10 Oct The National WWII Museum
One of the highlights of my trip to New Orleans for the 306th Bomb Group reunion was a visit to The National WWII Museum, just a few blocks from our hotel. Someone had told me, “One day isn’t enough.” They’re probably right. I could have spent a lot more time going through all their exhibits … Normandy, the Home Front, the Boeing Pavilion (with a B-17 hung from the ceiling), D-Days in the Pacific and more.
The guides at the Museum were wonderful to us and their guests of honor, our dozen WWII veterans. First stop was the special “Bob Hope: An American Treasure” exhibit. His USO shows, his love of golf, his honorary Oscar … and lots of movies from his early childhood on through the years. I had forgotten that Bob was born in England as Leslie Townes Hope. The family moved to the U.S. when he was five years old.
We were scheduled to see the Tom Hank’s produced movie, Beyond all Boundaries, at 11 am.
Full disclosure here. I walked into the movie thinking, “I’ve watched hundreds of World War II movies and documentaries. How much better can this one be?”
Well, it was fabulous.
I wasn’t sure what “4D” meant but I do now. Lights flashed. Our seats vibrated. Snow fell from the sky (Battle of the Bulge.) The room was filled with (what looked like) smoke (fire-storming Japan.) The most spectacular and probably the most meaningful for our airmen was when the nose of a B-17 dropped down to complete the image of a bomber right in front of the 120 foot screen. With the rumblings and with the screaming effects of the “ack ack” antiaircraft guns for a second I felt that plane was right there.
The nose of the B-17 comes right into the theater. “Courtesy of The National World War II Museum.”
When I walked out of the theater I thought, “Now that was worth the ticket to New Orleans.”
William Patrick Maher
Posted at 10:59h, 11 OctoberWe were in New Orleans for a wedding last December and the WWII Museum was one of the highlights of a wonderful trip.
The movie was wonderful and had something for everyone in the audience: teenagers, baby boomers, WWII vets.
The museum itself did not try to cover the ‘big picture’ as much as showing personal experiences. The small displays throughout with memories, photos, tales from individual veterans (some now in their 80s, some who died in battle in the 40s) showed the variety of experiences.
Would love to see the Bob Hope exhibit; while we were there, a POW exhibit was in place. And it also showed more day-to-day life in the POW camps, some of it horrific, some of it life affirming (newspapers published in secret, plays presented by the POWs).
Wonderful place —
tammyCA
Posted at 00:28h, 29 OctoberI’d love to be able to visit this museum! And, I need to see that movie.
Tommy Jonason
Posted at 03:31h, 24 JanuaryAbout 30 miles west of Orlando, in Polk City, there is an excellent museum, Fantasy of Flight. They have a very good collection of aircrafts with guided tours and possibility to walk-through several aircrafts, including a B-17.
One thing that struck me was how awfully thin the walls were, only a thin aluminium sheet. Not much protection there.