Historical fiction has a power all its own to communicate experiences of war and atrocity.

Designated by Congress in 2004 as America’s National WWII Museum, we remember these special dates, commemorating the fallen and honoring the WWII generation who helped preserve the freedom we enjoy today. 

More than 40,000 students across the country participated in the Museum's live interactive Electronic Field Trip.  

From our 21st-century point of view, it is hard to imagine World War II without the United States as a major participant. Before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, however, Americans were seriously divided over what the role of the United States in the war should be, or if it should even have a role at all. Even as the war consumed large portions of Europe and Asia in the late 1930s and early 1940s, there was no clear consensus on how the United States should respond.

A $1 million gift supports Louisiana Memorial Pavilion's animated WWII map as well as a Virtual Field Trip about Latino experiences in World War II.