V-Mail (Fall 2021 Issue)

N E W S F R O M T H E N AT I O N A L W W I I M U S E U M

E D U C AT I O N

E S S AY

COLLECTIONS

ORAL HISTORY

EVENTS

Preview: Pearl Harbor at 80

Unforgettable: Cornelia Fort

New Acquisitions: WASPs

Calvin Moore

Victory Ball 2021

PAG E 0 4

PAG E 0 6

PAG E 0 8

PAG E 0 9

PAG E 1 0

IN THIS ISSUE

Taking Flight

LETTER

MEMBERSHIP

Vo l . 4 7, N o . 3 FA L L 2 0 2 1

Letter from the President & CEO

Campaigns of Courage Bricks Receive New Look During Pandemic

03

2021–2022 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

FOUNDER Stephen E. Ambrose (1936–2002) OFFICERS John E. Koerner III, Chairman of the Board

945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

Ted Weggeland, Vice Chairman

nationalww2museum.org

John D. Georges, Vice Chair

504-528-1944 / 877-813-3329

Sonia A. Pérez, Vice Chair C. Paul Hilliard, Immediate Past Chairman John M. Hairston, Secretary Suzanne T. Mestayer, Treasurer

M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T

Stephen J. Watson, President & CEO

The National WWII Museum tells the story of the

TRUSTEES

American experience in the war that changed the world—why it was fought, how it was won, and

R. Ryan Adkerson

Peter J. Merlone

what it means today—so that all generations will

Clifford S. Asness

Robert W. Merrick

understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn.

Justin T. Augustine III

Michael A. Morris

Lawrence E. Bathgate, II

Dennis A. Muilenburg

Brandon B. Berger

David Nierenberg

Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell

Pete November

H O U R S O F O P E R AT I O N

Donald T. “Boysie” Bollinger

Jane T. Olson

Visit the Museum’s website for the most

Jessica Brandt

William M. Osborne III

Michael S. Bylen

Stephen G. Oswald

up-to-date information on our operating hours.

H O L I D AY C L O S U R E S Mardi Gras Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day ONLINE Visit nationalww2museum.org for information on planning your visit, special exhibits, public programs, and more, or to sign up for email updates.

F A C E B O O K /wwiimuseum T W I T T E R @wwiimuseum I N S T A G R A M @wwiimuseum C O N TA C T U S The National WWII Museum V-Mail 945 Magazine Street New Orleans, LA 70130 504-528-1944 info@nationalww2museum.org Please contact the Museum at digitalcollections@nationalww2museum.org if interested in licensing this content.

V-Mail is published four times a year by The National WWII Museum as a benefit to Museum Members.

ON THE COVER Ruth Westheimer, far right, and fellow pilots were among the 1,100 women who served with the Women Airforce Service Pilots, affectionately referred to as the WASPs. Gift in Memory of Ruth Westheimer, 2020.220

New, lighter color replacement bricks were installed in the Campaigns of Courage pavilion atrium, providing greater visibility for these tributes to the WWII generation.

S T E P H E N J . W AT S O N PRESIDENT & CEO

As we continue to get further away from World War II’s end, we know the stakes: lest we forget. And we make the promise often: never forget.

As time goes on and more of the WWII generation passes away, our mission to preserve and share their stories grows even more imperative—with each of us doing our own part to honor their legacy, learn from their experiences, and keep their memories alive.

Through your support as Charter Members, The National WWII Museum is able to continue planning new educational programs, adding artifacts and oral histories to our collection, hosting special exhibits on new topics, and paying tribute to those who served. This issue of V-Mail highlights just a few examples of our ongoing work to keep the memories of the WWII generation alive: from our series of upcoming initiatives to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks to the new collection of Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

This fall, as we explore the legacy of the war and what it means today, the Museum will host Memory Wars: World War II at 75 and Beyond on September 9-11, bringing together top scholars, authors,

historians, and media professionals to discuss how World War II is remembered today through film, video games, pop culture, and museums as well as how it is taught in schools and viewed among different countries. The weekend will kick off with a Band of Brothers 20th Anniversary Symposium on September 9, providing insight into the impact of the HBO miniseries. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to register soon at ww2conferences.com for free livestreams of these two unique programs.

Through the generosity of Members like you who participate in our programs onsite and online, purchase tribute bricks and pavers, make planned gifts to the Museum, and volunteer on our campus, we are working together to ensure that the personal stories of those who secured victory in World War II are preserved in perpetuity. Thank you as always for your commitment to keeping this history front of mind so that it may inspire future generations.

Visit ww2conferences.com to register for free online access to livestreams of the Museum’s fall conferences

Despite the many challenges of 2020, The National WWII Museum kept several of its improvement projects in motion last year and took advantage of the limited visitation to reinstall new tribute bricks in the Campaigns of Courage Pavilion atrium.

Completed in 2016, the atrium features one of the most meaningful tributes on our campus—our Campaigns of Courage Commemorative Bricks. After the original bricks were installed, we heard feedback from our donors about the dark color of the bricks, which made it challenging to read the engravings.

Holding ourselves to the highest standard of production and presentation excellence, we decided to replace all of the original steel gray bricks with lighter colored ones, giving these dignified tributes greater visibility.

The Brick Services team worked diligently to verify the locations and text of all the bricks located in the atrium, and once reproduced, all bricks were reinstalled as close to the original location as possible, with some shifting due to the slightly different brick size. In addition to being easier to read, the new bricks also provide a distinguished ambiance to the Campaigns of Courage atrium.

These tributes are of utmost importance to us, as we know they are to you. Now that the Museum is operating at full visitor capacity, we invite you to come see the new bricks for yourself.

If you have been considering purchasing a brick or paver for a WWII veteran or Home Front worker, please do so soon as quantities are limited. While we are no longer installing bricks inside our pavilions, our Road to Victory Bricks are still available to be installed around our campus, where they are viewed by hundreds of thousands of visitors per year.

Classic red bricks sized 8-by-4 inches and charcoal-colored pavers sized 8-by-4 inches and 9-by-4.5 inches are available for purchase, as well as an exclusive number of larger pavers at 12-by-12 inches and 18-by12 inches. More information is available on the enclosed order form and online at www.honoryourhero.org.

Learn all the ways you can support the Museum’s mission

James S. Chanos

Robert J. Patrick

Kevin G. Clifford

Lisa Pearl, PhD, JD

Henry L. Coaxum Jr.

Robert L. Priddy

James A. Courter

James J. Reiss Jr.

Arnold W. Donald

Todd Ricketts

Peter N. Foss

Wyatt G. Rockefeller

William A. Goldring

Edwin R. “Rod” Rodriguez Jr.

Charles W. “Chip” Goodyear

Caren Rubin

Thomas A. Gruber

Joe F. Sanderson Jr.

Hunter G. Hill

Philip G. Satre

LTG Charles W. Hooper

Robert A. “Bobby” Savoie, PhD

C. Jeffrey Knittel

W. Gray Stream

H. Merritt Lane III

Sharon Estill Taylor, PhD

Dennis P. Lauscha

André F. Villeneuve

Alan M. Leventhal

Governor Christine T. Whitman

Robert E. Smith Lupo

Governor Pete Wilson

James E. Maurin PRESIDENT & CEO EMERITUS Gordon H. “Nick” Mueller, PhD CHAIRMEN EMERITI Herschel L. Abbott, Jr. Richard C. Adkerson Arthur Q. Davis Robert E. Howson MGen. James Livingston, USMC (Ret.) Lee H. Schlesinger David R. Voelker TRUSTEES EMERITI Hon. Diana E. Bajoie Robert T. Hayes James L. Barksdale

John E. Kushner

Harold J. Bouillion

John P. Laborde

Hon. Jacqueline B. Clarkson

T. G. “Teddy” Solomon

William M. Detweiler

Frank B. Stewart Jr.

Richard L. Duchossois

Bruce N. Whitman

Louis M. Freeman HONORARY BOARD MEMBERS MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS Col. Jack Jacobs, USA (Ret.) MGen. James Livingston, USMC (Ret.)

→

nationalww2museum.org/give

04

E D U C AT I O N

Vo l . 4 7, N o . 3 FA L L 2 0 2 1

05

Marking the 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor New Programs and Special Exhibition Explore Contemporary Legacy This Fall

“With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph— so help us God.” —President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941

In addition to the America Besieged gallery in our permanent exhibition The Arsenal of Democracy: The Herman and George R. Brown Salute to the Home Front, the Museum will host a special exhibition opening on November 18, 2021, to further explore the legacy of the Pearl Harbor attacks.

Eighty years ago, the United States was on the brink of entering the deadliest and most destructive war in history.

To commemorate the landmark 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Museum will explore the period leading up to December 7, 1941, and the legacy of the “date which will live in infamy” through original content, a new special exhibition, an electronic field trip, as well as virtual and in-person remembrances and programming.

Beginning in September, an original multi-platform campaign titled “80 Days to Pearl Harbor 80” will introduce audiences to unique articles and video content focused on the period leading up to the attack as well as the impact on survivors. Over 80 days, the Museum’s Education & Access teams will launch an array of exclusive daily content across the Museum’s digital platforms, including

collection highlights, author interviews, panel discussions, and distance learning resources for educators—and you’ll be able to easily find the Museum’s content for this campaign by searching the hashtag #Pearl80 on social media.

Featuring historians, curators, and renowned scholars from our community of WWII experts, the #Pearl80 initiative will offer new analysis on the tangled relationship between the United States and Japan beginning in the 19th century through the rapid escalation of tension in the 1940s. A new season of the Museum’s “To the Best of My Ability” podcast will detail the months leading up to Pearl Harbor paired with an analysis of its lasting legacy from historians and educators.

From November 16, 2021, through June 26, 2022, our latest special exhibition, Infamy: Pearl Harbor Remembered, will examine the repercussions and long-

term effects of the attack using artifacts, images, oral histories, and multimedia.

Located in the Joe W. and Dorothy D. Brown Foundation Special Exhibit Gallery, the exhibition will grant campus visitors an unparalleled opportunity to reflect on Pearl Harbor as one of the most momentous events in American history and to expand their awareness of its contemporary legacy 80 years later. Related programming will be held throughout the exhibit’s run, and the Museum’s International Conference on World War II will also feature a daylong, pre-conference symposium on November 18 titled “Pearl Harbor at 80” featuring the latest scholarship and new perspectives from renowned historians.

The December 7th anniversary is observed annually at the Museum through campus ceremonies and supporting programs that allow us to remember the

US Navy sailors rescue a survivor alongside the sunken battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. U.S. Navy photograph C-5904 courtesy of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.

Five years ago, the Museum and New Orleans PBS member station WYES produced a student program on the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. The Museum will return to Hawaii this year to film a new Electronic Field Trip for the 80th anniversary.

Learn more about educational WWII resources

servicemen and civilians who lost their lives during the Pearl Harbor attack.

This year, our commemorative plans will continue to memorialize these individuals while bringing the meaning and significance of the anniversary to audiences worldwide.

On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, the Museum’s Distance Learning team will premiere a new Electronic Field Trip dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor for students in grades 7-12. Using exclusive footage filmed in Hawaii, the Path to Pearl Harbor Electronic Field Trip, presented by the Lupo Family Charitable Fund with additional support from The Dale E. and Janice Davis Johnston Family Foundation, will be supplemented with exhibition material from Infamy: Pearl Harbor Remembered. That afternoon, the Institute for the Study of War & Democracy will host a panel discussion on the history and consequences of Pearl Harbor, featuring unique items from the Museum’s collection. The significant day of remembrance will conclude with an author event featuring Chris Capozzola discussing his latest book Bound By War: How the United States and the Philippines Built America’s First Pacific Century. All anniversary programs will be livestreamed and later archived across the Museum’s digital platforms.

→

nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers

06

E S S AY

Vo l . 4 7, N o . 3 FA L L 2 0 2 1

U N F O R G E T TA B L E :

CORNELIA FORT TH E LEG ACY O F

A hand-drawn map shows the layout of historical Cornelia Fort Air Park, originally established in 1945 near the WWII pilot’s childhood home. Image courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives.

TENNESSEE’S FIRST FEMALE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR LIVES ON

Cornelia Fort, a flight instructor at the outset of the war, witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor from the air as she gave a flying lesson. Image courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives.

While recently visiting family in the great city of Nashville, I learned once again that the impact of World War II is visible everywhere in this country.

My son-in-law and I visited a park called “Cornelia Fort,” and as we were pulling into the parking lot, I asked him, “What kind of fort is this?” I was thinking

of some long-defunct training facility or ammunition depot from decades past.

It turns out that Cornelia Fort is not a “what,” however, but a “who”: “an important and inspiring figure in early women’s aviation,” as a pair of text panels near one of the buildings soberly informed me.

Since joining The National WWII Museum in 2016, I have learned to brake for text panels of all sorts, and I couldn’t seem to tear myself away from these. I learned that Cornelia was “Nashville’s first woman flying instructor volunteer,” a member of the WAFS (Women Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) and then, finally, one of the

WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots).

She was born to privilege. Her dad, Dr. Rufus E. Fort, owned one of Middle Tennessee’s largest cattle breeding farms (appropriately named “Fortland”) and was the founder of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company. She didn’t really fit the portrait of the well-bred Southern belle, and we might reasonably call her a tomboy. She also knew how to give back. By the time war clouds were threatening the country, she was already a trained pilot and a civilian flying instructor, the “first female flight instructor in Tennessee,” the panel proclaimed.

It’s an interesting story so far, but not particularly unique. Thousands of American women took to the skies in World War II, usually ferrying aircraft from aviation factories in the continental US to air bases.

The more I read, however, the more Cornelia came to life for me. Two episodes in her life stand out above all— two absolutely unique occurrences, one

terrifying and one tragic.

First, Cornelia just happened to be plying her trade as a flying instructor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.

She had arrived a few months previously to teach at the Andrews Flying Service. So it was that she was actually aloft on that fateful Sunday morning, piloting her little Interstate Cadet with a student registered only by his last name as “Soumala,” when she suddenly saw an unforgettable sight. An incoming flight of aircraft, too numerous to count, a big red circle emblazoned on each wing and fuselage.

It took her a few moments to process what she was seeing, but the fog soon parted: bullets whizzing in the air, plumes of black smoke rising from stricken ships in nearby Pearl Harbor. It was a Japanese raid! She avoided a collision with one of the attackers by grabbing the controls from her student, then managed to land the plane at John Rodgers airfield. She spent the rest of the historic day taking shelter in a large hangar. At first, no one would believe

07

her reports of a Japanese attack. They, too, were still processing what was happening around them: the start of World War II for the United States.

The next day, she inspected her Cadet and found out the fuselage was riddled with bullet holes: some, no doubt, acquired aloft, others when fighters strafed the airfield.

She and her student were lucky to be alive.

As if “I was in the air during the Pearl Harbor attack” were not enough distinction, Cornelia should also be remembered for another reason. It is March 1943. As a WASP, Cornelia and her comrades—men and women pilots—are ferrying a group of training aircraft from Long Beach to Dallas Love Field. The planes are BT-13 Valiants, a peppy little craft that was the basic trainer flown by most US pilots in World War II. The group lands in Midland, Texas, for refueling, a little over two hours from Dallas Love. Somewhere in that last leg of the journey, about 45 minutes out of Midland, disaster strikes. Cornelia’s plane collides with one of the others in the group, much of her left wing breaks off, and she and her aircraft spin to the ground in Mulberry Canyon, Texas, killing her instantly. Just 24, she is the first woman pilot in US history to die on active duty. Just a few weeks before her death, she had unknowingly penned her own epitaph: “I am grateful that my one talent, flying, was useful to my country.”

I will admit to my complete prior ignorance of this amazing woman and her wartime story. And that brings me to my final point. I am glad that there were people who knew her, who remembered her, who named that air park after her, and who wrote and set up those text panels to share her legacy with me and many others. I am once again proud to work at a museum dedicated to preserving and promoting the memory of World War II for the American people.

Remembering is difficult, and the easiest thing in the world is to live in the present and forget the past. Cornelia Fort’s story deserves to be immortal, and those little text panels outside of Nashville are going to keep her that way.

Rob Citino, PhD Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian

Follow Museum scholars:

→

nationalww2museum.org/the-war

08

FROM THE COLLECTION

ORAL HISTORY

Vo l . 4 7, N o . 3 FA L L 2 0 2 1

Lofty New Acquisitions

Calvin Moore, 10th Marine Depot Company

New Collections Showcase the Pioneering Women Aviators of the WASPs

Montford Point Marine Recalls Close Calls in the Pacific

Daughter of WASP Dorothy Britt Mann, Connie Parker, surrounded by her grandchildren in November 2019 as the family donated Mann’s memorabilia to the Museum.

“What one artifact are you looking for?” is a question received regularly by most curators. Although there are innumerable ways to answer this, one response I often delivered was the wish for material related to the pioneering women aviators of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

In the past two years, the Museum has received two significant collections from women pilots. In November 2019, three generations of the family of WASP Dorothy Britt Mann gathered at the Museum to present her wartime memorabilia. Prior to that point, the Museum had not been offered a single object or artifact from a WASP. Following the Mann donation, the Museum received a second WASP collection from Ruth Westheimer. That donation, carried out in November 2020, was a pandemic-style blend of an in-person meeting with Westheimer’s daughter and granddaughter who were joined by her son and another granddaughter on Zoom.

Mann and Westheimer were two of the 1,100 women who trained as pilots

Artifacts including a scrapbook and patch from the WASP service of Ruth Westheimer are now part of the Museum’s collection. Gift in Memory of Ruth Westheimer, 2020.220

with the WASP between 1942 and 1944, when the program was disbanded. They were a groundbreaking group of volunteers who defied expectations and gender bias to apply their skills in service for their country during the war. The WASP tested new aircraft for stability and safety before the planes were turned over to male pilots.

They ferried refurbished planes to air bases around the US and carried out dangerous assignments like towing targets behind their planes for gunnery training. The WASP flew nearly every type of military aircraft, collectively logging over 60 million miles in their flight duties on the Home Front.

Mann’s collection includes her A-2 flight jacket with the WASP’s “Fifinella” insignia, her flight suits, and a handmade plotting board. The gear available for the pilots, like the board for charting navigation worn on one’s knee, was often too large and had to be modified or made personally for them. Mann was so petite that she had to use pillows to prop herself up in the cockpits in order to reach the pedals. Westheimer’s

Read the stories behind the Museum’s collections:

collection also includes her flight suit and uniforms, as well as a scrapbook and more than 250 original images of Westheimer and her fellow pilots in training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. The ambition, accomplishment, and pride of the vibrant, young women leap from the photographs.

The WASP carried out these tasks in an often hostile atmosphere with some resentment from male pilots and disbelief from many others. The women went without recognition of service during the war and without veterans’ benefits for the decades following. It wasn’t until 1977 that the WASP were granted retroactive military status.

The women of the WASP continue to inspire, and their actions and achievements will be a focus of an upcoming special exhibition on American women in service currently in development for presentation at the Museum in 2023.

Kimberly Guise, Senior Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs

→

nationalww2museum.org/war/from-collection

The war in the Pacific had been raging for 18 months when Calvin Moore was called to active duty with the US Marine Corps in June 1943. After being sworn in and passing a physical, he was sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he took his boot camp training at the now famous Montford Point.

Moore was born in Chattanooga but moved to Detroit as a teen, to look for work along with one of his cousins. While visiting family back in Tennessee, he learned from a former teacher that the Marine Corps had begun accepting African American recruits.

The thought of being a Marine appealed to Moore, so after returning to Detroit, he volunteered for induction and requested the Marines.

After completing his boot camp training in September 1943, Moore returned to Tennessee on a hardship leave to attend his sister’s funeral. He arrived back at Montford Point just as his outfit, the 10th Marine Depot Company, was boarding a troop train to New Orleans, Louisiana.

After arriving in New Orleans, they crossed the Mississippi River to the Navy base in Algiers. Even though they were preparing to deploy to the Pacific, they received almost no additional or specialized training.

Moore and the 10th Marine Depot Company boarded an LST in New Orleans and steamed via Panama to New Caledonia, where they arrived in January 1944. It was then that the war truly began for Moore.

For the next 17 months, he and his fellow Marines transported, guarded, and handled fuel and other vital war materials that were being shipped from Guadalcanal and other smaller islands to combat units across the Pacific Theater. While they tended to be assigned mostly manual labor, Moore and his fellow African American Marines serving in the numerous Marine Depot and Ammunition companies were nearly always at the front and within striking distance of the Japanese. And while Moore no doubt was in danger more often than he realized throughout his first year in the war zone, two close calls stand out to him.

One day, Moore and a friend were

working in a fuel dump when a Japanese plane flew over and dropped a bomb. At the time, he and his friend were taking a break next to a stack of gasoline barrels, and Moore was playing around with a Zippo cigarette lighter when the bomb detonated.

Moore almost dropped the lighter and set the dump on fire. Fortunately, Moore, his friend, and the fuel dump all escaped injury. On another occasion, Moore was a passenger in a two-and-a-half-ton truck when a Japanese artillery shell detonated right in front of them. The driver was not able to stop the heavy vehicle, which crashed into the shell crater. When the shell exploded, Moore was wounded by a small piece of shrapnel that entered his hand after ricocheting off of his wristwatch. A corpsman arrived and treated the wound with sulfa powder and a bandage, then Moore went back to work. It was not until much later that he realized he should have received the Purple Heart Medal for that injury, but he did not.

In May 1945, Moore and the 10th Marine Depot Company were transported to Okinawa to support the troops fighting on that island. This was the last major offensive action of World War II. During his time on the island, he witnessed the deaths of several civilians who were shot down while being used as camouflage for a handful of Japanese soldiers hiding among them. He also survived the explosion of one of his company’s fuel dumps. The resulting flames rose so high they could be seen from the 10th Marine Depot Company’s campsite some distance away.

Moore was still on Okinawa when the Japanese surrendered and World War II came to an end. His 10th Marine Depot Company had remained there after the battle to prepare for the planned invasion of Japan. Moore had been in the Pacific Theater for 19 months, participating in or supporting the invasions of several islands. To him, mainland Japan would be just another island. A few weeks after the surrender, Moore rotated back to the United States by way of Hawaii. In December 1945,

09

During World War II, Calvin Moore trained at the segregated Camp Montford Point before deploying to the Pacific. In 2011, Moore and other surviving Montford Point Marines received the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their service.

he was discharged from the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, as a PFC. He had been promoted to corporal in 1944 but had been busted down a rank when he was caught smoking in a fuel dump.

After leaving the service, Moore took advantage of his G.I. Bill benefits, bought a house, and went to school. He decided to remain in Detroit instead of returning to his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Unfortunately, Moore and every other African American who deployed overseas returned to a United States in which racism and segregation were national institutions.

The men and women of color who put on the uniform of the United States military despite their treatment as second-class citizens, however, forced American citizens to take a hard look at the racial discrimination happening in the country and became some of the forefathers of the Civil Rights Movement.

Joey Balfour, Assistant Director of Oral History

Explore the Museum’s collection of oral histories:

→

ww2online.org

10

EVENTS

GIVING

Vo l . 4 7, N o . 3 FA L L 2 0 2 1

Salute to Service

Service from the Heart

Mark your calendars for Victory Ball 2021

Museum Volunteer Honors Father’s Legacy

Victory Ball, the Museum’s annual reception in honor of our military servicemembers, returns to campus on Veterans Day weekend in November 2021. Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam War veteran, Major General James E. Livingston will serve as the event’s honorary chairman.

Herbert Gross flew 30 combat missions on B-24 Liberators in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. Today, his son, Jack, carries on his legacy as a Museum donor and volunteer.

Join the Museum on Friday, November 12, 2021, as we honor veterans of all generations and toast our active-duty servicemembers during the Museum’s annual Victory Ball presented by Ray and Jessica Brandt Family Foundation.

Now in its fifth year, Victory Ball is a lavish reception-style cocktail party held annually on Veterans Day weekend as a salute to the men and women who have and continue to dedicate their lives to our freedom. Proceeds from Victory Ball support ongoing preservation efforts and public programming at The National WWII Museum.

This year’s event will return to the Museum’s US Freedom Pavilion: The

Jack Gross recalls his father telling people, “All of the medals on my jacket are the tears of my wife and mother.” Herbert Gross, Jack’s father, flew 30 combat missions in the US Army Air Force as a flight engineer/gunner on B-24 Liberators, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant.

As a Museum volunteer and supporter, Jack shares the story of his father’s service with Museum visitors, along with his knowledge of World War II. Since becoming a Museum volunteer and docent in July 2015, Jack has contributed more than 2,490 hours of service. Over the years, he has also compiled pages of WWII facts, working to create a memorable and educational experience

Boeing Center and BB’s Stage Door Canteen with a new and exciting 1940s Anchors Away theme. The celebration will feature cocktails and culinary creations by The American Sector Restaurant & Bar with live musical performances by Swingaroux, The Victory Swing Orchestra, and The Yat Pack.

Come enjoy an evening of entertainment and dancing as well as unlimited access to the Museum’s signature pavilions. Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam War veteran, Major General James E. Livingston will serve as the event’s honorary chairman and share remarks during the program.

We want to fill the Museum’s campus with veterans on November 12, so we are asking our Members to help by sponsoring

tickets for local veterans to attend Victory Ball. We are seeking at least 10 Victory Ball Stars and Stripes Sponsors who are willing to donate $2,500 each by August 30, 2021.

Sponsors will each receive two VIP tickets to the event while also providing free admission for a deserving veteran and their guest to attend.

To become a Victory Ball sponsor or purchase tickets, please call (504) 528-1944 ext. 508 or visit victory-ball.org.

Members are also encouraged to join us for the Museum’s Veterans Day Ceremony and related programming on Thursday, November 11, which will also be livestreamed for those who cannot travel to New Orleans.

For a full list of Museum events, visit

→

nationalww2museum.org/events

for Museum visitors.

Jack, who worked as a geophysicist for various oil companies before retiring, attributes his work ethic to his father.

When asked by the Staten Island Advance newspaper about his WWII service, Herbert stated, “I did it my damnedest. All my hands, my heart, my strength—all my being went into this war.”

Herbert’s most harrowing experience of the war occurred on May 20, 1944, during Mission 116 of the 14th Air Force (the fabled Flying Tigers), 308th Bombardment Group, 375 Bombardment Squadron. Herbert was attacking a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea in a B-24 named “Hilo Hattie” when anti-

11

aircraft fire struck the nose turret he was manning—sending shrapnel through his legs, igniting hydraulic fluid and his pants, and causing .50-caliber bullets that crisscrossed beneath his feet to cook off.

He parachuted out and dangled off a steep slope for five hours behind enemy lines in French Indochina before freeing himself and finding a village. Ten days and several villages later, Herbert and other crew members whom he encountered along the way, eventually crossed the border into China and were flown back to base.

During that 10-day odyssey, Herbert contracted Dengue Fever and suffered innumerable infected flea, lice, leech, and mosquito bites, in addition to shrapnel wounds, powder burns, and hematomas on his hip and buttocks from colliding with the jagged mountain on his parachute descent. After a month of treatment, Herbert was cleared to return to active duty. He was honorably discharged on October 30, 1945.

For his service, Herbert was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Purple Heart, and the China War Memorial medal. While he never received a disability pension for his wounds, he was not bitter, saying: “No one can say I did this for money. I did it from my heart.”

Passionate about preserving the democratic ideals his father fought to preserve during the war, Jack made a planned gift to the Museum through a charitable gift annuity—a gift that pays Jack income for life. The Stephen E. Ambrose Legacy Society recognizes donors like Jack who leave gifts in their will, life insurance policies, or other estate plans to support the Museum’s endowment and educational mission.

Learn how you can leave a lasting tribute

→

impact.nationalww2museum.org

SUPPORT

The National WWII Museum Store

Call 877-813-3329 x 244, visit in store or online at shopwwii.org, or email museumstore@nationalww2museum.org.

$25

ROUNDER US FLAG LONG SLEEVE TEE

$18

WWII LOGO CAP WITH LEATHER BILL

Item # 19027 (Sizes: Small – 2XL)

Item # 15702 (Navy, Black, Khaki, Grey)

$20

ROSIE DIE CUT METAL ORNAMENT

Item # 22217

$15

WOMEN OF WWII 16 OZ. PORCELAIN MUG

BAND OF BROTHERS SPECIAL EDITION PAPERBACK

Item # 23243

$25

$18.99

Item # 21751

$39.99

$15

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN DOLL

WWII MONOPOLY

GAME PIECE SOCKS

Item # 24433

Item # 16128

Featuring a B-17, 1940 radio, Sherman Tank, U-boat, helmet, and combat boots.

Item # 24432 (Women 9-13, Men 8-12 ½)

All proceeds from purchases made through the Museum Store fund the continuing educational mission of The National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

To find out about the latest items and releases, follow The National WWII Museum Store on Instagram and Facebook @shopwwii.

Please make check or money order payable to The National WWII Museum and mail to: 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 Qty.

Item Description / Color / Size

Item No.

Payment Information GRAND TOTAL

Exp. Date

Card No.

Signature

MasterCard

Visa

Discover

AMEX

Price Ea.

Contact Information Name

City / State / Zip

Address

Phone

Shipping & Handling Chart

Totals

If Order Totals:

Add Shipping Fee

Item Total

$ 0.00 —49.99

$ 5.00

$ 50.00 —99.99

$ 10.00

$ 100.00 +

Free Shipping

Shipping See shipping chart

Less 10%

Priority

For Members only Overseas Order:

Add $ 30.00 to amt.

Priority Shipping:

Add $ 5.00 to amt.

Questions? Call 877-813-3329 x 244