Pacific war museum will expand

The Kerrville Daily Times ^ | Published May 8, 2008 | By Conor Harrison

[Liberty Valance]

The National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg will celebrate a groundbreaking ceremony for its new, 40,000-square-foot expansion at 11 a.m. Friday.

Gov. Rick Perry will be on hand as the keynote speaker, and master of ceremonies will be retired Gen. Michael Hagee. John Nau, chairman of the Texas Historical Commission; State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran; and John Kerr, president of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation, also will speak.

The groundbreaking will be followed by a celebratory Texas barbecue at noon.

“The new expansion will be added directly to the back of the George H.W. Bush Gallery,” said director of marketing and public relations Dolores Young. “It will tell the story of the Pacific War, from Pearl Harbor to the end. Also included in the expansion will be a center for Pacific War studies, artifacts that are in storage due to lack of space and a place for a vintage Japanese airplane, the Aichi Val dive-bomber.”

The $15 million for the expansion came from public and private donations.

“The state gave us $9 million for the project, and the Admiral Nimitz Foundation contributed $6 million from private donations,” said Rob Esterlein, development director for the museum.

Organizers expect more than 1,000 people to attend the free groundbreaking ceremony.

[Liberty Valance]

~ Friday in Fredtown ping ~

[Eurale]

It’s a very good museum now. It’ll be even better with the expansion.

[Liberty Valance]

"...artifacts that are in storage due to lack of space and a place for a vintage Japanese airplane, the Aichi Val dive-bomber.”

[Liberty Valance]

"It’s a very good museum now. It’ll be even better with the expansion."



I agree. This is the place where I first saw one of those Japanese min-subs that were captured at Pearl Harbor. They also have a live-fire demonstrations of various WWII weaponry on some weekends.

[Liberty Valance]

http://www.nimitz-museum.org/mission_history.htm
more info here

[basil]

I ran into Oliver North in Fredricksburg a couple of years ago. He said that in his opinion, the museum in this town if by far the finest war museum he has ever visited.

I wouldn't be surprised if he attends the grand opening. I'm going to try to make it over there for this event.

[VOA]

bump

[engrpat]

My wife and I went there last year while camping in the area. She isn’t into WWII or history but she loved it because of the personal stories posted there. We had planned to spend maybe an hour and stayed 4. If you can, go.

[az_gila]

“...artifacts that are in storage due to lack of space and a place for a vintage Japanese airplane, the Aichi Val dive-bomber.”

---

Nice picture... but that is a modern replica based on a BT-13.

It's pretty close, but a drawing of the real thing here...

http://www.ussessexcv9.org/Bravepages/valerie.html

...shows different fuselage contours around the nose.

[Lancer_N3502A]

Correct. It was built for the movie Tora, Tora, Tora.

[Liberty Valance]

Thanks for the info!

[oyez]

Been there. Done that. Got pictures I can post later.

I feel the the Pacific War Museum is a “Must See, kind like the Alamo is a “Must See”.

Now, I got a good excuse to go back.

Fredericksburg is a wonderful town. I wish I lived there.
Who knows, it could happen.

[massgopguy]

Is there a section on the Hell Ships?

[GATOR NAVY]

Nice picture... but that is a modern replica

Thanks for validating my own suspicions.

[Liberty Valance]

"Fredericksburg is a wonderful town. I wish I lived there. Who knows, it could happen."



It is a beautiful town. We live in Kerrville which is just 22 miles from there. My wife loves to go to F'burg to eat lunch and put skid marks on the credit cards ;o) We talked about moving to F'burg ourselves but most of our clients are in Kerrville and my sister handles the ones we have in F'burg.

[AnnaZ]

ARGH! Why on a Friday? This is one of my son's favorite museums, and we'll miss it. Darn.

[norwaypinesavage]

I was there in March. A day is not enough time to adequately cover everything there is to see.

[Liberty Valance]

The Hangar Hotel is great place to stay while in Fredericksburg...especially if you're a pilot flying in for the night or the weekend.



http://hangarhotel.com/hotel.htm

[oyez]

I thought the LBJ Ranch was just another cow pasture, but that is a beautiful, special place, no mater who the previous owner hapened to be.