In our last blog post of theRoad to Berlin countdown, we covered the Pushing Beyond the Beachhead and Race Across France exhibits within the Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery. Now, let’s examine the remaining WWII stories that will be told through this immersive gallery and the generous sponsor of these exhibits, the Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation.
French civilians welcome US troops in Lyon, France on September 4, 1944. U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph, Gift of Regan Forrester, from the collection of The National WWII Museum. 2002.337.938
LIBERATION
As the Allies approached Paris, Hitler ordered his troops to burn the French capital. The exhibit Liberation will tell the story of how the French Resistance and ordinary citizens rose in rebellion to retake their city. Unable to crush the uprising, the Germans fled as the US 4th Infantry Division and Free French 2nd Armored Division arrived to join the fight. Liberation will cover this major step in the Allied advance, exploring both the celebration by Parisians of the end of German occupation and the last remnants of enemy resistance which remained in the following days.
Exhausted from their rapid advance inland from the Normandy beachhead, U.S. soldiers relax for a few minutes in Normandy, France in June 1944. U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph, Gift of Regan Forrester, from the collection of The National WWII Museum. 2002.337.938
LIFE OF A GI
Life of a GI will give visitors insight into the world of the foot soldier by examining aspects of their daily lives. The exhibit will explore topics such as what life was like in a foxhole, and showcase GI loyalty to their units and the various tools used by infantrymen. Many primary artifacts will be featured in Life of a GI including photos, letters, utensils, field rations, mess kits, gas masks, playing cards, and prayer books, all conveying the practices and sacrifices experienced by Allied troops during the war in Europe.
OPERATION MARKET GARDEN/LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES
Operation Market Garden was an ambitious strategy devised by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and supported by Eisenhower. This exhibit will explore the Allied attack that took place in Holland in September 1944, and the logistical challenges that dogged the operation. Allied airborne forces were to seize a narrow route of elevated roads and river bridges which would allow armored units to punch through into Germany. Instead, despite many heroic efforts and early gains, the Germans ultimately prevented outnumbered British paratroopers from securing the vital bridge at Arnhem while the American attack on Nijmegen stalled. The Allies’ hopes for a quick advance through the Netherlands and a quick end to the war were dashed.
NO END IN SIGHT
No End In Sight will discuss the difficult months that the Allies faced in fall 1944 as they pressed onward toward Germany. The German forces intensified their resistance along the front, and the Allied troops became bogged down in the heavily defended Hürtgen Forest and in the Vosges Mountains. The Allies launched a risky offensive to seize key bridges in the Netherlands and cross the Rhine River, but Operation Market Garden failed. Casualties were high and supply lines were overstretched. Visitors will learn how with the approach of winter any hope of concluding the war by year’s end evaporated and the Allied advance slowed to a crawl.
ADVANCE INTO GERMANY
Advance Into Germany will introduce visitors to the trials faced by Allied forces after the failure of Operation Market Garden as they continued to fight across Western Europe. As the Allied advance slowed to a halt along the heavily defended German Siegfried Line, some of the fiercest fighting yet to occur in the war took place in the dense Hürtgen Forest on the Belgian-German border. Even though American forces captured Aachen, the first German city to surrender in October 1944, the drawn out operation provided a bleak forecast of the battles still ahead. Some units had spent months in combat, such as the famed 30th Infantry Division, which was nominated for a presidential citation for its exemplary service as the unit suffered more than 15,000 casualties. Despite the many setbacks, this exhibit will discuss the continued determination of the Allies to reach Germany.
Donor Spotlight- Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation
Photo of Collins Cerrè Diboll, Jr.
These exhibits within the Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery have been made possible through a generous gift from the Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation. Born to Collins Cerrè Diboll and Marry Jesse Diboll, Collins Cerrè Diboll, Jr. spent his youth on Jefferson Avenue in Uptown New Orleans. His father was a partner in one of New Orleans’ leading architectural firms, Diboll and Owen, and his mother was a talented singer.
Collins attended a variety of schools including the prestigious Rugby Academy on St. Charles Avenue, and also the Gulf Coast Military Academy in Gulfport, Mississippi. Collins graduated from Tulane’s School of Architecture and joined his father’s firm where he practiced until his death.
Collins was very private about his philanthropy during his lifetime, so many were surprised when he left the bulk of his estate to form the Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation when he passed away in 1987. Since that time, Collins’ foundation has distributed millions of dollars to various charities, most of which are situated in New Orleans.
The Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation has generously sponsored exhibits within the future Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery as well as the Museum’s digitization project. When deciding which organizations will be beneficiaries of their philanthropy, the trustees of the foundation, including Herschel L. Abbott, Jr., and Donald L. Diboll always ask themselves, “What would Collins support?”
The trustees knew they wanted their gift to The National WWII Museum to tell the story of the European Theater because that is where Collins served in the Army Corps of Engineers. Friends of Collins also recall stories he told about jumping the hedgerows in Germany. A re-creation of these hedgerows will be an essential feature of the Foundation’s named exhibits, showing that Allied forces had to continually overcome great obstacles.
David remembers coming to the Museum with former foundation Trustee Donald W. Diboll, who was one of the three original trustees of the Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation and also a cousin of Collins. David enjoyed watching Donald see the Museum and observe the progress the Museum has achieved through the foundation’s support.
The foundation’s gift to support the Museum’s expansion was made after Donald passed away last year, but David feels confident that “Donald would have enjoyed it too.”In the meantime, Donald’s son, Don Diboll, has joined David and Herschel as a co-trustee of Collins’ foundation and is delighted with the newest gift.
The Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation leads by example. David Edwards noted the importance of remembering “the spirit of the people and the time of WWII. They are the vanishing generation, so we should honor them while they are still around to see it. For any person of Collins’ age, the war was part of their lives. The war touched everyone and no one was exempted.”
David says that the trustees of the Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation hope that others will “see that a great guy like Collins can do some pretty great things for the world in which he lived. Collins would be happy that we are supporting The National WWII Museum.” We are extremely grateful for the leadership of Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation and for the foundation’s generous support for preserving the story of Collins and other WWII veterans for the benefit of generations to come.
Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation Trustee Donald Diboll
Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation Trustee David F. Edwards
Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation Trustee Herschel L. Abbott, Jr.
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
In last week’s blog post of the Road to Berlin countdown, you learned about the story of the story of the Allies experiences in France in WWII in the Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery. This week, let’s explore the content of the gallery’s first two exhibits: Pushing Beyond the Beachhead and Race Across France.
You will also learn the story of Frank Denius, a WWII veteran who, along with the Cain Foundation, has generously sponsored the Race Across France exhibit In Honor of The Men of The 30th Infantry Division.
PUSHING BEYOND THE BEACHHEAD
Made possible through a gift from the Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation
This exhibit will explore the many unexpected obstacles that the Allies faced as they moved inland into France. The British and Canadian forces attempted to advance from Gold, Sword, and Juno beaches, but were stalled by fierce enemy resistance outside Caen. At the same time American forces were struggling through the bocage, a region of compact fields and tall, dense hedgerows that proved ideal defensive terrain for the Germans. Pushing Beyond the Beachhead will convey how the Allies still faced a deadly fight in the weeks after D-Day, and how they slowly advanced forward to the port of Cherbourg and the town of Saint-Lô through grim determination.
Soldier stands alongside the rubble of the town of Loriol-sur-Drome, France on September 3, 1944. U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph, Gift of Regan Forrester, from the collection of The National WWII Museum. 2002.337.896
RACE ACROSS FRANCE
Made possible through a gift In Honor of The Men of the 30th Infantry Division
Race Across France will tell the story of how American forces battled for weeks to break through the Normandy hedgerows before launching Operation Cobra on July 25, 1944. Allied bombers took advantage of our air superiority in a massive strike that hit some of our own troops but also paralyzed the German defenders, allowing American troops to suddenly punch through the German lines near Saint-Lô and overwhelm the stunned enemy. General George Patton’s Third Army spearheaded the race across the French countryside, determined to encircle the rapidly retreating enemy in the pocket at Falaise. The exhibit will convey the resolution of the Allied Forces as units poured through the opening, broke out into the open terrain, and doggedly closed in on the Germans through fierce fighting.
Elderly French lady gratefully kisses a US soldier in Bourg, (likely Rhône-Alpes), France on September 6, 1944. U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph, Gift of Regan Forrester, from the collection of The National WWII Museum. 2002.337.907
Donor Spotlight- Frank Denius and the Cain Foundation
Frank Denius, WWII-era photo
The Race Across France exhibit has been made possible through a generous gift from Frank Denius and the Cain Foundation In Honor of The Men of The 30th Infantry Division. Franklin W. Denius spent his childhood in the small town of Athens, Texas. As a teenager he attended a military prep school, Schreiner Institute in Kerrville, and then at the age of 17 he enrolled at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina (under the U.S. Army’s educational program). Within a year, he entered active duty on June 3, 1943. After training as a forward artillery observer, an especially dangerous job that required operating between friendly and enemy lines, he was assigned to the 30th Old Hickory Infantry Division.
Frank arrived in England in February 1944. On June 7, 1944, his unit waded ashore at Omaha Beach and went into action providing fire support for the 29th Infantry Division for six days, then his artillery battalion returned in support of the 30th Division. On July 17, 1944, his observer party came under enemy fire, and his commanding officer was killed. He took command of the situation and began calling in fire, and the 30th Infantry Division overcame the German opposition.
In August, he found himself and 700 other men surrounded by a German counter-offensive designed to split Allied forces. For six days, they resisted the German counterattack from atop Hill 314 during the Battle of Mortain. He was calling fire missions almost non-stop for 72 hours and stopped the Germans. When they were finally relieved only 376 of the men came down that hill, as roughly half the American defenders were killed or wounded.
In December 1944, Frank’s unit was in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge and found itself in the path of another German offensive. Frank said he disobeyed an order to withdraw, and began calling for fire that repelled a German Panzer attack. Although wounded by German rocket fire on January 25, 1945, he fought through Germany until VE-Day and came home in August 1945. Frank fondly remembers returning home from the War as an honored member of the 30th Division on the Queen Mary, enjoying a private room with a real bed and a working shower.
He then returned to Texas and was discharged in San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston on October 2, 1945. He has been awarded the Purple Heart twice and the Silver Star a total of four times. While some of his medals were awarded in public ceremonies in France, in 1954 he recalls “receiving a box full of medals from the Department of Defense at my doorstep that I did not even know I had received.” Through the GI Bill he was able to attend the University of Texas and earned degrees in business and law.
Frank’s first contact with The National WWII Museum came through the newspaper. He was told there was an article in the newspaper about Andrew Higgins, who manufactured the boats that Frank had used to land on the Normandy beaches. He read the article and learned more about the location of the Higgins factories and that New Orleans was a natural site for what was then the National D-Day Museum. In the mid 1990s, Frank attended a lecture by Museum co-founder Stephen Ambrose at the University of Texas campus, in which the historian discussed D-Day and the campaign to build the Museum.
Frank serves as President of the Cain Foundation, which has generously sponsored the Race Across France exhibit Frank toured the exhibit space in its earliest stages last winter and shared that, “having seen it in the raw with all the cables hanging around, I know it is going to be wonderful and I am looking forward to seeing it when it opens.”
Frank Denius at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer
We are very thankful that Frank and the Cain Foundation chose to honor the 30th Infantry Division through a gift to The National WWII Museum. Frank wants those men “to be forever acknowledged for their tremendous roles in the battles they fought. The 30th Infantry Division deserves the recognition for their service in WWII for all generations to come. Every generation of Americans will have to pay a price for freedom, and the 30th is a good illustration of the price that those guys paid in their generation.” His regiment was nominated for a presidential citation for its exemplary service during the Allied advance, including a vital role in all five major battles of the European Theater: Normandy, Northern France, Central Europe, Ardennes/the Battle of the Bulge, and Rhineland, Germany.
Frank supports The National WWII Museum to “memorialize the brave men and women of WWII and honor the freedom that America provides to new generations. The Museum will give them a patriotic feeling that I think no other experience will do.”
We are privileged at the Museum to be able to honor the 30th Division in the Race Across France exhibit within Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters and benefit from the Cain Foundation’s generous support. We are thankful for the partnership of Frank Denius and the Cain Foundation in honoring the Citizen soldier and preserving the story of the 30th Infantry Division for generations to come.
Next Up- The remaining exhibits within the Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery and the story of the donor who generously supported them, the Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation.
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
In our last blog post of the Road to Berlin countdown, we covered the D-Day Theater and D-Day Beach exhibit. Now, we examine the story of the Allies experiences in France through Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation, followed by a spotlight on our donors that have generously sponsored this important gallery.
Rendering of the Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery
The breaching of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall and establishment of a secure beachhead in Normandy was followed by a campaign of dramatic highs and lows, wins, and losses. After battling German troops in the hedgerow country and Normandy’s coastal towns, Allied forces broke through enemy lines and raced across France. This gallery will immerse you in the obstacles experienced by the Allies – from the disheartening struggle amid the dense hedgerows, to the German counterattack at Mortain, to the major setback in Operation Market Garden. Exhibits also will recall a successful amphibious assault in Operation Dragoon. You will rejoice along the way as the Allies liberate Paris and finally push Germans back to their border.
Donor Spotlight- Jennifer and Phil Satre
Jennifer and Phil Satre at Lake Tahoe on their 41st wedding anniversary,
The Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery has been made possible through a generous gift from Jennifer and Phil Satre in memory of his father, Sam Satre. Both California natives, Phil and Jennifer met when they were students at Stanford University. Their parents were a part of “the greatest generation” and both of their fathers served during WWII.
Throughout her childhood, Jennifer’s parents, Pat and Patricia Arnold, often spoke about the war. Having already graduated from college, her father joined the Army Air Corps 5 months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was first sent to Cal Tech University for training in meteorology and then assigned to the 12th Weather Squadron in North Africa. Jennifer says, “Mostly he talked about the wonderful camaraderie amongst the men and how much each soldier depended upon another.” He returned to the states and was decommissioned in the summer of 1945 as a major in the US Army Air Forces.
After the United States entered the war, Jennifer’s mother joined the American Red Cross and served in England at several different air bases. Jennifer has a collection of letters her mother wrote to her family which relate her work to boost the morale of the soldiers while on base. This involved a variety of activities such as establishing the base donut-coffee shop, planning parties, and corresponding with the families of hospitalized soldiers. Jennifer remembers her mother telling her about the tension and, often, sadness that came with standing at the air field and counting the planes as they returned from missions. According to Jennifer, “Regardless of whether or not our parents talked about the war, our generation was really shaped by our parents’ experiences during WWII.”
Sam Satre, a farm boy from Minnesota, met June Sterling in Menlo Park, California, while he was on leave from his service in the US Calvary in mid November 1941. According to Phil’s mother, it was love at first sight and they were married soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Phil’s father had been in the cavalry for two years when the US involvement in WWII began to gain momentum. The cavalry that he was a part of evolved into the 997th Field Artillery Battalion of the US Army. On the evening of June 26, 1944, Phil’s father landed on Omaha beach and participated in the Normandy Invasion. He also fought later in the Battle of the Bulge. After the victory in Europe, his unit was moved to Czechoslovakia to retrain for deployment to Japan. However, with the end of the war in the Pacific, he returned home in 1945 to California and enrolled at Stanford on the GI Bill. Phil was born while his father was in school.
Although Phil’s father did not speak of his wartime experiences, this began to change when his father attended a reunion of his army unit nearly 30 years later. Prior to that gathering, Phil had never known that his father landed at Normandy.
Jennifer shared that “Phil’s mother could write a book about what it was like to be a WWII bride with a child back home.” Phil’s mother followed his father around to all of his assignments until his unit went to England, and then stayed home and took care of Phil’s sister. Phil’s mother still has all the letters Sam wrote to her while he was away. Phil has never read their letters, but Jennifer has. “All they say is how much they love each other. Phil’s father couldn’t say much more than that, so there is not a lot of information. Just ‘I miss you.’” Phil’s mother turns 92 this July.
Shortly after his father passed away, Phil began to learn more about World War II through movies such as Saving Private Ryan and from reading Stephen Ambrose’s books, in particular D-Day and Citizen Soldier. A couple of years after the Museum opened, Trustee Boysie Bollinger led an effort to create a national board, expanding the scope of leadership with people who lived outside of Louisiana. It was at this time that Phil was approached, and after meeting with Museum President and CEO Nick Mueller in 2002, Phil joined the Board of Trustees. Phil reflected on his commitment to the Museum, “It has been twelve years since I joined the board and it has been a great experience. It has also been a lot of hard work, but I think we are all very proud of how the Museum has evolved and how it has become such an important part of the telling of the story of World War II.”
Phil’s father also took part in the liberation of the death camps in Europe. Phil still has photos that his father took during that time, which he describes as quite gruesome. He feels these photos “reiterate how awful that experience was and what liberation meant to the people that survived.” For those reasons, Jennifer and Phil felt it was a privilege and an honor to sponsor the Northern Europe: Breakout and Liberation gallery in Phil’s father’s name.
Jennifer and Phil have also generously sponsored the Okinawa exhibit within the Road to Tokyo, the second floor Pacific Theater Galleries within Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters. This floor is scheduled to open in 2015. They have named the exhibit in memory of two of Phil’s uncles, Gail Donald Sterling and Vern Patterson Sterling. Gail and Vern enlisted together and both participated in the First Marine Division invasion of Okinawa. They both survived WWII and Phil knows that both of his uncles were very proud of their service in the Marines. When Phil and Jennifer saw that the Museum was building the Road to Tokyo, he wanted to acknowledge their role as Citizen Soldiers.
In terms of their own philosophy for philanthropy, Phil and Jennifer explained:
There are two things that are crucial. One is that we believe that the mission of the organization is an important one. We have strong feelings about our parents and our families’ participation in the war effort, whether on the Home Front or in uniform. The need to have a Museum that tells the American Experience in WWII, the war that changed the world – why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today – is something that resonated with us. Almost as important is a confidence in the leadership of an organization. The leadership means not only the Board of Trustees but also Nick Mueller and his staff and all of the people, including volunteers, involved on a day-to-day basis in operating the organization. We always had confidence that they could execute the mission successfully because they had the work ethic and qualities of leadership to make The National WWII Museum a reality.
I think that when you make a donation to an organization, you want to feel as good or better about that donation as the recipient organization. You should be happier than they are to be able to support them. We feel that way about the support that we give to The National WWII Museum.
Phil's uncle Gail D. Sterling
Gail D. Sterling and a friend
Phil's uncle Vern Sterling
Phil's uncle Vern Sterling
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
In our last blog post of the Road to Berlin countdown, we covered the last two exhibits within TheItalian Campaign gallery: Liberation of Rome and Fighting for The Gothic Line. On our next stop you will learn about the story of air power in the war, followed by a spotlight on our donors, Mr. and Mrs. James R. Fisher, Sr., who sponsored the Air War gallery.
Rendering of the Air War gallery
The Road to Berlin will take you north to the broad Allied effort, beginning with use of air power in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. As you leave Italy you will step into a recreated Nissen hut much like those mass produced in England and used for storage and operational needs. Above, you will look through a ceiling gap and see a projection of aircraft flying overhead. The Air War gallery will tell the story of air power in the war – from the famous Tuskegee Airmen, to the formidable German Luftwaffe, to America’s relentless air strikes in Europe. The space will also detail the experiences of the aircrews – treacherous conditions and a high death toll made these fighter pilots and bombardiers some of the true heroes of the American war effort. An interactive touch screen will allow you to explore the Air War timeline and other facts and statistics. The Air War gallery will capture visitors’ imaginations with the excitement and danger of the air war, while also teaching the significant role of American air power in World War II through the exhibits First Strikes, Losses, and Aircrews’ Experiences.
Donor Spotlight- Mr. and Mrs. James R. Fisher, Sr.
Mr. James R. Fisher, Sr.
The Museum is proud to highlight two of our greatest supporters, Mr. and Mrs. James R. Fisher, Sr. Together they have generously underwritten the Air War gallery in memory of Mr. Fisher’s parents, James J. Fisher, Jr. and Frances D. Fisher.
James “Jim” R. Fisher, Sr., a current Museum trustee, was born in Manhattan. His parents, James J. Fisher, Jr. and Frances D. Fisher, then moved the family to Paramus, New Jersey, where Jim attended Bergen Catholic High School and then went on to graduate from Lafayette College.
Fisher’s father enlisted in the Army Air Force right after Pearl Harbor and was stationed at Grafton Underwood, a former WWII airfield in England. He was legally blind in one eye, but Fisher’s father bribed someone to tell him the answers to the eye exam so he could enlist. Fisher’s father served when the survival rate was less than 15%, and approximately 80% of the crews were either shot down or captured and ended up in Prisoner of War camps. despite the odds against him, He flew 31 missions in B-17s primarily as a tail gunner and was awarded several medals for his service, including the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Jim’s father, “didn’t talk much about the war until the 1980s, and then he became a lot more forthcoming.” Jim vividly remembers the day his father began to open up. In 1980, Jim was living in Manhattan and had returned home to visit his folks. His mother handed him a letter. The letter was from a man Jim’s father had befriended during the war. Jim began to read the letter, the words written from an adult man who remembered Jim’s dad from when he was 12 years old. The man had found Jim’s dad through the war department, and in his letter said “how absolutely amazing my father was to his family during the war, bringing them food and other supplies from the base.” He wrote, “I always thought I would see you on the telly running for President.” As soon as my father read the letter, he instantly began to cry and left the room. “After that, he became a lot more forthcoming with his WWII stories and experiences.”
After the war, Jim’s father met Jim’s mother, “a conservative Irish girl” and soon thereafter he told her “I’m going to marry you.” Six months later they were married.
As a young boy, Jim’s father gave all of his WWII medals to him, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. Jim and his friends would play Army as kids after watching the popular 1960s show Combat. Jim thought that while playing this game he had lost all of his father’s medals, and his father then had to write to have them all reissued to him. Years later, after Jim’s mother passed away and Jim was moving his dad to a new home, they went through his childhood bedroom. It was then that together they found, “all the original medals in the back of my sock drawer. You would have thought he’d be mad after all that, but all he did was laugh.”
Don Miller, author and frequent lecturer at the Museum’s International Conference on WWII, met Jim through his role as a history teacher at Lafayette College, Jim’s alma mater. One night the two men were talking about the war, and Miller took notice of how much Jim knew about WWII. Jim told him why, and when Miller’s book Masters of the Air came out, the two spent a lot of time discussing the book and Jim’s father’s role in the Air War.
Unbeknownst to Jim, Miller tapped Governor Pete Wilson, Museum Trustee and Capital Campaign Committee chair, to call Jim’s office. Governor Wilson introduced himself and asked if Jim would consider joining the Museum’s Board of Trustees. Without hesitation, Jim immediately accepted. Upon Jim’s first visit to the Museum, he encountered a WWII Veteran walking around the campus with his children and his grandchildren. The Veteran had on a baseball cap with his unit number, and was wearing his medals proudly. He took his family around the exhibits, talking to them and sharing his stories. You could “just see the pride, even despite his age and his difficulty moving around. That was my favorite memory. It made me wish that my dad could have been here to see the Museum.”
Jim has a huge amount of respect for the WWII generation. He could not imagine doing what they did, especially at such a young age. When he was in his late teens and early 20s, “all I was interested in was having a good time. And here these fellas were saving the world. We just can’t thank them enough, which is why I got involved with the Museum. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what the world would have turned out to be. That is why they are called the Greatest Generation, and in my personal opinion, they are.”
Jim hopes to inspire others to support The National WWII Museum’s mission. “When I first got involved there were 6 million living WWII Veterans. Last statistic I saw said it is now less than 2 million. By the time we finish the capital campaign, it will be less than one million. That is very sad because the Museum is a monument to this generation. It would be nice to see us finish the expansion before they are all gone.”
In our last blog post of the Road to Berlin countdown, we covered the first three exhibits within TheItalian Campaign gallery: Invasion of The Italian Peninsula, Fighting Up The Peninsula, and Anzio. Now, we examine the final two chapters in the Italian Campaign, Liberation of Rome and Fighting for The Gothic Line exhibits. Read on to learn about how the Allies conquered the Axis in Italy, followed by a spotlight on one of our donors, the Strake Foundation, who sponsored the Liberation of Rome.
Waves of cheers greeting the appearance of Allied tanks rumbling through the crowd lined streets of Rome following the seizure of Rome on 4 June 1944. U.S. Navy Official photograph, Gift of Charles Ives, from the collection of The National WWII Museum.
LIBERATION OF ROME
The Allies finally broke through at Anzio in May 1944, which opening the way through the Liri Valley to the Liberation of Rome. The capture of Eternal City of Rome on June 4, 1944 is a significant turning point – it was the first Axis capital to be captured – but it by no means marked the end of the campaign.
FIGHTING FOR THE GOTHIC LINE
This exhibit will cover the often forgotten military campaign after the Liberation of Rome which became a war of attrition in northern Italy. As the Germans retreated up the peninsula, they constructed forts at key passes and mountain tops. Fighting halted in the winter due to inclement weather, troop fatigue, and lack of supplies. Horses and pack animals were used to assist with the advance. Fierce fighting resumed with the return of fair weather, and the Allies broke through the Gothic Line in April 1945. By the end of the war, the Allies had pushed their way up the Italian peninsula to just south of the Alps before the Germans surrendered.
Donor Spotlight- Strake Foundation
George W. Strake was born in 1894, and raised in St. Louis, MO. He was the youngest of nine children and both of his parents passed away when he was very young. His first job was as a Western Union runner making $10 a week and putting $2 of his weekly salary into the Sunday church collection basket. He did not attend high school but was admitted to St. Louis University after taking an entrance exam. Upon graduation, the United States was in World War I. He joined the Army in Florida, and became a wireless instructor in the Army Air Corps. He fell in love with a young lady from Florida but he would not marry her because “she had more money than I did.” She did suggest to him that he should go to Mexico as “that’s where the fortunes were going to be made.”
George W. Strake, Sr. and Pope Paul VI
He followed her advice and moved to Tampico, Mexico. He got a job with Gulf Oil Co. where he stayed for two years. After quitting that job, he began putting drilling deals together for fellow Americans. He eventually married Susan Kehoe, from Houston, Texas. They had their first child, Betty Sue, in Houston, and they lived for a total of seven years in Tampico, Mexico. They then moved to Havana, Cuba where he was going to explore for oil but to give himself some cash flow, he took on the Hutmobile dealership which turned out to be a totally unsuccessful venture. After residing in Havana for two years, they decided to move back to the United States “before they had to swim back.” His intent was to move to Oregon to go into the timber business, but his mother-in-law became ill and to give himself something to do while they stayed here in Houston he began putting drilling deals together in Texas. His signature accomplishment was drilling the discovery well in the Conroe Field, southwest of Conroe, Texas, in 1931. Prior to drilling the discovery well by himself he was turned down by eight major oil companies who he had asked to participate in the drilling of the initial well.
After the discovery of the Conroe Field he started the Strake Foundation. This allowed him and his wife to begin a policy of helping many needed institutions and individuals.
The Strake Foundation is still in existence and continues the many charitable works that were started by George and Susan Strake. One of their major charities was the Catholic Church and one of the major recipients of this generosity was the Vatican. A highly significant project that the Strake Foundation supported was to fund the excavations under St. Peter’s Basilica where the tomb of St. Peter was eventually found. George Strake was bestowed the honor of Knight of St. Sylvester by the Pope, which required his actual presence from time to time in the Vatican. Mrs. Annette Strake’s grandparents on her father’s side, Frank & Gladys DeWalch, were also Italian and emigrated to the United States. It is therefore appropriate that Strake Foundation sponsor the Liberation of Rome exhibit in The National WWII Museum.
George Strake died in 1969, and his work through the Foundation has been continued by the Strake Family under the guidance of their son, George W. Strake, Jr. and their third child, Georganna Parsley. Young George graduated from St. Thomas High School in Houston, the University of Notre Dame and Harvard Business School. After George Jr. graduated from Notre Dame he was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy where he served for two years in the Pacific Fleet on an LST. (This inspired the Strake Foundation’s support for the Life Aboard Ship exhibit within the Road to Tokyo.)
George W. Strake, Jr.
George Jr.’s love of the Navy and the United States Military was started in his formative years when he was 6-10 years old during World War II. He can remember wanting to participate in the war effort with all other Americans. As a young boy he would collect newspapers, magazines and aluminum foil, taking them to the fire station “for the war effort.” He also planted vegetables for a “victory garden” in his mother’s azalea bed. His reaction was a reflection of the spirit that existed in WWII where everyone, regardless of their age, was a participant in the war effort. His uncle flew bombers in the European Theater and his two brothers-in-law, Bob Parsley and Bob Dilworth, flew for the United States Air Force and the United States Navy. George remembers his mother crocheting blankets for hours for the troops overseas. As George Jr. says, “the reason we won this terrible war, was because all Americans were involved.”
The Strake Foundation has been a generous supporter of The National WWII Museum since its opening in the year 2000. The National WWII Museum’s work helps fulfill the Strake Foundation’s mission. The foundation strives to teach that “this is the greatest country in the world. It will not always be that way unless we are always vigilant.” We are very appreciative of the generous support the Strake Foundation provides to The National WWII Museum. George’s leadership and the foundation’s participation allow us to expand – with a sense of urgency – so we can share the stories of our WWII veterans while as many as possible are around to see it.
George and Annette Strake with President George Bush & his wife Barbara.
Up next, the The Air War gallery.
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
The Italian Campaign gallery tells the story of the Allies’ mainland assault on Europe’s “soft underbelly,” which turned into a hard, deadly slog consuming many months. American forces and their allies achieved the surrender of Italian leaders – who, amid political turmoil and confusion, switched sides and declared war on Germany. Progress was slow, mainly because of Italy’s mountainous terrain and rain that created an infamous amount of mud. The campaign’s strategic benefits were unclear, but it succeeded in tying up German war machine resources. The war of attrition in Italy was marked by courageous fighting by Japanese-American and African-American segregated units, and by controversy over orders to bomb the mountaintop monastery Monte Cassino, wrongly believed to be a German observation post.
The Italian Campaign gallery will include five major exhibits: Invasion of the Italian Peninsula, Fighting up the Peninsula, Anzio, Liberation of Rome, and Fight for the Gothic Line. These exhibits will employ an array of artifacts, interactive displays, and audio visual presentations to capture visitors’ imaginations and bring the history of the war in Italy to life. Visitors will hear about soldiers’ experiences in their own words through oral histories which recount battles and everyday life in the war. The exhibits will communicate both the broad strategic complexity of warfare and the individual bravery and leadership of the service members who took part in it. The Italian Campaign gallery will strengthen the visitors’ understanding of the efforts in Italy, and its significant contribution to Allied victory in World War II.
Donor Spotlight- Mr. and Mrs. David M. Knott
Mr. and Mrs. Knott
The Italian Campaign gallery has been made possible through a generous gift from Mr and Mrs. David M. Knott. Mrs. Virginia Commander Knott grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and Mr. David Knott was born in Manhattan, New York. At the age of three and a half, David moved to his grandfather’s house in Garden City, Long Island. The two met at the Bronx Zoo. David had a blind date that day, who wound up arriving with her boyfriend. “That was a sign,” David shared. Virginia, also known as Ginny, was also supposed to have a blind date that day, but didn’t care for him. Given their circumstances, David suggested that the two of them go to the zoo together. “It was called survival,” Ginny shared, “and it worked!” The two now live in a little town called Mill Neck, New York.
Both David and Ginny’s fathers served in WWII. Ginny’s father, R.C. “Charlie” Commander, was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Infantry in WWII. He served in the Pacific Theater of the War with the 32nd Infantry Division out of Wisconsin, which also became known as the Red Arrow Division.
David’s father, David Hurst Knott, Jr., was a Lieutenant in the Infantry and served in the Italian campaign of WWII. He was killed two weeks before war in Europe ended. David was only a couple of months old at the time.
Former Museum Board Chairman David Voelker, a good friend of David and his brother, George, solicited David to become involved with The National WWII Museum. David joined the Museum’s Board of Trustees in 2002 and he served on the board for 7 years. During his time on the board, he served as Chair of the Investment Committee and served on the Finance, Trusteeship and Capital Campaign committees. President & CEO Dr. Gordon H. “Nick Mueller” shared that David, “was a valued trustee who brought his passion and wisdom to our Board leadership. He helped us transition from The National D-Day Museum to The National WWII Museum.”
After David joined the board, he and Ginny knew that they wanted to make a financial commitment. They chose to support and name the Italian Campaign gallery because this important aspect of the WWII story “obviously affected my [David’s] family.”
David’s fondest memory of the Museum was when he met WWII veteran Harold Baumgarten and hearing his remarkably heroic story. Dr. Baumgarten was among the first wave of soldiers who landed with Higgins Boats on the beaches for the Normandy Invasion on D-Day. Once Harold landed on the shores of Normandy, a shell exploded and he was hit by a large piece of shrapnel. This removed the lower part of his jaw. He was then shot three more times as he was coming up the beach, only to then step on a land mine. He didn’t stop going up the beach until he collapsed from loss of blood and was taken into a hospital. Today, Dr. Baumgarten lives in Jacksonville, Florida and attended the recent 70th Anniversary of the Allied Invasion in Normandy.
Ginny ‘s favorite part of the Museum is the Oral History collection. “Stephen Ambrose and his son, Hugh Ambrose, took so much time to get those Oral Histories recorded before these veterans pass away. These first person accounts are very powerful.”
The National WWII Museum is grateful for David’s leadership on the board and for David and Ginny’s strong show of support for the Road to Victory capital campaign. We feel fortunate to be able to honor the service of their fathers and our other heroic WWII veterans here at The National WWII Museum.
Ginny's father, R.C. “Charlie” Commander
David's father, David Hurst Knott, Jr.
Harold Baumgarten’s Oral History is part of the Museum’s online Digital Archives. Click here to watch his moving story.
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
In our last blog post of the Road to Berlin countdown, we covered the Invasion of Sicily Gallery. Now, let’s take a deep dive into the gallery’s exhibits!
Credit: National Archives and Records Administration
OPERATION HUSKY
The first step in the Invasion of Sicily – codenamed Operation Husky – was the largest amphibious assault up to this point in the war and introduced specialized landing crafts. Operation Husky will put into perspective the scale and the planning involved in coordinating a major amphibious and airborne invasion, including the vast resources and down to the minute logistical planning required.
Credit: National Archives and Records Administration
TAKING PALERMO
This exhibit will tell the story of how the American Army broke out under the leadership of General George Patton to take Palermo, an important port city on Sicily’s northern shore. This action cut off a vital supply and evacuation route for the Germans. After Palermo was taken, the outcome of the battle became more certain for the Allies at the time.
RACE FOR MESSINA
Race for Messina will focus on George Patton and his well publicized race to Messina against British General Montgomery. Patton arrived in the city just a few hours before Montgomery, and relished in the gifts and adoration of the grateful Italian populace. The Race to Messina and his personal trials solidified Patton’s place as a captivating figure in WWII history and set the stage for the Allied invasion of Italy to come.
The Lilly Family. Left to Right: Kevin,Lesley, James, Anna and John
Donor Spotlight: Mr. and Mrs. Kevin J. Lilly
Kevin J. Lilly was born at Bitburg Air Force Base, Germany. His father, Lieutenant Colonel Albert J. Lilly, was a career Air Force officer, and Kevin’s family moved all over the world as he was growing up. Albert served in the British army during WWII as an American volunteer in North Africa. He was part of what was called the American Volunteer Group, or AVG. Accompanied by his friend Billy Benedetti, he was working in Africa as a free-lance photographer when the attack at Pearl Harbor occurred and changed their entire objective for being there. The two of them went over together but only Kevin’s father came back, “which unfortunately was fairly standard for those days,” Kevin said.
After the war, Albert returned to the United States and went through traditional officer air cadet training as a navigator and flight engineer. He loved his military service and was part of the transition of the Army Air Corps to the Air Force. He served for nearly 30 years until his retirement.
Lieutenant Colonel Albert J. Lilly in his American Volunteer Group uniform in North Africa.
Kevin’s family is rich in military history. “We talked military around our table all the time,” he said. “That was the staple conversation.” Kevin attended Antonion College Preparatory High School in San Antonio, and then enrolled at the University of Texas for his undergraduate studies. While at UT, Kevin met his wife, Lesley, and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the US Army.
Kevin then earned his MBA from Southern Methodist University. His first job after graduation was with Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York. In 2001, he and his former partners left Goldman and started Avalon Advisors. He currently serves as founding partner and President of Avalon Wealth Management LLC. Kevin is also currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas State Guard, commanding the third battalion second regiment.
LTC Kevin Lilly at his assumption of Command for 3rd Battalion 2nd Regiment Texas Guard. August 2013. Left to Right: James Lilly, Kevin Lilly, Lesley Lilly, Rose Lilly, John Lilly, Mary Kay Heck and Llano County Commissioner (ret) Johnny Heck (former USAF Officer)
Kevin was first introduced to The National WWII Museum through two of his friends and former Museum Trustees, Frank Stewart and Frank Levy Museum Trustee Donald “Boysie” Bollinger then arranged a tour for the Young Presidents’ Organization, in which Kevin is a member. Kevin attended the tour and as he journeyed through the campus he experienced, “a cultural immersion into [the period] 1941 to 1945. It is really like being swept back 70 years.” Shortly after, Kevin joined the Museum’s board.
Kevin served on the board during a crucial time for the Museum after Hurricane Katrina. He remembers when “we didn’t know if the doors were going to be able to stay open.” Kevin joined other Museum trustees and staff and, with help from several generous donors, pushed the Museum forward. Kevin remembers the Grand Opening of the Victory Theater complex as “the finest program I have experienced in my life. Not only as far as execution and sheer delight, but it was so rewarding because the people that had worked so hard were able to sit back and know that we had made it. It was remarkable that actually happened.” Kevin is also grateful for the significant gift from the Solomon family during that time to name the Solomon Victory Theater. “It was so critical,” he said. “I’m not sure that the Museum would be where it is today had it not been for that gift to create that theater and get things jump-started.”
After Kevin joined the board, he and Lesley knew that they wanted to make a financial commitment. He said the choice to support and name the Race for Messina exhibit within the Invasion of Sicily gallery was appropriate “for several reasons. A lot of the men that served in Sicily also spent time in North Africa. The area in North Africa where my father served was also former Italian colonies.” He added, “There was a definite synergy between North Africa and Sicily and we felt it would be an appropriate way to pay homage to my father’s service in the Mediterranean area. My mother is a first-generation Sicilian Italian American. Both of her parents were born in central Sicily.”
Kevin and his mother, Rose Lilly. She worked for the US Army in WWII while Kevin’s father was on duty.
Kevin supports the Museum to preserve the WWII story for his children and for the children of future generations, “to make sure that the extraordinary effort of every American during the time of World War II is not tainted or sullied by revisionist historians and that the unbelievable sacrifice that was made is forever perpetuated. Truly our finest hour as a nation existed from 1941-1945. I want people to be able to look back and feel good about what did accomplish and what we can accomplish as a nation. I don’t want that to be lost.”
Kevin is a strong advocate for the Museum, sharing his view that The National WWII Museum is “the most important cultural museum in our country. The Museum is a never ending testament to the courage, bravery, and intrepid desire of the nation. The overwhelming transformation that occurs when you go into the Museum is like nothing that you can experience anywhere else. The Museum is extremely valuable as a portal into arguably the most important part of our history.”
We would not be able to experience the freedoms that we do today without the sacrifices of WWII veterans such as Albert J. Lilly and Billy Bennedetti – freedoms that are guarded through the service of Kevin Lilly and other veterans of today. The National WWII Museum is extremely grateful for Kevin’s leadership on the board, for Kevin and Lesley’s generous financial support of the Museum, and for Kevin’s ongoing service to our country.
The Lilly Family
Up next, the Italian Campaign gallery
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
We are proud to continue to present to you the Road to Berlin, the first floor galleries within Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters. In last week’s post, we explored the Allies efforts and ultimate success in pushing the Axis out of North Africa. The next stop in the Mediterranean is Sicily.
Rendering of the Invasion of Sicily gallery
As you leave the desert landscape of North Africa you will enter a gallery with the look and feel of a home in Sicily. This is where the Allies delivered the first piercing blow to the so-called “soft underbelly” of Axis Europe. The gallery will cover the major events in the Allied campaign to liberate Sicily through three exhibits: Operation Husky, Taking Palermo, and Race for Messina. The Allied invasion, dubbed, Operation Husky, succeeded despite a fierce German counterattack and rivalries between American and British commanders. Putting behind them a tragic friendly fire episode and lingering doubts from the North Africa campaign, American forces proved themselves and, led by General Patton, won glory with the first liberation of a major European city, Palermo. This immersive space will employ an animated map and an array of artifacts and photographs as it tracks the storming of the strategic island.
The Invasion of Sicily gallery is an available naming opportunity. If you are interested in obtaining more details about sponsoring this gallery, please contact Ashley Nash at 504-528-1944 x348
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
We are proud to continue to present to you the Road to Berlin, the first floor galleries within Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters. Last week we gave you an overview of the Desert War- North Africa gallery, and now we will do a deep dive into the gallery’s exhibits.
Rendering of The Desert War- North Africa gallery
OPERATION TORCH EXHIBIT
Stalin’s Soviet Union pressed the Allies to start a new front against the Germans in Western Europe at the earliest opportunity, but the Anglo-Americans did not yet have the strength to initiate a cross-channel invasion into France. Instead, the Allies decided to confront Axis forces in North Africa. Codenamed Operation TORCH, the invasion was launched in November 1942. Led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, it was the first time the British and Americans cooperated together on an invasion plan. This exhibit will highlight the experiences of the US forces and the key elements of the invasion.
KASSERINE PASS EXHIBIT
Made possible through a gift from the Ella West Freeman Foundation in honor of Richard W. Freeman
After months of moving steadily eastward from landing points in Algeria and Morocco, Allied Forces suffered a bitter setback at the Battle for Kasserine Pass. In February 1943, German General Erwin Rommel launched a major offensive that resulted in heavy casualties and forced the Allies to retreat. The attack demonstrated the Germans’ capable leadership and deadly weaponry, while exposing the weaknesses of the inexperienced American Army. This exhibit will show what the US learned from their defeat at Kasserine, including recognizing the need for better training, equipment, and organization.
ADVANCE INTO TUNISIA AND THE IMPORTANCE OF VICTORY EXHIBIT
Made possible through a gift from the Ella West Freeman Foundation in honor of Richard W. Freeman
This exhibit will cover the dramatic final stages of the campaign to push German and Italian troops out of North Africa in May 1943. Having learned from their past mistakes, the Allies began to effectively coordinate their assets. Though they coped with bad weather conditions and rough mountainous terrain, General Patton and British General Bernard Montgomery successfully closed in on German forces.
Rendering of The Desert War- North Africa gallery
Up next, the Invasion of Sicily Gallery
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
We are proud to continue to present to you the Road to Berlin, the first floor galleries within Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters. Last week we oriented you to the war in Europe, and this week we plunge into the first stop in the war in the European-Mediterranean Theater: North Africa.
Rendering of The Desert War- North Africa gallery
The Desert War- North Africa Gallery will tell the story of how American and British troops assaulted the Axis in Africa to secure a Mediterranean stronghold before attempting an attack on Hitler’s “Fortress Europe.” After an enormous Allied effort, they eventually defeated the Germans and Italians and established an operations base for launching bombing raids in preparation for the invasion of Sicily and Italy. The North Africa narrative also gives close attention to American forces’ setbacks and hard lessons.
This immersive 1,500 square foot space will convey the landscape of Tunisia as American forces stem the Nazi tide. You will feel surrounded by desert and rocky landscape, as you see projections of tanks rolling over the sand. Macro artifacts will include a 105mm Howitzer and a 1943 Jeep. You will be able to get up close to dozens of iconic Weapons of Europe displayed in an enormous artifact case.
The gallery will feature three main exhibits: Operation Torch, Kasserine Pass, and Advance into Tunisia.
The Desert War – North Africa gallery is an available naming opportunity. If you are interested in obtaining more details about sponsoring this gallery, please contact Ashley Nash at 504-528-1944 x 348.
Rendering of The Desert War- North Africa gallery
Post by Lauren Bevis, Donor Relations Manager, and Ashley Nash, Prospect Coordinator.
