The Museum's Kimberly Guise remembers a friend—WWII veteran and longtime Museum volunteer and supporter Thomas P. Godchaux.

If the American forces could break through the Hürtgen Forest, there was a chance they could reach the Rhine near Cologne, threatening the German industrial region along the Ruhr River and possibly even force a crossing. 

While most people are familiar with the names of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” as the atomic weapons used over Japan, what they may not be familiar with was how different the respective technologies of each bomb were and why this difference mattered. 

War production was crucial for an Allied victory, but what happened when labor strikes challenged the “arsenal of democracy”?

During World War II, surgeons and medical assistants created new treatments and procedures in plastic surgery that are still used in modern practice. These techniques not only improved soldiers’ physical appearance, but also their morale, by restoring their sense of pride and confidence.