Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The New Orleans, LA National World War II Museum

The National Globe War II Museum, formerly recognized as the National D-Day Museum, is a museum situated in the Central Organization District of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the corner of Andrew Higgins Boulevard and Magazine Street. It focuses on the contribution produced by the United States to victory by the Allies in Globe War II, and the Battle of Normandy in certain. It was designated by the U.S. Congress as "America's National Globe War II Museum" in 2003,[2] and the museum maintains an affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution.[3] The mission statement of the museum emphasizes the American encounter in WW II.[4]

The museum opened on June 6, 2000, the 56th anniversary of D-Day. The museum has a big atrium exactly where aircraft including a Supermarine Spitfire, Messerschmitt Bf 109, Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber, and Douglas C-47 Skytrain are suspended from the ceiling. The creating is many stories high and consists of two multi-level sections which are connected only by the main floor atrium. The museum does not solely go over the invasion of Normandy, but also represents the Allied method of island hopping, culminating with nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

The museum has many permanent galleries, including the House Front, Organizing for D-Day, The D-Day Beaches, and Pacific D-Days galleries. The third floor of the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion includes an observation deck for viewing the hanging aircraft. The second floor has reserved space for going to exhibits and for unique exhibits that change every few months.

Visitors to the museum are encouraged to allocate roughly 2½ to 3 hours to tour the museum. A so-referred to as 4-D film, "Beyond All Boundaries", gives the visitor an overview of the war on every front. A wide variety of other multi-media displays are part of the museum's exhibits, notably dozens of video oral histories carried out with veterans by museum staff. The museum currently includes two restaurants, the American Sector and the Soda Shop, each operated by noted chef John Besh. The museum sponsors a wargaming club and holds a wargame convention each year referred to as "Heat of Battle".

Some may well wonder why The National Globe War II Museum is situated in New Orleans, a city recognized for other tourism web pages but which is not commonly related with 20th-century military background. The museum opened as the D-Day Museum, focusing initially on the amphibious invasion of Normandy, then opening a second gallery exploring the amphibious invasions of the Pacific War. As the Higgins Boats important to D-Day operations were designed, built, and tested in New Orleans by Higgins Industries, the city was the all-natural property for such a project. In addition, New Orleans was the property of historian Stephen Ambrose, who spearheaded the effort to build the museum.

The Museum closed for 3 months right after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005, re-opening on December 3 of that year. A museum banner promoted this re-opening by proclaiming "We Have Returned," a phrase produced renowned by Common Douglas MacArthur relating to his eventual return to the Philippines in 1944.

As of 2012, the Museum is in the midst of a $300 million capital expansion campaign referred to as The Road to Victory: A Vision for Future Generations. The expansion has resulted in important increases in attendance.[5] The Solomon Victory Theater, Stage Door Canteen, and American Sector restaurant opened in November 2009. The John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion opened in June 2011.[6][7] The subsequent phase in the expansion slated for completion in 2013 is The US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, which will be the largest creating on the campus when completed. The final two projects in the expansion will be the Campaigns of Courage Pavilion, and the Liberation Pavilion. The museum hopes to full its expansion by 2015.

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