Stephen isn’t eager to summon memories of harrowing scenes that his 239th Military Police Company faced as it helped restore order in a devastated city. And later, Stephen kept an eye on the Museum from his assigned zone at the convention center, watching the street corridor for any new signs of trouble. The guardsmen quickly dispersed the looters and secured the shop.
A small crowd had gained entry to the store and looting was in full swing. As they pulled up, they noticed that a falling telephone pole had collapsed a wall of the Museum’s gift shop. He gathered six other guardsmen, said, “We’re going to go on a mission,” and the group piled into two Humvees and headed toward the Museum several blocks away. Stephen got clearance from a superior to briefly leave his post.
That sentiment – an appreciation for the Museum’s mission – surfaced in a forceful way a few weeks after Katrina made landfall, when Stephen, part of an Army Guard unit protecting the Morial Convention Center and storm victims gathered there, noticed a smattering of individuals wearing fresh t-shirts from the institution then known as The National D-Day Museum. Louisiana National Guard Staff Sergeant Patrick Stephen already was fond of The National WWII Museum on Andrew Higgins Boulevard, having visited repeatedly, when Hurricane Katrina struck the city a decade ago, ushering in a time of misery and chaos. Museum’s Post-Katrina Defender Now Advancing Its Mission I could pass tomorrow in comfort knowing this Museum is here for all to see.” This is the welcome I wish I got when I came home. As he departed with tears in his eyes, Cruz Sartuche, a 99-year-old Navy veteran, said, “Never in my life have I experienced such a welcome. This June, Soaring Valor brought that experience to 50 veterans, whose presence honored our campus, and whose visit left a deep impression on all involved. I think other families deserve that, and through our educational program at the Gary Sinise Foundation, I’m thrilled to help make it happen for some of them.” When he passed away last year at the age of 90, it was comforting to know that his story was part of the Museum’s oral-history collection, and that he had the opportunity to visit such a remarkable institution. All of those memories and firsthand experiences are gone.”įor Sinise, that mission touches a personal chord: “My uncle Jack was a navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress, flying 30 missions over Europe. “Nick” Mueller, PhD, “Every time we lose a veteran, it’s like losing a library.
According to Museum president and CEO Gordon H. This support helps the Museum accelerate its work to collect as many oral histories as possible-a mission that increases in urgency with each passing year. It was a headline moment in the Soaring Valor initiative, launched earlier this year by the Gary Sinise Foundation and the Museum with American Airlines, and designed to bring veterans-and their stories-to The National WWII Museum.Īll 50 veterans now have their wartime stories recorded as part of the Museum’s oral-history collection, which the initiative also supports through sponsorship of an oral-historian post at the Museum as well as funds to send historians to those veterans who cannot travel. Along with the trip’s sponsor, Gary Sinise, the veterans were greeted with jazz music, Mardi Gras beads, and throngs of cheering supporters including members of the Armed Forces and youth baseball teams. On June 24, an honor flight of 50 WWII veterans arrived in New Orleans to a hero’s welcome, kicking off three red carpet days in New Orleans. WWII Veteran being greeted by a youth baseball team upon arrival to New Orleans. Finally, the exhibit will unveil the history of the “Aluminum Trail,” the air route over Himalayas, which acted as the only means to ferry men and supplies into China. government, the Flying Tigers were the most successful Allied fighter squadron in the Pacific at the time, flying under contract with the Chinese government and using a warning network and unorthodox combat tactics. This exhibit will also tell the detailed story of the famous P-40 Flying Tigers. The exhibit will discuss the successes they had against Japanese air attacks early in the war, and how the 10th AF provided critical transport and air support to British, Chinese, and American forces while conducting raids against key Japanese targets in Southeast Asia. This exhibit portrays the important role of the USAAF in the China-Burma-India campaign. As we continue down the Road to Tokyo, and through the China-Burman-India gallery,we stop at our final exhibit of the gallery which will detail the role of the United States Armed Air Forces and their critical assistance in securing Allied success in CBI.