Today marks the 65th anniversary of V-J Day, a day to always remember.To listen to some audio clips from original radio broadcasts,the website "Spirit of 45" has some great clips on their audio page. You'll hear exciting clips, such as the experience on Times Square as reported to NBC and the original Command Performance Armed Forces radio broadcast with President Truman, Bing Crosby, Bill Mauldin, Frank Sinatra (singing "The House I Live In"), Dinah Shore (singing "America"), Frances Langford ("We Gather Together"), Bob Hope and more. Orson Welles offers a moving prayer. Listen to the programs here.
Earlier this summer I visited the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. It is an awesome three story museum with exhibits dedicated to every major battle of the war. Here are some pictures:
If you ever get the chance to get to New Orleans I highly recommend allowing at least one full day at the museum. There is so much to see. There are lots of video and audio exhibits as well, including oral recollections from surviving veterans and those on the homefront, who recorded their memories for this museum.
Photo below: It's a little blurry, but the black bars across the flags are shelves with a figure of a soldier representing several thousand fighters - demonstrating how the American military forces compared with those of Japan and the Nazis.
Next door to the museum is a great restaurant called The American Sector.
I agree. The WWII Museum is excellent. My husband and I went in the spring. There is a picture of my uncle (and a column of other GIs), coming up from Omaha Beach D-Day +1, at the museum. He went to the latrine, where he met the war correspondent, Ernie Pyle. Pyle told him to stay close to him as photographers were always snapping pictures of him. And son of a gun, it happened!
ReplyDeleteTom:
ReplyDeleteExcellent posting. For some reason, which is beyond me, I do not recall V-J Day (I was certainly old enough -- ten years old). Yet I vividly recall V-E Day, some months earlier, and even remember the New York City apartment house roof from which we threw confetti. (I found the house on Google Earth street view recently.)
I particularly liked the audio of the Times Square celebration. What a special time that was -- shortly afterward, three of my uncles came home from the war. Thoughtful, thorough posting on a special day. Best. Gerald
Tom, Thank you for posting the pictures you took of the National WWII Museum. I really enjoyed reading your wonderful post!
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