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Bill Klaers and James Stewart from the Cockpit
Greetings!
Bringing a project of this size to life is a tremendous challenge but we are fortunate to have some of the best people in aviation, history, project management and museum design on the team. In future issues of the newsletter, we will introduce them to you and share their impact on this Museum development.
Our efforts to secure congressional recognition of the museum have been assisted by a great group of congressional staffers, friends of history, and solid believers in the importance of this project to our nation.
All of us are dedicated to the continued education of generations to follow, and to the memory of those civilians and military that made the important and sometimes ultimate sacrifices for our freedom.
The mission and vision for the Museum are clear. Now we are studying the best practices and efforts of other museums with the focus on raising the bar in technology, education, historical accuracy, and the all-important visitor experience. We want to make this a two-way conversation on what should be done and how we can excel in every effort. In the very near future we will be looking to you for your ideas, contacts, and energetic efforts to fully bring this Museum to life. Communicate with us through the website, direct email, or a visit when in the area. You can make a difference as we bring the National Museum of World War II Aviation to life.
James Stewart
Bill Klaers
The National Museum of World War II Aviation |
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World War II 65 Years Later
The Legacy Continues to Grow | |
August 14 marks Victory-over-Japan Day in the U.S., the end of World War II, 65 years ago. The final surrender of the great conflict was signed on Sept. 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
As the small group of us working to build the National Museum of World War II aviation considers it all, more than six decades after the war, we do not have the emotional response - the relief of winning the war, the happiness that a loved one is coming home, or the crushing loss of a family member or friend - that the World War II generation felt.
What we are left with is awe and the deepest respect for the accomplishment of winning a war against motivated, equipped and aggressive opponents on two fronts within a seven year period from Sept. 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland to the Japanese surrender. We must remember that although America's engagement in the war began December 7, 1941, our European allies were in the thick of a fight even earlier.
Anyway one considers the timing, the feat is remarkable.
The men, women and children on the home front in the U.S. were touched by the war in ways we do not contemplate today. From rationing of gasoline, meat, milk, shoes and other consumer goods, to scrap metal recycling, working in the war effort and purchasing war bonds to finance the fight, Americans at home were engaged in the conflict. World War II was not a remote event of significance largely to the armed forces; it was virtually everybody's business.
Of course, European citizens saw a different kind of war, sometimes close-in and deadly, certainly loud, threating and disruptive to everyday life.
So take a moment in late August and early September, to let a member of the World War II generation know how much you recognize their sacrifice. Get them to relive those days just a little with you. We guarantee you will learn something you didn't know.
And then take a moment and make a generous donation to the Museum in that individual's name. If you choose, we will be happy to let that person know you donated on his or her behalf.
It is one great way you can say "I will remember, always." |
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| Notes from the Project Manager's Desk |
 Recently I had the good fortune to experience my first flight in a WWII-era B-25 bomber over Colorado Springs and the Royal Gorge. The excitement and awe I experienced was obvious, but what I did not expect, anticipate, nor understand prior to the flight, was the physical environment under which the crew of these WWII war birds courageously accepted and performed their missions. As a student of design, I understand the optimization of the B-25 to maximize bomb capacity and delivery, and the resulting need to minimize cabin and crew space. But as a human being, placing myself in the WWII bomber crews' boots as they flew under much more extreme weather conditions than the calm, sunny, easy day of my flight, I cannot fathom the courage it took to place one's body in any of the gunnery positions, let alone have to slither like a snake in an MRI machine, through confined spaces in unimaginably stressful conditions in the middle of a world war and in mid-air. The experience gave me a better understanding of the conditions under which our nation's men and women prevailed, and how the home front teams designed, engineered and manufactured these incredible machines. In my own way, I got a renewed sense of what the National Museum of World War II Aviation will provide for generations to come.
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