We visited the National Museum of the Pacific War (which was originally just the Nimitz Museum) in Fredericksburg back in 2011. (You can read about that visit in my London blog; the reason for putting it there is explained in the post.) And we've always wanted to go back and see more of it.
Because there's an awful lot of history and fascinating artifacts packed into its relatively small exhibit space (in this really small town).
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| door to the USS Arizona, whose memorial in Honolulu we visited in 2006 |
So in addition to all our wine sampling, we spent a very sizable chunk of our F'burg weekend winding our way from Pearl Harbor to V-J day in this exceptional museum. Fortunately, they make it very easy for you to do this. When you pay your entrance fee, you're entitled to 48 hours admittance with it; a perfect excuse to spend the whole weekend here...we figure they must be in cahoots with the B&Bs and restaurants! This policy is the next-best thing to being free (like most of the big London museums—I have ranted about how ALL museums should be free before, so I won't make you read that again.)
Anyway, we needed all of our three days of visiting to see the whole place, although towards the end of Saturday's marathon session, I was having to skip some exhibits and even a couple of whole rooms. There are just so many wonderful items!
Like the door from the Arizona, above. As well as some fascinating and sobering exhibits that tell some of the other side of the war's story. Like this Senninbari that was worn by a Japanese kamikaze pilot...
A nearby exhibit can't help but make you want to scream at the horrible waste of this desperation battle tactic. This is a piece of the superstructure of the USS Hugh W. Hadley, which destroyed 23 kamikaze planes in less than 2 hours in May, 1945.
Yes, I know it was kill or be killed, but how heartbreaking is it that so many on both sides had to die?
The main museum has some beautiful large pieces, like this float plane:
But some of their most impressive items are in their annex, the Pacific Combat Zone, just a short walk away. Like this restored PT boat...
...and these deceptively handsome 16mm shells...
The annex grounds also offers this impressive map, which gives you some idea of the vast distances that were involved in this theatre of the war...
And speaking of theatres, the most impressive and unique feature of the annex is their "living history" battlefield, where they perform reinactments during the summer and on special holidays...
I think it would be worth scheduling a visit around one of these shows!
2 comments:
The museum seems like an amazing and LARGE facility. I wonder how it came to be in little F'burg?
That's where Adm. Nimitz is from. The museum was first just a sort of celebration of his life; I'm not sure when it got expanded to include all of the Pacific War. There is still a sort of emphasis on Nimitz and one section of the place still tells about his family in F'burg and his life.
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