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Bill Klaers and James Stewart from the Cockpit
Greetings!
Gen. "Gene" Renuart is joining the Museum Board of Directors. We cannot express in a few words here how pleased and proud we are that he will be joining our group of dedicated board members to push the Museum's fundraising and planning to the next level. Take a look at our entire Board of Directors on the Museum website and be expecting more announcements as we add key business people and citizens to our board in the future.
The last few weeks have been consumed with work from our Board of Directors and political friends from both parties in the House of Representatives as we work together to secure approval of HR 1207, formally designating the National Museum of World War II Aviation. The accompanying article in this newsletter "Why Build another World War II Museum" is a statement on why this Museum is important the nation, and how it differs from other museums focusing on aspects of World War II. Our thanks to Cong. Doug Lamborn and his staff for their continued enthusiasm and energy as we seek this designation. We hope to soon have an exciting announcement for you!
As co-chairs of the Museum's Board of Directors, we know many of you are looking for an opportunity to share your talents and resources with this mission to preserve a most critical few years of our nation's history. The fundamental outcomes of our nation's collective efforts in WWII are the freedom that we take for granted and the technologies that are the core of our economy. Your ideas, commitment to purpose and shared enthusiasm are important component
for the Museum's success. In the next few weeks the nation will observe the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II. Now is the perfect time to send your friends to the Museum website and acquaint them with our plans.
And please encourage them to donate to the Museum, as we work to gather funds to complete the critical designs for the Museum preparatory to construction.
James Stewart
Bill Klaers
The National Museum of World War II Aviation |
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Gen. Renuart joins the Board |
The Board of Directors is proud to announce that General Victor E. Renuart Jr. is joining the Museum board! Gen. Renuart will be leading the Museum's government relations activities as we work to share our plans with federal, state, and local government entities.
 Gen. Renuart retired from the USAF on July 1, 2010, as the Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Gen. Renuart's command assignments include a NATO support group and two fighter wings. He also was Commander of the 76th Fighter Squadron during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The general also supported Operation Deny Flight as Director of Plans for the NATO Combined Air Operations Center at Headquarters 5th Allied Tactical Air Force. Gen. Renuart served as the U.S Central Command Director of Operations overseeing the planning and execution of all joint and allied combat, humanitarian assistance and reconstruction operations for Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Prior to leading NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command, General Renuart was the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C. He served as the principal immediate office adviser to the Secretary in all matters pertaining to the department.
General Renuart is rated as a command pilot with more than 3,900 flight hours including 60 combat missions. He has flown the F-16, F-15, A-10, C-130, HH-60 and training aircraft. |
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Why build another World War II Museum?
Frequently people ask us, "Why another World War II museum?
We love to get this question because we are not building another World War II museum.
We are building a museum unlike any other with a unique and distinctive focus all its own. The key to this uniqueness is as simple as our name. There are other museums that do a successful job of covering the history of military aviation from the perspective of one branch of the armed forces such as the Air Force Museum and the National Museum of Naval Aviation, and others, both military and non-military, that cover World War II in their collections and programs.
Museum Rendering |
These museums offer a rich perspective on military aviation and deserve our interest, involvement, and support. But because of their different missions they are not able to treat, in the breadth and depth planned at The National Museum of World War II Aviation, just how important World War II aviation was to the allied victory in the war and how military aviation during the war changed not only the outcome of the conflict, but dramatically changed our history as well. In short, no other museum has taken as its total focus the story of World War II aviation and its legacy.
The National Museum of World War II Aviation will be a place visitors can go to see beyond the basic chronicle of World War II aviation into a more complete understanding of the role of airpower in the war, including:
- the people who provided the essential leadership of allied military aviation during the war
- the strategies underlying both the European and Pacific campaigns
- the incredible speed and scale of the effort required to develop and build the airplanes, train pilots, crew, and support personnel
- the new and unique partnership between science and the military that created several generations of aircraft in such a short period of time
- the challenge to the women and men that had the responsibility for ferrying new aircraft to their place of deployment
- the special hell experienced by the bomber crews as they developed and executed new strategies to destroy the Axis war machine
- the incredible story of the mobilization of the American aircraft industry to fight a global war in the sky
These are but a few examples of the unique story that will be the special responsibility of the National Museum of World War II Aviation.
This is not a new story, but one that must be covered in depth. It is vitally important to an understanding of our world today--a world dramatically changed by World War II aviation. The National Museum of World War II aviation believes that it is essential to keep the rich story of World War II aviation alive, not only as a memorial to all who participated, sacrificed, fought, and died, but also as a powerful educational and inspirational force that is important to our future as a nation.
Copyright 2010 The National Museum of World War II Aviation
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| Notes from the Project Manager's Desk |
 The response to the development of the National Museum of World War II Aviation and its unique focus has been incredibly exciting. In fact, I have yet to run across a single person whose genuine interest was not aroused by discussion about the museum and its educational aspects.
Strangers, neighbors, and relatives of all ages and genres want to hear about the museum's focus and the stories that will be told. It seems everyone has some interest or connection to the era. I don't find that surprising, however, because the events that transpired during WWII and the resulting developments in science, technology and industry can be directly traced to how we live our lives today.
Finding this interest in the museum's development only further convinces me of the interconnecting web that was spun by home front efforts that to this day still connect all of us to that life-changing era. The war affected everyone in the country - it did not matter if you were enlisted in military service, or "soldiers" of the home front - each person played a vital part in the success of the mission. The National Museum of World War II Aviation will be an educational facility that will illustrate how home front ingenuity and wherewithal combined with teamwork and changed the world. |
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