New wing unveiled at the National Museum of the Pacific War

The National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX

Just got home recently from Fredericksburg, Texas, and the new museum expansion of the National Museum of the Pacific War that took place with events on Dec. 5-7. World War II aviator and President George H.W. Bush was the special guest of honor for the ribbon cutting to open the 32,500-square-foot exhibition in his name. It's a spectacular exhibition that starts with the China-United States relations prior to our entry in the war with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, by the Japanese through the dropping of the atomic bomb — a very impressive museum with a great historical perspective of World War II.
Gen. Michael W. Hagee, the 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps and a native of Fredericksburg, is the president and CEO of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation. He acted as master of ceremonies for the event. (Chester W. Nimitz is also a native of Fredericksburg, population slightly less than 10,000, and the museum is located in and around his grandfather's hotel, Hotel Nimitz.)

"The beginning of the end of war lies in remembrance."

-Inscription near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery

Gen. James T. Conway, 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps, was the keynote speaker to a crowd

for some 3,000 veterans, their families and others with an interest in World War II, for the opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. Other speakers included Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Congressman Michael Conaway. But the real special guests were survivors of Pearl Harbor, Bataan, Corregidor, Wake Island and other iconic battles of World War II.

One man I spoke with, Navy veteran James Bargesley, was a radioman on duty and copied the message to start looking for men in the water after the USS Indianapolis had been sunk after delivering the atomic bomb, "Little Boy," to Tinian to be dropped later on Hiroshima.

In his brief remarks, President Bush said, "This museum honors those who served and those who gave their lives. They fought for a world of peace, not war, where children's dreams speak more loudly than the brashest tyrant's guns. Because of those brave men and women, this museum shall pass on lessons for future generations."

He also pointed out the inscription on a bench near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery that reads, "'The beginning of the end of war lies in remembrance.' And that's what makes days like today (Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day) and places like this Nimitz Museum so vitally important. It is right and it is important that we honor the genuine valor of the men and women who throughout our history have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country to the cause of freedom and perhaps, most of all, for each other. Those who survived the war are always haunted by the memory of those they lost, the friends who never came home.

"So we're also right to pause and thank the living for the honor and commitment to service they have shown and continue to show to preserve this, the greatest nation on the face of the earth. At the same time, we have a solemn obligation to pass forward to future generations the abject horror of war. Ask anyone who has been there, and they'll tell you war is never to be relished and only rarely to be celebrated. Most of all, it is documented and remembered and used as a lesson, as an example of what happens when mankind falls short of his highest aspirations. It is in the act of telling the full story of war, the heroism, the moral justice of a cause, as well as the great suffering that makes this remarkable museum such a special place."

And it is a special place. I was only able to take a brief tour of the museum, where you could spend a couple of days to take it all in, before I had to head for Austin and home to beat the weather spreading havoc across the country. I barely made it before the flight delays stranded people in the airports across the country. But I hope to return some day to spend the time worthy of the history that is documented in the museum and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the Pacific War.

Links to:

National Museum of the Pacific War

Admiral Nimitz Foundation