New Orleans: National WWII Museum plans Memorial Day tributes
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The National WWII Museum in New Orleans will celebrate the American spirit on Memorial Day, May 27, in ways colorful and solemn, small and large.
Daylong observances will begin at 10 a.m. in the museum’s Louisiana Memorial Pavilion and will include performances by the Marine Corps Band and the Victory Belles, the museum’s vocal trio, as well as a eulogy for a World War II soldier and a moment of silence.
The museum is also presenting “Remember Them: Memorial Day Stories from the Collection of the National WWII Museum,” which will be on display from May 20 through June 16. In this special collection of images and stories, visitors will be able to learn about heroes such as 21-year-old Navy Seaman 1st Class Johnnie David Hutchins, who was killed in action in the Pacific, and 1st Lt. Gerald W. Johnston, a pilot who was all of 22 when he was shot down by the Germans in 1945.
Other heroics are on display in the recently opened “Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience.” The Tang was sunk in 1944 in the Formosa Straits while in combat with a Japanese convoy. All but nine of its crew members died.
For those unable to attend the observance, the museum has created a website, www.mymemorialday.org, which tells the stories of service personnel who died in defense of our freedom. The site features images and artifacts from the museum and offers suggestions for honoring those killed in the nation’s wars.
Info: National WWII Museum; (877) 813-3329, (504) 528-1944
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