recommend some good ww2 museums.

[def4pos8]

Ditto the suggestion to visit the National Museum of the Pacific War (Nimitz Museum) at Fredericksburg TX -- great location, great food, friendly folks.

The National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton OH can easily consume two full days of viewing. It changes on an almost monthly basis as new or reworked exhibits appear. They're slowly gettin' 'round to completing the missile stuff that I used to use -- their Minuteman III is still in rehab but the displays are endless.

I visited the Imperial War Museum at Bedlam (London). It's very good but the aircraft displays are out at Duxford, in a wonderful, new gallery devoted to the 8th Air Force and follow-on USAF machines.

The Imperial Armories at Vienna, Austria are worth a look. The most wonderful example of a katana (Japanese sword of the samurai) I have ever seen is there, along with thousands of firearms, armor, and edge weapons.

 

[Rexster]

Don't forget the other battleships, which are floating museums. The Texas has been mentioned, and there is the Alabama and, I think, the North Carolina, in the South.

 

[Rexster]

The Alabama has a museum building on land next to it, with mostly aircraft.

 

[Ohio Rifleman]

cajun47 - Check out the George Patton museum at FT. Knox, Ky. This place has a great selection of items from all the wars and a lot of WWII items. They also have just about every item that George Patton ever touched. Many of the larger military bases have sigificant collections of WWII items and all are open to the public.

I was there a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Great museum.

The Air Force Museum near Dayton, OH (which I've visited more times than I can remember, since I live about 10 minutes away) also has some neat WW2 exhibits.

 

[Quoheleth]

If you're going to come over here and see the Texas, better do it sooner than later. She's rusting away fast...

 

[balletto]

Some I've seen:

Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, HI

also in Pearl Harbor, the USS Missouri

the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC (includes a DD and submarine)

Cantigny in Wheaton, IL

The U-505 German u-boat in Chicago

Air Force museum in Dayton, OH

Smithsonian Air and Space in Washington, DC

 

[Clipper]

Patriot's Point in Charelston, SC was, in a word, awesome. The opportunity to poke around inside the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer escort Laffey (5 Kamakazi hits and 3 bombs, and she survived to fight again!) was great, and there are a submarine and Coast Guard cutter there to snoop through as well. I've been to the Alabama in Mobile Bay as well, but liked the PP display better. The Dayton Air Force Museum has several 1-of-a-kind planes there, like the last XB-70, Bock's Car (Nagasaki B-29), and several others, including a beautiful ME-262...

 

[chefman]

Check out the Eglin Air Force Armament Museum just outside Eglin AFB, Fort Walton Beach,Fl. Very well kept,clean and donations are appreciated. Contains WW2,Korean War,Vietnam Era aircraft, as well as some the Air Force is still using. Also has a good collection of military rifles and machine guns. And Destin Fl is only about 8 miles away!

 

[Cannonball888]

Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kiev, Ukraine if you like soviet WWII militaria and history.

 

[barman]

Here 's something I posted many moths ago on another forum:


Today we went for a little trip to Normandy, this awesome part of France famous for its Camembert, its castles, its Viking heritage, its butter and last but not least: its part in one of the major events that changed world History forever... D-Day!

After watching the first episodes of Band Of Brothers on Saturday night, we drove up to Sainte Mere Eglise, a tiny French village which got the honor to be the first French town liberated by American troops.

The first thing we saw when we arrived was a wooden paratroopper hanging from the church's steeple:




This model is being displayed permanently as an hommage to John Steele, an American paratrooper who unfortunately got his parachute caught on the church and thus got targeted by German soldiers, a bullet wounding one of his feet. He stayed up there during 2 hours, acting dead, but he was eventually made prisoner for a short time until he managed to escape during the confusion of the battle.
John Steele went back numerous times to Sainte Mere Eglise, where he is literally adored and where he had made many friends among his admirers.

All the shops in town are showing their gratitude towards the 82nd and the 101st as their names all had some reference to the liberation of the town: "Hotel John Steele", "Airborne All The Way Antiques", "C-47 pizza" etc...



We then had lunch in a tiny creperie in which our attention was immediately caught by a wall on which many veterans had left a note during their come back in town for the 60th anniversary celebration in 2004. The notes were very moving, with lots of messages left for the ones who did not make it:



We then headed towards Utah Beach because we had time to kill until the Airborne museum in SME would open its doors for the afternoon. That's what Utah Beach looks like now:






Coming back from the beach, we then visited the Church in Sainte Mere Eglise. There you can see these magnificent stained glass windows honoring American parachutists:







Then we visited the Airborne museum itself, it's fantastic and I encourage any of you to visit it if you come to France one day. Here are a few pictures:



A sherman tank:



A US glider:




Inside the glider:



A Willies Jeep:



Guns:



Shells and ammo:



Explosives:



A stamp that was censored:





GIs supplies:




A C-47 aircraft:




There are many other things to see. This place is GREAT.

Long live the Airborne and thank you America!!!

 

[barman]

Please check these links:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MQzF4o3qM14

http://www.malaurie.com/frenchamericanfriendship/index1.php?id=60

http://www.airborne-museum.org/accueil_uk.php

http://www.airborne-museum.org/gallerie_video.php

 

[barman]

This museum is great too and their WW1 & WW2 collections are awesome:

Musée de l'Armée in Paris

link in french: http://www.invalides.org/pages/nvx_2gm.html

 

[Bart Noir]

If you are ever in Belgium....

There is a very good Museum near Bastogne. Guess which battle it commemorates

And even further south in Belgium, along the main motorway going into Luxembourg, was a WW2 museum. I knew I needed to exit when I saw the C-47 parked next to a building. But a GOOGLE search now fails to find this, so I guess that sometime in the last 20 years it went out of business. I hope its contents went to others as it was a good museum.

Bart Noir

 

[subierex]

Agree with the USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio. I work about 5 minutes from it and can vouch for how great it is. Actually quite a few firearms in the exhibits too.

 

[cbsbyte]

Well there is the West Point museum in NY. Great place and shows pieces from every war the US was involved. Also the Springfield armory in Springfield Mass for weapons.

 

[Dr.Carbine]

For Airpower Museums

The Museum of Naval Avaiation in Pensalcola, Florida is a very worthwhile visit, as is the Musuem of the 8th Air Force at Savannah, Georgia. Have been to both a couple of times with the family and enjoyed them very much.

 

[Cannonball888]

The Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. Interesting exhibits inside especially the WWII stuff. While in Warsaw, check out what used to be the Warsaw Ghetto which contained 400,000 jews (30% of Warsaw's population) and is now a modern apartment area with little to no Jewish population. While in Poland take a trip south towards Krakow to a town called Oœwiêcim (the Germans prounounced it Auschwitz).

 

[XavierBreath]

Believe it or not, Ruston Louisiana has a small but well stocked military museum in the old VFW building beside the old public pool. The exhibits span from the American revolution to present day, and includes a fair amount of guns/arms.

There is also a WWII military air museum in Monroe Louisiana near the airport. It is primarily run by Gen. Claire Chennault's family, and is obviously very much an AVG, Flying Tigers museum, but it is still relevant.

Neither museum is huge, but since they are close by in Louisiana, they may be worth the drive.

 

[beaucoup ammo]

When In Texas, Don't Miss "The Lady Lex" In Corpus Christi.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4008640831148400430

 

[Omaney]

I am pretty fond of the Confederate Air Force Museum in Midland Texas. Small but it has many interesting artifacts.

 

[Cannonball888]

I am pretty fond of the Confederate Air Force Museum

Wow. American aviation began earlier than I thought.

 

[beaucoup ammo]

I AM getting old! Thought it was still in the Valley! Heck, they moved 16 years ago!

http://www.dfwwing.com/CAF.html

 

[Nicolai]

Two museums at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio--The Army Medical Department Museum and the Fort Sam Houston Museum. Lackland AFB has a static display of aircraft (but I liked the museum and display at Barksdale AFB better). Think the Enola Gay is at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City. Oh yeah, the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX, is first-rate. Haven't been to the Lexington yet, but my late father-in-law was on the previous Lexington and was transferred off just before she was sunk.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

I would like to remention the museum at Camp Shelby, MS it was great when I went.

 

[RoadkingLarry]

Two good places in Oklahoma

http://www.ussbatfish.com/wm-park.html

Not pure military but a darn good place to spend a day or more...supposed to be the worlds largest private (now state owned) collection...

http://www.thegunmuseum.com/