New Orleans, LA – The city of New Orleans has a number of museums worthy of consideration, and at the very top is the National WWII Museum. It’s located in downtown New Orleans, about 0.5 miles from the Mississippi River about 1 mile from the French Quarter. The collection is spread across 4 buildings, 3 of which are connected by sky bridges. Trip Advisor listed this as the second highest rated museum in the world for 2017. It’s certainly a very nice museum, but 2nd in the world? I’m guessing the majority of ratings are by people who haven’t visited that many museums around the world. I’m not sure it’s even the 2nd best WWII museum in the world. The WWII museum we visited in France, called the Mémorial de Caen, was every bit the equal, as was The Churchill War Rooms in London. In any case, this is an excellent museum and we enjoyed our visit here.
The National WWII Museum is spread out over four buildings
The base admission price is $27, and we paid an extra $5 for the 45 minute movie called “Beyond All Boundaries”. I highly recommend you see this “4D cinematic experience narrated and executive produced by Tom Hanks”. The movie is very well done and imparts significant impact upon the viewer — and would have more impact if shown in 2D vs. 4D. Why 4D? I don’t know, I guess people won’t pay attention if the seats don’t shake and fake snow doesn’t fall from the ceiling? Maybe I’m just getting old, but I don’t see why a somber topic like WWII needs to be turned into an amusement park ride.
Freedom, tolerance and justice are as important today as during WWII
Outside of the movie, the rest of the museum pays proper homage to the men and women who fought and died for our freedom. There are displays on the merchant marines (the proportional casualty rate for the U.S. merchant marine exceeded that of any of the uniformed military services) as well as the events that led up to the breakout of conflict. There are separate floors dedicated to the Pacific theater and the European theater. There are many articles displayed throughout, from the military (weapons) to the personal (shaving kits, etc.).
The Merchant Marines played a vital role in WWII
Some of the weaponry on display
Manufacturing companies shifted to make war time machines and gear
There was a section looking at the role of women in the war
Ration books on display in an area dedicated to the war effort by US civilians
Another area focused on the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb
Individual rooms demarcate sections of each campaign, and these rooms were intricately decorated to immerse the visitor as if they were present (well, to a small degree as no one is trying to kill you). Throughout all exhibits there are movies playing from the point of view from participants in the war. One of the final rooms was about the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan. There is a movie playing depicting the scenes of horror in the aftermath of the bombs, accompanied by a haunting score from Brian Eno. There had to be 20 people in this room with us, and I could hear a pin drop.
Atomic bomb video footage is moving
Image of US troops moving through Paris on the Champs D’Elysees
The 4th building contains mainly the machinery vital to fight such a wide ranging war, from planes to ships to tanks and Jeeps. We particularly enjoyed the B-17E Flying Fortress heavy bomber nicknamed “My Gal Sal” and the story about how it ended up in New Orleans. You’ll also see a B-25 Mitchell, General Motors TBM Avenger, a Chance Vought F4U Corsair, a Douglas SBD Dauntless and a North American Aviation P-51 Mustang.
Mike checks out a landing vehicle
Jeeps played a big role in WWII
My Gal Sal, a B-17E Flying Fortress heavy bomber on display
We spent a good 6 hours here and left only because museum fatigue got the best of us, not because we explored everything. Of note, the on-site restaurant was very good, something I can’t say about most museum restaurants. While in New Orleans we toured the French Quarter; toured Mardi Gras World where the floats are made; attended Carnival and Mardi Gras Day parades; toured the New Orleans Jazz Museum and Oak Alley Plantation. We were staying in our RV at the Pontchartrain Landing RV Park.
