Just like a great movie, a great museum is always better the second time. The National World War II Museum in New Orleans is no exception. Since we’ve already discussed the basics in National World War II Museum: A Must Visit in New Orleans, let’s do something a bit different here.
First, I want to take the opportunity one more time to say that if you have any interest at all in World War II, then you simply must visit New Orleans for this museum. As the kids say, it is fire. Make a trip to the Big Easy just for this. Seriously, it’s that good.
Don’t just visit one day either. It deserves a minimum of two and ideally three. No matter the length of your visit, consider taking a tour. In this post, we are going to discuss the museum’s flagship tour of the Campaigns of Courage pavilion…and how it might lead to meeting interesting people.
Campaigns of Courage Tour
The Campaigns of Courage (CoC) pavilion houses the Road to Berlin: European Theater galleries and the Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater galleries. The CoC is a logical choice for a tour since it covers most of the combat action of World War II (except most of the D-Day exhibits are in the original building since the museum was originally dedicated to D-Day only).
The CoC tour costs $30 (plus general admission) with tours offered both in the morning and afternoon. The tour lasts about two hours. My tour included six people though I don’t know the max capacity allowed per tour.
The tour is a great introduction to the CoC pavilion. It provides an overview of both theaters and facts about specific exhibits. However, unless really pressed for time, the tour should not be your only exposure to the pavilion. If you have the opportunity, dedicate one whole day to this pavilion alone.
I chose the CoC tour because of how impressed I was with the pavilion on my first visit. The layout, presentation, and exhibits themselves are top notch. There is so much information to cover, and it is done so well. The Road to Tokyo has Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadalcanal, Manila, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and so on. The Road to Berlin has North Africa, Italy, Liberation of Paris, the Siege and Bastogne, and the Battle of the Bulge just to name a few.
Plus, it is fascinating to compare the two theaters. If you think about it, the United States was basically fighting in two wars simultaneously. Not only that, the two theaters required two completely different strategies.
While the tour itself is worth the price, the most valuable part of the experience was the opportunity to connect with others.
Meeting Interesting People
Paying the extra money for a tour suggests you have a deeper curiosity than the average visitor. That was clearly the case in my group…for the most part. Besides me, the tour included a retired couple, a college professor, and a father and son duo. The father and son ended up leaving halfway through the tour so there isn’t much to say about them. I did have interesting interactions with the others though.
The College Professor
From the start of the tour, there was a guy named Mark who asked a lot of questions. They weren’t normal questions either. They were very intellectual. Especially in the Road to Tokyo galleries, where he even pointed out some potential mistakes. It did not seem like Mark was just your run-of-the-mill tourist.
As it turns out, he was not. Mark is a Japanese history professor at the University of Hawaii and was at the museum for research during his school’s winter break. The questions and comments all made sense now.
Most interesting though, Mark was born right down the road from me in Omaha, Nebraska. After engaging in a short conversation, Mark gave me his contact information so he could send me his syllabus for next semester. I got the syllabus and have even done some of the work for his class! Unfortunately, I didn’t earn any credit.
The Retired Couple
There was also the retired couple, let’s call them Susan and Roger. They were pretty quiet during the whole tour and tended to hang towards the back. However, towards the end of the tour, we struck up a conversation. I had a feeling this was one of those instances where me being by myself drew their attention. That, and the notes I was taking throughout. Susan explained that she was in the third graduating class that included women at the Air Force Academy. Her father served in the Navy and encouraged her to join the Air Force and she made a career out of it.
Susan and Roger were in New Orleans for three weeks and planned to visit the museum at least three days. I caught them on day one. I came to find out that they spent a few years living in Bellevue, Nebraska. Can you believe it? Two Nebraska connections in one tour! We ended up talking about the American Revolution and they gave me a great recommendation for a visit to a battle site near their home—Fort Ticonderoga.
Take Tours and Meet People
The CoC tour is not only a good overview of the pavilion, it also led to interesting interactions with people who shared a Nebraska connection. I’m a pro-tour guy and I highly recommend that you look into tours offered at your travel destination. And, in case it wasn’t clear before, you need to get to the National World War II Museum!
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National World War II Museum: A Must Visit in New Orleans