The National WWII Museum

Our lagniappe for Sunday morning was flash of lightning, crack of thunder and pound of rain drops in the early morning hours.  When the storm was over, we found ourselves with lake front property at each camping site.  Almost five inches of rain fell in a four-hour period. 

Once the rain stopped we got in our car pools and went to the National WWII Museum.  The tour started with the movie Beyond Boundaries: Buildup to the War narrated by Tom Hanks.  The next movie Beyond All Boundaries details our entry into the war through its end using multi media effects.  Special attention is given to the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, German camps, Russia, the Bomb and German and Japanese surrender.  The inclusion of telegrams and letters personalized the story.  Articles by Ernie Pyle, Bill Maudlin and other war correspondents brought us close to the action.  The voices of soldiers echoed through the theater.

This powerful film was enhanced by unique effects, the fuselage of a plane descending to connect with its on screen body to appear to fly overhead, a tank rising to blend in with its battalion, seats that shook as bombs exploded on the screen, and bright flashes all around us during gunfire.  These techniques added to one of the most powerful war documentaries that we have seen.

The exhibits begin with the US mobilization for war production including the changing work force that included women and minorities.  One exhibit contains surprising products that came from this effort such as M & M’s because they didn’t melt in the soldiers’ pockets, penicillin, and styrofoam. 

New Orleans boat builder Andrew Jackson Higgins contribution to the war was significant.  He developed the LCVP, landing craft vehicles and personnel.  This craft enabled the infantry and materiel to land on defended beaches.

This exhibit led to the one on Operation Overlord, the invasion at the five beaches of Normandy.

Throughout the museum are stations with personal accounts by soldiers and civilians.  There are also short films that discuss such major issues as Eisenhower’s meetings with his staff to decide when to invade Europe.

There is a section of the fake army under the command of General George Patton.  This was a subterfuge to make the Germans think there was a major invasion force in Britain ready to land in Calais.  This "tank" is actually a balloon.

A glider towed English soldiers and equipment across the English Channel to Normandy.  Most of these crashed.

An Enigma machine, decoded by a team that included Ian Fleming.

A model of the D’Day attack.

An aerial model of Omaha Beach showed the chaos at the invasion.

Germans fired from hedgerows, bushes planted by French farmers to delineate their property.
It took four to five weeks for the Allies to create “scissors” from scraps to chop down the hedges.
Look carefully to see the guns poking out of the vegetation.

Diary of soldier who landed at Omaha Beach.

The war in Asia was shown island by island. A moving map with narration detailed the progress of the war on each front.

Planes, tanks and personnel carriers fill the Freedom Pavilion.

The museum has several 1940s themed places to eat.

 Art and Rita have some special friends.  We enjoyed the talents of Nancy Wilson, creator of fabulous New Orleans cuisine.  We started the evening with wine at the Carlson’s home then went to the golf club house for our special dinner.

Nancy explained the unique influences on Louisiana cooking.

 From the Germans who came in the 1700s to the French, Native Americans, Africans and Italians, each has added their own flavors.  She then demonstrated making corn soup.  Her recipe starts with a roux of butter and flour, then she adds bell peppers, onions, garlic, celery, tomato sauce, canned corn, shrimp and water or broth.

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 In addition to the soup, our menu included crayfish and artichoke appetizers, bbq shrimp on brochette, biscuits with kumquat marmalade, chicken with dirty rice, and vegetable mash.  Dirty rice is rice with meat and vegetable mash is a gentle mixture of turnips, potatoes, beets, and yams.  For dessert we had Bananas Foster and cookies.





Our langniappe was gift boxes of the rice mix from Nancy’s company and a bowl of her cookies.