WWII Museum A National Treasure

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NEW ORLEANS — A gray-haired man is standing just inside the entrance to the U.S. Freedom Pavilion of the National World War II Museum, located on the corner of Magazine Street and Andrews Higgins Boulevard, in the Warehouse District. Within eyesight is the towering statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee erected in 1884 at Lee Circle. Standing 12 feet tall on a 60-foot column, Lee, arms crossed, forever stares north, as if daring the Yankee troops to attack.

The man at the museum is clearly a veteran, judging from the ballcap he wears identifying his military outfit. He is a volunteer here, and I thank him for his service, as I wait for my Beautiful Mystery Companion and daughter to join me. Until they do, I wander around the foyers, which are free, explaining to a sharp-eyed ticket taker why I’m just lolling around until the womenfolk make the brief trek over from the condo.

The museum opened in 2000 as the National D-Day Museum and was renamed three years later. It is in large part the brainchild of historian Stephen Ambrose, author of “Band of Brothers.” It has become one of New Orleans’ most popular tourist destinations. I find a display that explains how the National World War II Museum came to be in New Orleans, better known for great music and food, Mardi Gras and the decadence of Bourbon Street.

Besides Ambrose, the reason stems back to Andrew Higgins, of the aforementioned boulevard. He was the founder and owner of a shipbuilding company bearing his name. During World War II, his company built the “Higgins boats,” or in military-speak an LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel). The craft allowed men and equipment to hit land over the bow on a ramp, which saved countless lives compared to using boats that required disembarking over the side. President Dwight Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the war, said in 1964, “Andrew Higgins is the man who won the war for us.” And that is why what is now the National World War II Museum is in the Crescent City.

The museum consists now of three pavilions. Inside the Kushner Restoration Building, which has glass walls on two sides that allow visitors to peer inside, World War II artifacts are being restored. A Higgins PT boat was inside, awaiting restoration. When completed, it will join the many other real-life pieces of military equipment already on display in the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: a B-17 Flying Fortress, a P-51 Mustang fighter plane and an M4 Sherman tank, among others.

The Louisiana Memorial Pavilion has a number of galleries explaining the events leading up to the war, the planning for D-Day and the Pacific campaign. Under construction is a final pavilion, the Liberation Pavilion that will complete visitor’s journey with exhibits and materials explaining the final months of the war and the postwar years.

One starts the journey by watching a 52-minute film, which begins with a seven-minute preamble narrated by Tom Hanks in an anteroom. The 4-D film follows in a plush theater with leather seats.

You read that correctly. The Solomon Victory Theater is a 4-D theater. That means one watches a 3-D film while at times our seats rumbled as if we were on a battlefield, or shook as if aboard an aircraft. Fake snowflakes descended to simulate a winter scene. What looked like smoke filled the air while buildings and planes burned onscreen.

The film experience alone was worth the ticket price. It is impossible to watch this and not be deeply affected by the sacrifices made by so many, the number of lives lost — 60 million total — the deprivations and destruction foisted upon the world by Germany and Japan. If anyone ever asks me how to get a quick, complete and compelling primer on World World War II, there is no better way than viewing “Beyond All Boundaries” at the museum.

We spent more than three hours in the museum, fighting a holiday crowd that made it tough to see some displays. But our lives have been enriched by this experience. It is critical that we never forget what happened, from Pearl Harbor to Normandy, Guadalcanal to Buchenwald.

Just more than a million veterans of World War II are still alive, nearly 70 years after the end of the war. But they are dying rapidly, nearly 500 a day according to the U.S. Veterans Administration. In roughly 20 years, there will be no living veterans, according to one estimate. It is vital that their sacrifices and service be preserved for future generations to appreciate. The World War II museum in its short existence has become a national treasure. You should put it on your bucket list.

 

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