In its first 25 years, The National WWII Museum has amassed a world-class collection representing all facets of the American experience in World War II. Work continues to document the stories contained within each piece, stories as unique as individual lives.  

Early on, most artifacts came directly from those who used, made, or collected the items—the veterans themselves. Some objects were solicited by Stephen Ambrose and his colleagues prior to The National D-Day Museum opening.  

As time goes on, most acquisitions stem from correspondence and meetings with the next generation: the children of veterans who are seeking a home for their parents’ legacy. These meetings are often emotional ones laden with a responsibility to remember the past and preserve it. And while we cannot provide a home for every WWII item, the Museum’s mission demands that we honor the myriad perspectives of wartime life and service and how they bleed into the present day.  

Our curatorial team’s work to build and document the collection is at the heart of this core task. When sharing stories about the collection, Museum curators often hear, “You have the best job!” Helping to shape the Museum’s collection and creating moments of discovery for the public is a privilege.  

In recognition of 25 years of collecting at the Museum, our current curators have highlighted pieces with special significance.

Roy “Swede” Boreen's Watch

Watch of Storekeeper Second Class Roy “Swede” Boreen. From the Collection of The National WWII Museum. 2011.037.001

Artifacts from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are intrinsically connected to America’s entry into World War II, with this key moment in time frozen on one such piece. Displayed in The Arsenal of Democracy exhibit is the watch of Storekeeper Second Class Roy “Swede” Boreen, who was stationed aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma on December 7, 1941.  When his ship was struck by multiple torpedoes and rapidly capsized, Boreen was forced to dive overboard and swim for the nearby USS Maryland. The water’s impact stopped his watch at 8:04 a.m., serving as a permanent reminder of the Day of Infamy.  

-Ross Patterson II 

Personal Letters from Robert Wolf 

Correspondence from Robert Wolf. From the Collection at The National WWII Museum. 2019.056.078

The Museum’s archive contains many thousands of personal letters, each carrying special greetings, spelling mistakes, and signatures specific to the writer. Letters begin as puzzles, handwriting to be deciphered and relationships understood. In one rare case, the author was well known to us. While serving with the 86th Infantry Division, Staff Sergeant Robert Wolf wrote home to his family. In 2019, we assigned Museum volunteer and friend “Mister Bob” with the task of cataloging his own collection. Using our guidelines, he noted keywords and phrases in the letters he had written 75 years earlier.

-Kimberly Guise

Richard Gibler's M1 Helmet

M1 helmet, worn by Radioman Second Class Richard Gibler. From the Collection at The National WWII Museum.

This specially marked M1 helmet, worn by Radioman Second Class Richard Gibler of the 6th Naval Beach Battalion, is the only example of its kind in the Museum’s collection. Helmets like this, with a red arc painted on the front and “USN” on the back, distinguished Naval Beach Battalion personnel from their Army counterparts. These specialized units were created to meet the unique demands of amphibious warfare, facilitating the landing of troops and supplies on hostile coastlines. The 6th Naval Beach Battalion, formed specifically for Operation Overlord, worked alongside the Army’s 5th Engineer Special Brigade and the 1st Infantry Division in the early morning chaos at Omaha Beach, directing traffic, communicating with ships, and treating the wounded.  

-Chase Tomlin 

Theresa Mae Bell's Uniform

Uniform of Corporal Theresa Mae Bell. From the Collection at The National WWII Museum

The 855 women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were the only all-Black Women’s Army Corps unit sent overseas during the war. Tasked with clearing a massive backlog of mail, the women worked around the clock in three eight-hour shifts to sort and process 17 million items. One of the women in Company C of the 6888th was Corporal Theresa Mae Bell, a schoolteacher from East Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While the collection contains numerous uniforms from every branch of service, Bell’s uniform is a unique artifact from a select group of pioneering women.  

-Brandon Daake 

My Gal Sal

My Gal Sal, a Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress at The National WWII Museum

My Gal Sal, a Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress, was designed and built in my hometown of Seattle. When the US Army Air Corps requested 13 of them in 1937, the company considered it a huge order. But as war spread across the world, Boeing’s Plant 2 in Seattle churned out 16 of the workhorse bombers every day. Sal never made it to its assignment England; the aircraft was lost on a ferry flight, crash-landing in Greenland in 1942. It was salvaged in the 1990s and came to The National WWII Museum in 2012. Today, Sal is the centerpiece of the Museum’s US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center.  

-Cory Graff 

PT-305 

Patrol torpedo boat, PT-305, nicknamed USS Sudden Jerk, at The National WWII Museum

PT-305 is one of the largest and most unique artifacts at The National WWII Museum. The iconic motor torpedo boat was one of roughly 200 built by Higgins Industries right here in New Orleans. The vessel went to war in the Mediterranean and returned home. Though she was a survivor, PT-305 took thousands of hours of work to restore. Out on the water, I oversaw her three Packard powerplants, spending hours in the hot and noisy engine room while PT-305 motored over Lake Pontchartrain. Now, home again at last, I had the honor of getting her ready for permanent exhibition here at The National WWII Museum.

-Terry Armond 

This article originally appeared in V-Mail, The National WWII Museum's quarterly Charter Member newsletter. Click here to learn more about Museum Membership and how to take advantage of its exclusive benefits.