Robert Edsel's Blog

It was one of the highlights of my recent years speaking to this great group of people and in the magnificent space of our nation’s World War ll Museum this past Saturday evening.  They expected 200 people would attend: by the time I walked to the podium there were 400 people present.  As testament to the “untold” aspect of these heroes’ story, the Museum, for it enormous breadth and depth of collection, has nothing about these remarkable men and women who distinguished themselves and our nation in the protection of the world’s great cultural treasures during war.

Dr. Nick Mueller, President of the National World War II Museum provided me a wonderful tour of the museum's new expansion space which will be dedicated on November 5-7, 2009.

Dr. Nick Mueller, President of the Museum and lifelong friend of the late Dr. Stephen Ambrose, whose vision Dr. Mueller and his fine team has shaped and developed, introduced me with very kind remarks about the exciting story of these heroes and the importance of their achievements.  I was deeply humbled to be among so many veterans and to have my mom and aunt present, both of whom were married to veterans.  In fact, my father, Ray, was a combat veteran of the Pacific having served as a young marine in Saipan and Nagasaki, bayonet fixed.

This American aircraft is just one of many incredible items on display for visitors to the Museum.

There is a lot more to tell about this amazing experience and I will do so in the days ahead leading up to the broadcast of this event on C-SPAN within the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned!

Tags: Allied Heroes, Monuments Men, New Orleans, Robert Edsel, World War II

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 5:15 pm and is filed under General, History, Military, Monuments Men, Robert Edsel, Travel and Museum Hints, World War II. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.