National World War II Museum 00858

The National WWII Museum, formerly known as the D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The museum focuses on the contribution made by the United States to Allied victory in World War II. Founded in 2000, it was later designated by the U.S. Congress as America’s official National World War II Museum in 2003. The Museum maintains an affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution. The mission statement of the Museum emphasizes the American experience in World War II.

Within the large atrium of the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion several aircraft are on display, including a Supermarine Spitfire and a Douglas C-47 Skytrain suspended from the ceiling. A LCVP, or “Higgins boat”, is also usually on display in this pavilion. The exhibits in this pavilion focus on the amphibious landings of the war, in both the European and Pacific theaters of war. Topics covered include the Allied strategy of island hopping, culminating with nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The Louisiana Memorial Pavilion is also home to rotating temporary exhibits, as well as the immersive and interactive Union Pacific Train Car (part of the larger “Dog Tag Experience” interactive), which opened in 2013.

This part of the museum includes several permanent galleries, including the Home Front, Planning for D-Day, and The D-Day Beaches. The third floor of the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion includes an observation deck for closer viewing of the hanging aircraft.