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International Conference on WWII to Premiere in New
Orleans
National WWII Museum presents inaugural event as part of
tourism renaissance
NEW ORLEANS – August 4,
2006: The National World War II Museum will present a
historic International Conference on World War II,
November 16-19 in New Orleans. The Conference will be
one of the largest and most significant gatherings of
historians, journalists, Medal of Honor recipients and
WWII veterans ever assembled since the end of the war
more than 60 years ago. It was originally scheduled for
October, 2005.
“The force of Hurricane Katrina may have postponed the
Museum’s first International Conference from its
original 2005 dates, but the magnitude and importance of
this event, and the popular excitement it generated,
reinforced our determination to present it in 2006,”
said the institution’s President and CEO, Dr. Gordon
“Nick” Mueller. “Presenting this Conference and
reopening the Museum in the aftermath of Katrina
demonstrate the resilience of The American Spirit and
our Museum’s strong commitment to be in the vanguard of
the city’s recovery efforts.” The Presenting Sponsor of
the conference is Humana Gold Plus.
Designed for a general audience, the Conference will
look back on “The War That Changed The World™” -- how it
was fought, the way it was won, and what it means today.
Virtually all the major speakers have reconfirmed their
participation: former war correspondent and legendary
CBS newsman Walter Cronkite; WWII bomber pilot and
former Senator George McGovern; war correspondents Andy
Rooney and Richard C. Hottelet; James Bradley, author of
Flags of our Fathers; film maker Ken Burns who will
preview his new WWII documentary; and former Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright who will discuss the
liberation of Eastern Europe and the development of the
Cold War and the collapse of Communism subsequent to
WWII.
Governor Pete Wilson, Chairman of the Museum’s Board of
Trustees, announced that a special program has been
added to the opening day of the Conference: selected
recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor will
participate in a panel discussion to inaugurate the
four-day event. Governor Wilson and the Medal recipients
also will dedicate a new, special exhibition, Beyond the
Call of Duty: The Medal of Honor in WWII. “Presented by
the Museum in partnership with The Congressional Medal
of Honor Society and Foundation, this dramatic
exhibition will spotlight the extraordinary courage in
action of these WWII servicemen who were awarded the
country’s highest military honor.” Wilson said.
Their stories will be brought to life through personal
accounts, interactive electronic displays, period
photographs and original artifacts.
The opening keynote address, The War That Changed The
World™ will be given by Dr. Gerhard L. Weinberg,
Professor Emeritus of European History at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Conference will
follow two tracks: The World of History comprises
riveting presentations on the most comprehensive
knowledge and perspectives on WWII. More than 34
seminars and panel discussions focus on such topics as
America’s Strategy: The Air War, The Naval War, The
Ground War; The Bombing of Japan; Stalingrad and Berlin;
The Holocaust in Context; The Allies; The Atomic Bomb in
History, and What WWII Did to our World.
Among other highlights are presentations expected to
spark debate over significant issues and events of the
war and its aftermath. British historian Sir Max
Hastings has written that it was the Red Army of Soviet
Russia, and not American and British forces, that broke
the back of the Third Reich and liberated Germany. Dr.
Victor Hanson of Stanford University will present a
dramatically different view: that the democratic, allied
countries fielded superior armies that were decisive in
defeating the armies of Hitler and other totalitarian
regimes.
Memory Hall will be a free opportunity to hear personal
accounts from the veterans themselves – soldiers,
sailors, airmen and Marines; nurses, Home Front workers;
POWs; foreign resistance fighters; Native American code
talkers and more. These remarkable individuals will
bring to life such subjects as A Call to Service,
Training to Win, The War at Home: Slacks & Callouses,
Medicine in WWII, The War Against Jim Crow, and
Returning Home. Memory Hall is sponsored by the Brown
Foundation, Inc. of Houston. While admission is free to
the Memory Hall programs, space is limited and
pre-registration is required.
Keynote addresses along with luncheons, banquets and
special events are included in the All Access Conference
Package or may be purchased individually. A complete
conference program and secure on-line registration is
available on the Conference website,
www.ww2conference.org. To register by telephone, call
800-258-8830 or 504-280-6680.
Additional sponsors and partners for the Conference
include BellSouth, Taylor Energy in memory of Pat
Taylor, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana Mitch Landrieu
and The Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and
Tourism, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, The
University of New Orleans, the New Orleans Metropolitan
Convention & Visitors Bureau and the New Orleans Tourism
Marketing Corporation.
The Museum opened in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum
and has been designated by Congress as the country’s
official National World War II Museum. It interprets the
American experience during the World War II years;
celebrates the American Spirit, the teamwork, courage
and sacrifice of the men and women who won WWII; and
promotes the expression of these values for future
generations. The National WWII Museum recently completed
the first phase of a $300 million expansion that, when
complete, will create a six-acre campus of Museum
pavilions and experiences in downtown New Orleans.
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