The National WWII Museum's newest special exhibit, SOLDIER | ARTIST: Trench Art in World War II, takes an in-depth look at a military pastime known as "trench art": the creation of art, souvenirs, and tools out of discarded materials and the waste of war. Just as evaluating any other art form can reveal the life experience of its creator, the artifacts featured in this exhibit offer visitors a unique way to connect to the WWII veterans who made them—whether they did so out of boredom or necessity.

The National WWII Museum is hosting Dimensions in Testimony: Liberator Alan Moskin from February 4 to September 11, 2021, an initiative from USC Shoah Foundation that will enable visitors to have a personalized, one-on-one “conversation” with Staff Sergeant Alan Moskin, a member of the 66th Infantry Regiment, 71st Infantry Division who helped liberate Gunskirchen concentration camp in Austria.

The special exhibit Ghost Army: The Combat Con Artists of World War II, on view in the Hall of Democracy’s Senator John Alario, Jr. Special Exhibition Hall from March 5 to January 31, 2021, and curated by the Museum’s James Linn, tells the story of the 23rd and their deception operations across Europe through featured artifacts such as artwork, uniforms, an inflatable tank, and more.

When World War II began, entertainer Bob Hope’s career as a major movie star in film and radio was just beginning to take off, having worked his way from jobs as a newsboy, a butcher’s assistant, a shoe salesman, and an amateur boxer to scrape by in the early 1920s.

When the greatest threat to the civilized world beckoned in World War II, Louisiana was ready.