Museums and Memorials
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is also in Washington, D.C. Encompassing a massive amount of information, the museum includes several permanent exhibitions, including a reproduction of a railcar that took internees to their fates, as well as the Hall of Remembrance and the Children's Tile Wall. Phone: (202) 488-0400.
The USS Arizona Memorial is one memorial that has some depth to it. The memorial building sits directly above the Arizona, which sank on December 7, 1941, during the Pearl Harbor attack, killing 1,177. An accompanying onshore building provides more information about the attack and the war. Phone: (808) 422-0561.
Airborne & Special Operations Museum P.O. Box 89, Fayetteville, NC 28302. Phone: (910) 483-3003.
American Airpower Heritage Museum P.O. Box 62000, Midland, TX 79711. This museum houses the largest collection of war-era nose art in the world. Phone: (915) 563-1000.
Marine Corps War Memorial on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA. The memorial depicts the raising of the American flag over Iwo Jima but is dedicated to all marines who have given their lives in the defense of the United States.
The National WWII Museum 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Phone: (504) 527-6012.
Wings Of Eagles Discovery Center 343 Daniel Zenker Drive, Horseheads, NY 14845. Phone: (607) 358-4247.
The Navy Museum Washington Navy Yard, Building 76, 805 Kidder Breese SE, Washington, D.C. 20374. Phone: (202) 433-4882.
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force 1100 Spaatz Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433. Phone: (937) 255-3286.
U.S. Army Aviation Museum P.O. Box 620610, Fort Rucker, AL 36362. Phone: (888) 276-9286.
U.S. Army Medical Department Museum P.O. Box 340244, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-6189. Phone: (210) 221-6277.
U.S. Army Ordnance Museum Attn: ATSL-A-M, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005.
Phone: (410) 278-3602.
U.S. Coast Guard Museum U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 15 Mohegan Avenue, New London, CT 06320. Phone: (860) 444-8511.
Washington, D.C., houses many memorials commemorating those who fought in other wars. Among these is the National World War II Memorial at the east end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. The memorial opened to the public on April 29, 2004, and was dedicated one month later, on May 29. The memorial is essentially a group of fifty-six pillars and two facing arches in a semicircle around a central plaza. Each pillar has on it the name of the then-forty-eight states. The other eight represent the Alaska Territory, the Territory of Hawaii, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The northern end of the memorial is dedicated to the Atlantic Theatre; the southern end is dedicated to the Pacific Theatre. A highlight of the memorial is the Freedom Wall, which contains the Field of Stars, a display of 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 American military personnel killed in the war. Other details include an excerpt from Dwight D. Eisenhower's famous speech before the D-Day landings and an illustration of the irreverent Kilroy.
Other museums and memorials related to World War II include:
