WWII Memorial Museum …dedicated to those who served and their families Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. -- George Santayana

WWII Memorial Museum…dedicated to those who served and their families

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to

repeat it.”-- George Santayana

Philosopher

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve

in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly

proportional as to how they perceive veterans of earlier

wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”

-- George Washington

2

http://www.picturehistory.com/find/p/103/mcms.html


In 1993, nearly 50 years after the end of WWII, President Clinton authorized the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish a World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

As the design of the government memorial was chosen, many WWII veterans became dismayed at the final design. Nothing they see is significant to the people who lived and died. The only significant feature is 4,000 gold stars. This is 1/100 th of a gold star for each of the 400,000 + killed in action – instead of a name for each soldier killed. Also missing from the design is any reference to the silent casualties of the war – the 800,000 mothers and fathers who gave their children for our freedom. They see the design of the memorial as an exercise in “political compromise”, where the war is being reduced to a few granite pillars and a pond – to fall within the recent strict design rules of being placed on the National Mall at a pricey $200 million.

These veterans had a better idea . . .

http://www.wwiimemorial.com/default.asp?page=design.asp&subpage=highresimgs


True to form, many WWII veterans banded together to create a memorial museum to be built away from the political fray of Washington, D.C. They created a memorial that reflected their values, commitment, and can-do attitude that made them one of the greatest generations of all.

The following is the story of the birth of the WWII Memorial Museum, created by veterans, for veterans, and most importantly for their

mothers and fathers, families, and children . . . .

They began by establishing the Official WWII Veterans Website at http://ww2.vet.org This website was created with three goals:

• The promotion and construction of a WWII Geographical Memorial Museum.

• Creating a massive database where all WWII veterans histories and stories could be archived and made available to all online and in the museum.

• Creating a friendly neighborhood for veterans and their families to share opinions and information with others. This is the WWII Veterans Forum, and has over 100,000 postings since its inception.

http://ww2.vet.org/

Introducing the People-Oriented Non-Profit World War II Memorial Museum.

We now have the design andan available architectural firm. Currently, there is a WWII museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. This ex-warehouse has more than 300,000 visitors a year.


Proposed WWII Geographical Historical

Memorial Museum


There needs to be a World War II Memorial Museum dedicated to the quiet generation of veterans and their families who gave so much to keep our nation free. The current memorial in Washington only gives the 400,000+ killed 1/100th of a gold star as recognition of their sacrifice! Other foreign wars in our history have a memorial museum associated with the Veterans for their history and related ancestors. WWII needs a Memorial Museum that the veterans’ ancestors can relate to and learn from.

Foriegn Wars Battle Deaths KIA0.09%

0.03%

0.02%

0.4%

8%

11%

69%

12%

World War II

World War I

Vietnam

Korea

Mexican

Spanish American

Gulf War

Iraq War (est.)


World War II had many more casualties than any previous foreign US engagement. Every veteran’s name, battle site, and family history would be listed on large computer screens inside the memorial museum. All battle sites could be seen on the ground level world map surrounding the memorial.Every veteran or family that chooses to enter information in our database will be able to view this information.

0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000

World War II

World War I

Vietnam

Korea

Mexican

Spanish American

Gulf War

Iraq War (est.)

Casualties of Foreign Wars

Total Battle Deaths

Casualties

POW

MIA

Other Deaths


Many non-profit museums have a steady stream of visitors – even those not well established. For instance, you can see above that the New Orleans D-Day Museum attracts over 300,000 visitors a year. Multiply that by $10.00 each for admission, plus the revenue from gift shops, parking, and other items and you get over 3.5 million dollars revenue annually. This is more than enough income to sustain the museum and fund ongoing outreach projects for WWII veterans.

$0 $1,000,000 $2,000,000 $3,000,000 $4,000,000

Income Potential For WWII Geographic Historical Museum

Fort Myers Edison Museum

New Orleans D-Day Museum

Sarasota Ringling Museum

Income Potential for WWII Geographic Historical Museum

Mu

seu

m N

ame

Museum's Established Annual Income

Annual Visitors Gross Income


More than 16 million servicemen included over 1 million African Americans. There were the navy crewmen on the destroyer escort USS Mason. The Buffalo soldiers of the Army and the Tuskegee Airmen shown at the right served their country in WWII honorably and valiantly. Also, more than 3,000 black Army men were instrumental in building the Alaska-Canada highway. Substantial information on these important veterans will be included in the museum.

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

Total Servicemen

African-AmericanServicemen The famed Tuskegee Airmen


Inside the museum, all visitors will be able to research their chosen veteran’s war history and battles on large screens. Overall world battle maps, including geographical troop, ship, or air movements will be displayed. The museum will be a geographical teaching place as well as a place of history and remembrance.

A visitor to the museum’s high-tech information center discovers his father’s war history


It is high time we built a memorial dedicated to preserving the personal histories and battle experiences of WWII Veterans and the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands sons and daughters that sacrificed so much for a free America. Japan and Europe have a teaching museum for their WWII veterans, and we have an excellent teaching museum to the victims of the holocaust in Washington – which serves nearly 1 million visitors a year.

But that’s not the whole story . . . . .


Under the beautiful superstructure would rest a nearly indestructible 8” thick monolithic dome. This museum structure would be a haven of safety for the community from tornadoes, hurricanes, fire, earthquakes, flooding, radiation, biohazards, and terrorist attacks while safely preserving the honor and history of the many thousands of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our living generations of today.

Pressure dissipates around the curved dome.


Please contact the WWII Historical Memorial Museum Foundation for more information regarding this important project. Sites throughout the country are now under consideration for the construction of this Museum. Your city may be looking for the economic boost this museum would provide. We have provided a large print of the proposed museum – feel free to copy and distribute it. We appreciate any support you or your organization can offer. To contact us:

By Phone 419-874-6020 or 419-902-0448

By Email [email protected]

Website http://ww2.vet.org

By Postal WWII Historical Museum Foundation

870 Locust St.

Perrysburg, OH 43551

mailto:[email protected]

http://ww2.vet.org/

mailto:[email protected]

http://ww2.vet.org/

Documents

WWII Memorial Museum …dedicated to those who served and their families Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. -- George Santayana