someone about donating an artifact related
to Pearl Harbor, call 877-813-3329 x 228. To receive
information on contributing an oral history, call
877-813-3329 x 311 or x 313. For additional information
on the Pearl Harbor tour, please call 877-813-3329 x 257
or email
travel@nationalww2museum.org. Visit
www.nationalww2museum.org for more information on
The National World War II Museum’s programs and
exhibitions.
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