From Bienville to Bourbon Street to bounce. 300 moments that make New Orleans unique.

WHAT HAPPENED The D-Day 1718 ~ 2018 opened 300 June 6, 2000. TRICENTENNIAL

Featuring often starkly personal accounts, the National WWII Museum gave the nation a new perspective on those who served in the war.

The museum’s vocal trio, the Victory Belles, play THENEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE era-appropriate music at Veterans march through New Orleans on June 6, 2000 to celebrate the opening of what was then the BB’s StageDoor Canteen D-Day Museum. and museum events. Created in 2000 as the D-Day Museum in New Orleans’ warehouse district, the museum has more than quadrupled in size and is the nation’s official WWII museum. The -mu seum was the brainchild of Nick Mueller and Stephen Am- brose, both historians at the University of New Orleans. Ambrose had collected hundreds of personal stories and The U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center tells the story of how U.S. industry mobilized for war and how it responded during the war years. artifacts from soldiers who participated in D-Day. The two conceived of a “small museum,” to feature those

NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM IMAGES MUSEUM WWII NATIONAL stories. Ambrose thought the museum should be located in New Orleans because it was here where de- signed and produced the critical landing craft that was used The National WWII on D-Day. The museum got an infusion of cash from Con- museum was gress when it expanded its focus, changed its name and was the brainchild of designated the nation’s official World War II museum in 2004. Stephen Ambrose, top, and Nick Today the museum features major exhibits including its Mueller. newest permanent exhibit The Arsenal of Democracy, as well as offering rides and tours aboard a fully restored PT-305. But visitors are most likely to be impacted by the small artifacts and recollections of in- A Surrender Card, one of the personal effects on display at the museum. The card was given to American servicemen A P-51 Mustang fighter hangs suspended above the viewing gallery in the U.S. dividuals who were involved in battles or in home front war efforts. Mueller who attended Japanese’s formal surrender ceremony. Freedom Pavilion of The National WWII Museum. retired in 2017. Ambrose died in 2002.