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Museum pays tribute to native son History, lessons to be learned at facility dedicated to telling the story of the Pacific War There’s a museum that honors the eight million Americans who served in World War II’s Pacific Rim against Japan. More than 100,000 gave their lives. Among those who served was a Fredericksburg native: Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. That museum, of course, is the National Museum of the Pacific War, located in downtown Fredericksburg. History and Mission The museum originally began in 1968 with the establishment of the Nimitz Museum in the restored Nimitz “Steamboat” Hotel. It has since expanded to occupy a six-acre campus and has become one of the elite military museums in the nation. The 33,000 square foot exhibition area features 40 media installations, about 900 artifacts in 97 climatecontrolled cases, 15 macro-artifacts and hundreds of photographs. The museum strides to teach the history and lessons learned from the Pacific-Asiatic Theater of Operations during World War II and to offer educational platforms for their application to current and future national security issues. It also strives to preserve the memories of those who served there and those who never returned home. Nimitz also seeks to facilitate programs that honor and support all veterans, past and present. Admiral Nimitz Museum This is the flagship of the Museum Complex. Here, the Pacific War Museum was originally Cont. on page 75
SHE’S A GRAND OLD FLAG and she’s outside the Nimitz Museum. The museum also was the birthplace of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. — Standard-Radio Post file photo