Our Mission
The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world—why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today—so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn.
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Explore The WarEvent Recaps
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Victory in Europe: One Year Later
Join The National WWII Museum as we commemorate the surrender of Nazi Germany and V-E Day by taking a look back at the events of the year after surrender and how they shaped the modern world with Dr. Rob Citino, Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian and the Executive Director, The Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.
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S. Neil Fujita: Cover To Cover
S. Neil Fujita was an American citizen born to parents of Japanese American ancestry. Like more than 120,000 other Japanese Americans, Fujita and his family were forcibly relocated and incarcerated during World War II.
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Tinkering with Found Objects: A STEAM Webinar
Learn about the story of Edwin Nye, an American Prisoner Of War held by the Japanese during World War II and later the father to Bill Nye “The Science Guy.”
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Lunchbox Lecture: "The Making of Trench Art" by Tom Czekanski, Senior Curator, The National WWII Museum
Senior Curator Tom Czekanski discusses some of the methods and techniques used to create brass trench art.
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"Paper Bullets: Two Artists Who Risked Their Lives to Defy the Nazis"
A conversation with author Jeffrey Jackson, PhD, and Jeremy Collins about a new book that offers a glimpse into the history of World War II at the ground level.
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Lunchbox Lecture: Creating & Coping: POW Life and Craftsmanship by Curator Kim Guise
More than 120,000 Americans were held prisoner by the enemy during World War II. In order to pass the time and to make life easier, POWs used the scarce resources available to design and build practical and artistic pieces.
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Yom HaShoah: Conversation with Renée Fink
To commemorate Yom HaShoah, join The National WWII Museum for an evening with Holocaust survivor Renée Fink.
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She's Helping to Win! Women in the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard
In 1942, the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard opened their ranks to most women.
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The Holocaust: One Teen's Story of Persecution and Survival
Hear personal recorded testimony from Eva Schloss, the stepsister of Anne Frank and survivor of Auschwitz.
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STEM Innovation: from the Computer to Artificial Intelligence
World War II was the catalyst for many technological advances, including creating the world’s first computer—an invention that has revolutionized the world we live in.
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Make Your Mark! Metal Art Luminary Workshop
In conjunction with the Museum’s newest special exhibit, SOLDIER | ARTIST: Trench Art in World War II, this program allows you to create your own punched copper luminary, joining the long legacy of making trench art, a type of folk art created by soldiers dating back to the 1800s.
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Virtual Innovation Studio: Spring Forward Science
Join us for our third Virtual Innovation Studio! March is "spring forward" season, so this Virtual Innovation Studio is all about time.
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Development of Drugs and Vaccines: Lessons from World War II
As the world implements a vaccination program for Covid-19, we can look to WWII history to learn more about the process.
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Trench Art Exhibition Virtual Opening
Join the National WWII Museum for a special virtual opening of its newest exhibit, SOLDIER | ARTIST: Trench Art in World War II.
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Lunchbox Lecture: "The Development of Be-Bop" by David Kunian, New Orleans Jazz Museum
The days of World War II correlated with a new and radical direction in jazz. Dissatisfied swing musicians devised a new jazz that was faster, angular, virtuosic, and dissonant.
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American Liberators of the Holocaust
Join Museum educators to discuss the few Americans who saw the atrocities of the Holocaust with their own eyes.
Oral History Profiles
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Mark Gordon Hazard, 79th Infantry Division
Mark Hazard discusses a patrol he led behind German lines just before the assault on Hagenau with the objective of capturing a German soldier to interrogate for information about enemy strength in the area.
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Benjamin Carson, 2nd Marine Raider Battalion
Benjamin Carson talks about volunteering for the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion and the brutally realistic training they received in San Diego to prepare for combat in the Pacific.
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Jack Glass, USS Enterprise (CV-6)
Jack Glass describes his experiences aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942.
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Frank Buschmeier, 100th Bomb Group
Frank Buschmeier discusses his capture and subsequent imprisonment after his B-17 was shot down during a mission to Merseberg, Germany in July 1944.
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James “Horse Collar” Smith, 1st Marine Raider Battalion
James “Horse Collar” Smith describes his experiences during the Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal in September 1942.
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Walter Jacobs, 77th Infantry Division
Walter Jacobs talks about encountering a wounded Japanese soldier during the fighting on Ie Shima and how he believes that his sparing of an enemy soldier’s life resulted in him surviving the fighting there and later on Okinawa.
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Florence Reynolds, WASP
Florence Reynolds describes a negative encounter she had with an Army Air Forces maintenance officer when she questioned the condition of an aircraft she was ordered to fly.
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William S. Jones, 7th Infantry Division, Attu
William S. Jones describes his experiences during the fight to recapture Attu in the Aleutian Islands in May 1943.
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Mike “Iron Mike” Mervosh, 4th Marine Division
Mike Mervosh describes his experience with the flag raising on Iwo Jima.
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Herbert Helibrun, 301st Bomb Group
Herbert Heilbrun describes the Christmas 1944 mission he took part in to bomb the oil refineries at Brux, Czechoslovakia and how well defended the area was.
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Stanley Wolczyk, 7th Infantry Division, Attu
Stanley Wolczyk discusses his experiences on Attu in May 1943 and being wounded late in the fight, a wound which ended his Army service.
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Charles McGee, 332nd Fighter Group
Charles McGee discusses flying bomber escort for 15th Air Force heavy bombardment groups and downing a German Focke Wulf Fw 190 during one of those missions.
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George Peto, 1st Marine Division
George Peto describes an uphill assault he took part in on Okinawa that ended up being his proudest day in the Marine Corps, despite the tremendous casualties his company suffered.
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Maynard David, 504th Bomb Group
Maynard David talks about a particularly harrowing mission he and his crew flew to Tokyo, Japan in May 1945.
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Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, Navigator on the Enola Gay
Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, navigator on the Enola Gay, describes arriving at Wendover Field, Utah and figuring out that he would be taking part in a mission to drop an atomic bomb.
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Joseph Sasser, 50th Engineers, Attu
Joseph Sasser discusses his experiences on Engineer Hill during the final hours of the Battle of Attu in May 1943.
"To The Best of My Ability"
Season 2: Episode 9 – 33 Months
Rising racial tensions on the west coast of the United States came to a head after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and a mandatory forced evacuation was carried out, sending Japanese Americans to incarceration camps. The event echoed for decades afterwards across multiple presidential administrations in the courts, politics, and minds of those wrongfully incarcerated.