Know a middle or high-school student with a passion for volunteering and World War II history? Have them apply for the Victory Corps Youth Volunteers! The Victory Corps is The National WWII Museum’s newest weekend volunteering opportunity. We are seeking students ages 13 – 17 to apply for the inaugural class. Victory Corps volunteers will bring a living component into the Museum’s world-class exhibits and galleries, sharing actual artifacts from World War II and leading fun, interactive activities with Museum visitors. Bring the history of The War That Changed The World to life in an exciting new way!
A perfect opportunity to learn about history, meet new people and make new friends, the Victory Corps is currently accepting applications. Space for applicants within the pilot class is limited and competitive, so do not delay — apply with the Victory Corps today!
Deadline for application is May 28, 2012. All volunteers will be required to attend a training session on June 9 and will go into service starting June 16.
For a period of 66 years PT-305 went without the hands of enlisted US Navy men working on her, but that all changed on a recent Saturday. Throughout the morning, above the normal laughter of the crew and whir of the table saw, was the constant buzzing of random orbit sanders coming from PT-305. The engine room was alive, not with three Packard 4M-2500 engines, but with the hard work of five US Navy volunteers with the ships of NOLA Navy Week.
The PT-305 restoration crew is grateful to the US Navy and the eight volunteers who showed up to work, and work they did. Our normal finish paint crew consists of two people, George and Kali. George and Kali have a large task ahead of them, painting the interior of a 78-foot boat with three-inch paint brushes. This task is not out of their capabilities, however, the Navy crew that came in was a tremendous help. The engine room has been a constant focus during the restoration, there are multiple crews coming in and out. The wood butchers were rebuilding bulkheads and stringers, the engine crew was checking for alignment of engine beds with the shaft holes, the structural crew was replacing stiffeners and the electricians were planning routes for conduit. With all this activity, painting has been a complicated task – until the Navy showed up. The Navy crew, working with George and Kali, had the entire engine room sanded and painted shortly after lunch. The compartment is now clear for the rest of the crews to return to work. What should have taken weeks was done in a day.
While five of the Navy volunteers sanded and painted, two more helped in the wood shop, working with the bandsaw to cut out hull ribs. Each rib is made as a blank, and then the exact curve and length get drawn onto the blank with the use of a pattern. The cutting must be precise so that the rib will fit perfectly into place. After cutting out some hull ribs, they helped Josh with some deck rib work.
Civilian operations continued in the 20mm ammunition locker and at the bow of the boat. Frank and Conrad spent the day working on cheek blocks. Cheek blocks are attached to the side of the keel between hull ribs. These blocks provide support to the planking where it joins to the keel. The majority of these blocks are a similar shape, making them easy to mass-produce, however, the cheek blocks on the stem are all sorts of shapes. This complicated task has really forced Frank and Conrad to think. At this point the keel curves up to form the stem and the hull planking comes in at a sharp angle. They have to make blocks that are curved with multiple angles, a task that leaves them frustrated, but enjoying every second of it.
Our intrepid trio of Harold, Jim and Ed were busy perfecting work place sarcasm and finishing the ammunition locker. The 20mm ammunition locker sits in the middle of the officer’s quarters and underneath the chart house. The last few weeks have been spent putting in the walls, which run from the deck to the keel: this assembly looks like an elevator shaft. This Saturday, the boys framed and finished the top deck of the ammunition locker, forming the chart house floor. This was done by cutting large strips of mahogany and bolting them to the sides of the ammunition locker. After that was completed, strips of mahogany were placed across the box forming the floor. After a ¾ piece of marine plywood was cut to fit the top, the floor was complete.
Ed leans into the access hatch for the 20mm ammunition locker, which is located in the middle of the officer’s quarters.
The radio operator’s position in the charthouse is above the 20mm ammunition storage. His equipment sits on the deck, while the operator stands on top of the 20mm storage, putting him at waist height with the deck. Harold (wearing a cap) is standing on a ladder finishing the installation of the charthouse floor. The radio operator would stand just a few feet higher than Harold does here. The gap to Harold’s right will have a ladder leading into the crews quarters, while Ed, at the bottom right, is in the officers’ quarters.
The compartment immediately aft of the officer’s quarters is a fuel compartment. The fuel compartment contains two 800-gallon fuel tanks with the officer’s head between them. Steering, bilge plumbing, forced air ducts and electricity all pass through this compartment. Because fuel tends to be combustible, each system is run through watertight fittings and kept away from the fuel tanks. The electric lines run through steel piping that keep the lines out of any direct contact with fuel tanks and fuel fumes. There are three of these tubes for each side, making a total of six. Jim Rivers spent the day working on fitting the pipe conduit to the foreword and aft bulkheads in the foreword fuel compartment.
The exciting day for the restoration crew continued when Rear Admiral Ann Claire Phillips visited the Kushner Restoration Pavilion to see PT-305. Rear Admiral Phillips served as the operational commander for NOLA Navy Week. Phillips also serves as the Commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Two out of Norfolk, Virginia, which includes the USS Wasp, one of the ships in New Orleans for Navy Week. After touring the Restoration Pavilion and going aboard the 305, Rear Admiral Phillips, as well as all of the Navy volunteers, signed the underside of the bull nose that is to go on the 305. It was a great honor to have Rear Admiral Philips visit and take interest in the restoration project.
Rear Admiral Ann Phillips stands on deck with volunteers Harold and George, and the Museum’s President, Dr. Nick Mueller.
Rear Admiral Phillips signs the 305’s bull nose.
The PT-305 restoration crew would like to greatly thank Rear Admiral Phillips, the Navy volunteers, and all of the service men and women of different nations who came to see the 305. We would like to extend a special thank you to the eight sailors who came and spent the day working with us: Ensign Kenneth Pennington and Petty Officers Michael Wagner, Ken Besso, Russell Poyner, Chris Huddleston, Brian Schuler, Robert Hoffman and Leary. Bravo Zulu to you all!
Anyone who has ever visited the Museum has probably marveled over the beautifully restored LCP(L) on display in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion as well as the fully-functional replica of a LCVP (both boats manufactured by Higgins Industries of New Orleans during WWII). Visitors have also toured the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion (or perhaps just pressed their faces up against the exterior glass!) to see ongoing work to restore a Higgins-built PT boat, PT-305. But what visitors may not realize is the long-standing relationship between the Museum and the dedicated group of volunteers who made these projects a reality. This special group of volunteers has been giving their time to the Museum back before the original National D-Day Museum even opened. Stay tuned for more volunteer updates on the Museum Blog.
A Few of The Latest Generation at the Turning Point exhibit opening
So the ballots are in, and the new name of the young adult volunteers’ social group is officially The Latest Generation!
The first meeting of our new group went extremely well, and everyone who participated contributed lots of good ideas for future events. One of the goals of the group will be to encourage other young adults to volunteer at the museum. With this in mind, some future activities will likely include outreach and recruiting events. But social events will also be a major focus for the group. For example, the Latest Generation brought their A game to the March installment of the museum sponsored Pub Quiz – we even won the first round!
Last week, some group members attended the opening for the Museum’s new special exhibit Turning Point: The Doolittle Raid, Battle of the Coral Sea, and Battle of Midway. Who knows, maybe if we attend enough of these lectures we’ll do a little better on Pub Quiz’s WWII trivia rounds!
Please check here for more information on becoming a volunteer.
The major goals for the PT-305 restoration crew over the last few weeks have been the fitting and installation of the stem, building the ammunition locker, and the replacement of hull and deck ribs. With the “Wood Butchers” hard at work towards these goals the front section of PT-305, she is on the verge of having all of her hull structure back into place.
The stem is the upward curving extension of the keel at the bow, which forms the very front of the 305. This installation brings the keel, sheers and chines all together, which makes it an important structural element in the hull. With the sheers complete, the last few weeks have been spent building and installing the chines.
This photo shows the chines and sheers in place. Permanently attached further back, they were only clamped to the stem, until it was permanently put into place. After the stem attachment, the crew permanently attached the chine and sheers to the stem with large bolts.
The chine of a boat is the meeting of the side and lower hull. In the case of PT-305 it is a hard chine, meaning there is a sharp angle that defines this intersection. The chine runs the length of PT-305 on the port and starboard sides. Due to the deterioration of the existing chine it was decided replace the foreword 20 feet of the port and starboard chines, splicing it into the original chine.
After a few lessons learned in gluing up the sheer, which included splitting apart a 20 foot glued section as the crew tried to attach it to the boat, the process was streamlined, and project coordinator Bruce Harris and volunteer Frank came up with the plan of attack. Three boards would be glued together on the boat to get the curve, then they would be removed, shaped and reinstalled as finished pieces. This process took three weeks to complete. After two weekends of glue-ups the chine was removed in order for Bob and Frank to use electric planers to shape it. Once both port and starboard chines were shaped they were installed, clearing the way for the installation of the stem.
Weekday volunteer Louis works on clamping a freshly glued piece in place on the starboard chine.
The stem consists of three main components, the forefoot, the backing block and the stem. The forefoot is attached to the keel and curves upward, the stem is attached to the forefoot and continues the curve up to the deck, and the backing block secures the forefoot and stem together. When removed from PT-305, all of these structures were too compromised to put back into place, each one would need to be rebuilt. The forefoot and backing block were built by laminating wood from other parts of PT-305. When a part cannot be used in its original location we recycle it by using it to make different piece for the boat. .
The crew created the components which make up the stem by gluing multiple layers together to from blocks of wood . These blocks were then shaped into the forefoot and the backing block. The final piece, the stem, was rescued from PT-659 when she was scrapped. The forefoot and backing block were the first pieces permanently installed. The stem installation could not be done until the chines and sheers were completed.
This photo shows the restoration work that can be done by the crew. This is the stem of PT-659, a Higgins WWII original, that has been restored by removing soft, rotten spots of the wood and replacing them with strong, new mahogany pieces.
Although backing block and forefoot had been installed permanently for several weeks, the stem had been held in place only temporarily. In late March, the crew gathered at the bow of the 305 as Frank’s crew completed the process of permanently attaching the final stem piece. With a few words from Bruce, and wisecracks and laughter from the crew, the large stem was lifted into place. Surfaces were coated in a special flexible epoxy, and as several of the crew strained to get the large piece in place, bolt it to the backing block, and attach the chines and sheers properly, the whole crew looked on, took photos and made even more jokes at the expense of those actually doing the work.
Volunteers wrestle the heavy stem into place. The piece had to be perfectly aligned so that it joined with six other pieces of the boat.
Inside PT-305, Ed’s crew has begun building the ammunition locker. This is where the 20mm and .50 caliber machine gun ammunition is stored. The locker is directly below the chart house and sits in the middle of the officers’ quarters. From the deck it looks like a plywood elevator shaft, and without any shelves installed it is a void from the deck to the keel. The sides of the box are joined by corner pieces with rabbets cut into them to receive the plywood. (A rabbet is a ledge cut into the edge of a piece of wood.) One side of the box is installed already, it’s an original bulkhead that is in place, and the other three sides have been rebuilt, having been removed by PT-305’s previous owners. These sides are 10 feet tall and take some muscle to wrestle into place. After a series of awkward lifts, the three sides have been clamped into place and are awaiting final fastening.
Ed and crew are on the deck while working on the ammunition locker. The plywood and handrails on the deck are only temporary, so that volunteers have a surface to walk on while working. When completed, the deck will be double layered, with a water tight layer in between the layers of wood. The handrails are for the safety of the volunteers. PT boats were not equipped with railings to prevent men from going overboard.
Though the ammunition locker has not been completed, Norman and Jimmy can begin working on the foreword half of the steering system. The steering system runs from the wheelhouse to the lazarette, the last compartment in PT-305. When the wheel which is above deck, is turned, it moves a chain, which turns a pipe. . This pipe runs roughly 60 feet from below the wheel to the steering gear box, just above the rudders. This simple connection of a chain and a pipe to the ship’s wheel turns the two rudders of the 305, thus moving the boat as it maneuvers through the water. At this stage Norman is measuring and plotting the route through the various compartments and bulkheads while Jimmy works on securing and restoring the hardware that supports the system.
The engine room crew has been hard at work, installing all of the aluminum brackets and gussets which strengthen the engine room on the 305. This helps prevent wear and tear on the wooden frame from the boat’s three 3500-pound, 1500 horsepower engines.
Anyone who has ever visited the Museum has probably marveled over the beautifully restored LCP(L) on display in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion as well as the fully-functional replica of a LCVP (both boats manufactured by Higgins Industries of New Orleans during WWII). Visitors have also toured the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion (or perhaps just pressed their faces up against the exterior glass!) to see ongoing work to restore a Higgins-built PT boat, PT-305. But what visitors may not realize is the long-standing relationship between the Museum and the dedicated group of volunteers who made these projects a reality. This special group of volunteers has been giving their time to the Museum back before the original National D-Day Museum even opened. Stay tuned for more volunteer updates on the Museum Blog.
As we commemorate Volunteer Appreciation Week at The National WWII Museum, we also mourn the passing of a longtime member of our volunteer family – WWII vet and POW camp survivor, Jack Sullivan.
Jack was an ETO combat infantry rifleman/anti-tank gunner with the U.S. Army, Co. K, 100th Infantry Division. While on “recon” patrol in the Vosges Mountains area of Northern France his squad was ambushed by a German machine gun unit. His squad withdrew but he stayed behind to assist some wounded buddies and were overrun and captured. He spent the remaining months of the war as a Nazi prisoner of war.
Despite these unimaginable hardships in early life, Jack was always cheerful and quick with a joke and a laugh. He was also always willing to share his story with Museum visitors and as a member of our Speakers Bureau.
Jack (far right) at a volunteer event.
John F. Sullivan “Jack” passed away on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the age of 86. He was the beloved husband of Mary Nelle Mason Sullivan for 62 years. He was the father of Michael Patrick Sullivan and Kay Sullivan Swadener. Grandfather of Michael John Swadener. Brother of Erin Sullivan Wohlbruck Garity. Uncle of John, Jim and Eric Wohlbruck. Jack served his country in World War II and was a prisoner of war in Germany. He was a graduate of Behrman High School and Tulane University and was employed by the State of Louisiana Department of Employment Security for 42 years. He was a volunteer at the National D-Day Museum (now The National WWII Museum) for 7 years.
Published in The Times-Picayune from April 16 to April 19, 2012
On March 8, 2012, The National WWII Museum lost a treasured member of our family. Vernon Main was a WWII veteran and longtime Museum volunteer.In addition to his work here at the Museum, Vernon carried our mission to schools, nursing homes and community centers across the region as a member of the Speakers Bureau. His group proudly dubbed themselves the “A-Team” and their presentations became known for their unique blend of humor and history.
Vernon’s friend and fellow A-Team member,Ronnie Abboud, wrote this about his service:
Vernon J. Main, Jr. started his service with the US Army Air Corps, 13th Attack Squadron in 1939 at Barksdale Field, Shreveport, LA. Shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Vernon’s’ Squadron shipped out to Australia where the Grim Reapers “borrowed” thirteen B-25 Mitchell Bombers from the Dutch. As a co-pilot and “Royce Raider,” his service included 50 combat missions against the Japanese in the Philippines, Java and New Guinea. After the war Vernon, aka “Jug” and /or”Victor Mike”, continued his love of flying his Boeing Stearman. He earned his golden wings as God’s co-pilot.
Vernon will be sorely missed by all of us here at the Museum. We are grateful for his service and his humor and we hope (for their sake!) they have plenty of cookies in heaven.
This week, we will mark the first meeting of a new group at The National WWII Museum. Aimed at volunteers between the ages of 21 and 40, these meet-ups will strive to connect younger volunteers outside of their regular shifts at the Museum. Our group will also focus on increasing the presence of younger volunteers at Museum events, such as Pub Quiz, film screenings, lunchbox lectures and Stage Door Canteen shows.
Besides discussing future activities, one of the major goals of the first meeting will be to establish an appropriately WWII-themed name for the group (since “The National WWII Museum Young Adult Volunteers Group” doesn’t have quite the snappy zing we would like!) Invitees to the first meeting are encouraged to come up with their own suggestions, which will then be voted on by the whole group. Check back soon for updates to see what we pick!
Saturdays are big days at the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion, the constant sound of tools and laughter fill every space within the building. There are about 30 volunteers climbing all over PT-305, working hard and enjoying every minute of it. Part of the fun on February 11, 2012, was using a tool in a manner it was not commonly used for.
A wood planer is a tool that finishes and smooths the surface of wood, it is faster and more uniform than sanding a large piece by hand. Usually a flat board is fed into the planer create a smooth surface or cut the board down to the desired thickness. That Saturday, Frank and his crew were feeding a board through that looks like an elongated corkscrew. The scene was quite impressive, five men holding onto a board that was hopelessly crooked. Conrad even had to stand on a ladder because the board bends so sharply it’s the only way he could hold the end up.
January 27th—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—was designated in 2005 by the UN General Assembly as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In 2012, the commemorative events and programming are focused on the theme “Children and the Holocaust.” Millions of children suffered acts of mass violence carried out by the Nazis and their collaborators. One and a half million Jewish children perished alongside Roma and Sinti children, disabled children and others.
On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day we would like to recognize and honor one of the Museum’s volunteers. We are very lucky to be able to work with Anne Skorecki Levy, a child survivor of the Holocaust and a Museum volunteer since the beginning.
Anne Skorecki Levy on the left with other dedicated Museum volunteers
When tourists visit New Orleans, the time they spend at The National WWII Museum tends to be a high point of their trip. The Museum is also a jewel among New Orleans residents. Many locals love The National WWII Museum so much that they choose to spend their free time volunteering here. And it’s a good thing they do. Without the nearly 350 volunteers at the Museum, it simply would not be able to function as well as it does. The Museum itself certainly benefits from its volunteers, but what do the volunteers themselves get out of the experience?
Well, some volunteers offer their time because of their love of history in general, and others feel drawn to military history in particular. More than that, many are looking for social connections, a structured outlet for their free time and a way to contribute to the community.
For Charlie Monnot, a recent retiree who’s been with the Museum two months, volunteering gives him something meaningful to do with his time. As an Army veteran from the Vietnam era, the Museum also has special meaning to him. He enjoys the opportunity to serve as a guide and educate others about the country’s military past while he enriches his own knowledge.
Meanwhile, Fritz Heintz, a WWII veteran, feels privileged to have taken part in such an important historical event, and volunteering at the museum allows him to make experience accessible to the public. Heintz worked his way up through the ranks to serve as an executive officer in the U.S. Navy Amphibious Forces at Okinawa. The vessel he served on helped equip the soldiers on the front line with tanks, trucks, and other vehicles. It also evacuated many soldiers and Marines.
Volunteering is not just for retirees, however. For example, Kelly Smith, a student currently working on a Masters in Historic Preservation, chooses to volunteer because it complements her field of interest. She donates her time to the task of restoring a PT boat at the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion where she also gives tours. In addition, her father is a volunteer, and working on a team that rebuilds old engines gives them an interesting way to spend time together.
The National WWII Museum welcomes volunteers from ages 16 on up. A variety of opportunities are available, and scheduling is flexible. Email us for more information.
Posted by Katie Alpert, Volunteer Coordinator for The National WWII Museum.
