The National World War II Museum, New Orleans

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Congress Approves National Designation for
The National World War II Museum as
"America's National World War II Museum"

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Exhibit Extracts

The National World War II Museum complex consists of a renovated, four-story, 19th century warehouse and the adjoining four-story glass fronted Louisiana Memorial Pavilion.

Located in the growing arts and warehouse district in Downtown New Orleans, the site itself measures more than 70.500 square feet. The National World War II Museum's primary exhibit space, constructed in 1856, is the former home of the Louisiana Brewery.

The National World War II Museum is divided into state-of-the-art interactive exhibits the intermix oral histories from veterans worldwide, artifacts, documents and photographs with hands-on activities and never seen film footage. These series of exhibits take museum visitors through the weeks and days leading up to the D-Day's of World War II, to the foggy morning of June 6, where the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, to the other decisive air and sea assaults that led to victory in Europe and the Pacific.

Following is a summary of the exhibits and features of The National World War II Museum:

The National World War II Museum Exhibit Extracts

War Clouds

As you enter the Museum's first exhibit, you see a dramatic visual showing the imbalance of military power that existed between the United States, Japan and Germany in the late 1930s. This exhibit contains models of soldiers arranged to represent the military might of Germany and Japan, compared to the meager peace keeping forces of the United States.

America Goes to War
America's mobilization effort and life on the home front is illustrated through photographs, newspapers, recruitment posters, letters, personal mementos and other artifacts that interpret the drafting, training and outfitting of America's soldiers and sailors. Photographs and text panels illustrate the African-American experience in World War II and the integration of the United States forces. A "Personal Accounts" station features the first-hand accounts or war workers, air raid wardens and other ordinary Americans who contributed so importantly to the war effort at home.

Preparing for the Invasion
Here visitors see the preparations for the D-Day invasion, Operation Overlord, and are confronted with what faced Allied planners in 1944 - The Atlantic Wall.

Visitors walk into a large recreation of a concrete German observation and command post that would have been located on the Normandy coast. Through viewing slots, guests see a panoramic view of the English Channel and the open invasion beaches, similar to the view of German soldiers prior to the invasion of june 6.

A large cutaway model of an elaborately built concrete bunker lets visitors see the scale and complexity of the German fortifications.

Also showcased is a rich collection of Allied and German artifacts that include a wide variety of guns, weapons, uniforms and equipment. Enter a multimedia theater to experience the debate by General Eisenhower and his advisors on the rainy night of June 4 about whether to launch the June 6 invasion or wait for the weather to clear.

Air and Sea Assault
Operation Neptune sent the largest armada in recorded history, consisting of 5,333 ships and landing craft carrying 175,000 troops, across 100 miles of the churning English Channel to assault Hitler's Atlantic Wall at Normandy. Eleven thousand fighter planes, bombers and gliders led the way, softening German defenses, dropping paratroopers behind enemy lines and landing glider troops at key targets on the eastern and western flanks of the invasion.

A full-scale reconstruction of the aftermath of a glider landing tells the story of the night-drops in the early morning darkness of June 6. The drone of the engines of hundreds of fighter planes and battleships greet guests as they enter a room-sized diorama of the air and sea armada that conveys the enormity and complexity of the invasion force.

D-Day: The Beaches
The Beaches Gallery is the climax of the Museum's exhibitions. From the Americans at Utah and Omaha to the British and Canadians on Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches, the Beaches Gallery illustrates the individual sacrifices and experiences of the D-Day combatants. Through personal objects and individual memories, these stories accentuate the drama and importance of the most crucial phase of Overlord - the fighting on the beaches.

The Beaches Gallery put human faces on one of the most momentous days of the war, as visitors see, among other items, a pocket bible carried into combat, a watch worn on that fateful day, a helmet which saved a life by stopping a bullet.

Victory in Europe
Establishing a successful beachhead in Normandy was the beginning of a long road to victory in Europe. The fighting in the Normandy hedgerow country was some of the most fierce of the war. The summer joy of liberating Paris quickly became the winter nightmare of the Bulge. But with the spring came the crossing of the Rhine and the final thrust into Germany. In an intimate amphitheater, a 5-minute film will take the visitor on that yearlong crusade across the continent. A final exhibit - The Cost of Victory - allows the visitor to ponder the unfathomable losses suffered by all side in this greatest of all global conflicts.

D-Day Remembered
Visitors to the 110-seat Malcomb S. Forbes Theater, see the Museum's Academy Award © nominated film, D-Day Remembered. This film, by Charles Guggenheim, combines footage and photographs from American, British and German archives the voices of the people who participated in the planning and execution of the invasion to create a stunning and unforgettable portrait of Operation Overlord.

Louisiana Memorial Pavilion
The 22,500-square-foot Louisiana Memorial Pavilion is named to honor all Louisiana veterans and citizens on the home front during World War II. The Pavilion serves as the Museum's formal entrance, It houses the Museum's reproduction LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) of Higgins Boat, reproduced from original WWII plans by more than 100 volunteer, many of them former Higgins employees. The Pavilion houses the Museum's Spitfire and Avenger airplanes, a Sherman tank, German staff cars and a half-track from the U.S. Army. The Louisiana Memorial Pavilion also features traveling exhibits, educational programming and meeting spaces.

The D-Day Invasion in the Pacific
This exhibit is dedicated specifically to the many D-Days that took place in the Pacific Theater. The 5,000-square-foot gallery include photographs, videos, artifacts, maps, quotes, newspaper headlines, interactive touch-screens and oral histories. The major strategies and battles that occurred across the expanse of the Pacific Ocean are summarized on a giant animated map at the beginning of the exhibit. Visitors see events such as the attack at Pearl Harbor and the atomic bombing of 2 Japanese cities displayed through photographs and films. A video screen rolls silent film footage of the actual bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The exhibit closes with the stories and images of Japan's surrender aboard the USS Missouri and the celebrations of V-J Day

Artifacts
In 1944, McDermott, Inc. made a generous contribution that enabled The Museum to purchase the St. Lô Collection from The Musée de la Libération in St. Lô, France. This collection contained many rich artifacts from the Battle of D-Day and subsequent campaigns. Comprised of some 3,500 artifacts, the St. Lô Collection forms the core of the Museum's collections. In addition, the Museum has acquired many fine artifacts from veterans and their families. These artifacts, combined with the St. Lô Collection, are some of the most important artifacts from World War II found anywhere in the United States.

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