The National WWII Museum

Not a basketball subject, of course, but I just thought I'd mention something that people who have never been to NOLA or haven't been here in a long time might not know.  The National WWII Museum is here.  Why here?  It's here because Ike once said that Higgins won the war.  Higgins boats, named after the owner of the company Andrew Higgins, built the LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicles, Personnel) that were used so heavily in D-Day and virtually every other amphibious invasion (which would include just about all of the Pacific theater) and the factory was in New Orleans.  Ever see Saving Private Ryan?  The boat that brought the troops to shore was a Higgins boat.  They also built the PT boat.

There is also two short movies available to watch.  One is about the final voyage of the USS Tang submarine, which I did not see, and the other was a 4D Tom Hanks, who narrated, and Steven Spielberg collaboration called "Beyond All Boundaries".  What's the 4th 'D'?  Motion, for one.  When the video of German tanks coming over the ridge right over and in front of you is showing the plates under your seat make the whole room shake like they were coming for you.  When they covered the Battle of the Bulge they released actual snowflakes that drifted down into the audience.  I also think they might have cranked up the A/C too.  At the end, there were as many wet as dry eyes in the house.

A B25 Mitchell hung from the ceiling, a Sherman tank greeted you as you walked in.

This is, by my reckoning, my 7th trip to Nawlins.  That is more than anywhere else.  Everytime I come back, I remember why.  You have to hate good food, good music and being around people who are having fun to hate this place, but this museum really puts the cherry on top.  This is a museum well worth visiting.  It is not about the glory of war, it's about national and individual sacrifice, a lesson we could probably do well to re-learn as that generation leaves us and can't teach them themselves anymore.  It's about giving yourself in pursuit of the team's greater good and goal.  In short, it is The Celtics Way.

I'm tearing up just remembering this to write this.  You gotta go.



bob




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RosalieTCeltics wrote:Really interesting Bob, my husband is a military lover, and would love this place. He is a VietNam vet, his Dad was a WWII veteran and was awarded a bronze star, his Granddad was a WWI veteran and he was awarded a purple heart. I will show this to him, I am sure he would love to go.  This is the time pf the year that Vet's memories are jogged. We are losing these guys fast on a daily basis, sad to say. My Dad was a proud Navy man who also served during WWII.

It is great when you posts stuff like this, we all should remember and try to learn more about why we are still here.

Rosalie

Rosalie,

I booked this trip 1-2 months in advance.  I got r/t airfare from SFO, hotel and a car for 1 week for under $1100.  Without the car I think it was about $900 for the flight and hotel.  Obviously, you wouldn't need to pay for two rooms so you'd only need to pay for the second airfare.

You could do without the car.  If you want to take the Plantation tour you could just pay them to transport you or rent a car for a day.  You also don't need to be here for a whole week, 4 days might be enough (I'm assuming doing a series of  pub crawls isn't of interest to you).  You'd also be flying from Logan and not San Francisco, so that might be cheaper too.


bob
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