A Must-Visit in New Orleans: The Profound Lessons of The National WWII Museum

By Wonsuh Song

As the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting returns to New Orleans, researchers are increasingly eager to engage with the city’s history and geography. For first-time visitors, one landmark stands out above the rest: The National WWII Museum. More than just a tourist attraction, this museum invites visitors to reflect on modern global order and the societal responsibilities of science and technology.

Originally opened in 2000 as the D-Day Museum, the institution was designated by the U.S. Congress in 2003 as the nation’s official World War II museum. Its location is no accident — New Orleans is where the essential Higgins boats for amphibious assaults in both the Pacific and European theaters were manufactured. This connection gives the city the title “Landing City,” which resonates deeply with the museum’s identity.

What’s striking is how the museum approaches war history. Rather than focusing solely on political or military decisions, it prioritizes personal narratives — letters, audio recordings, and testimonies from soldiers, nurses, factory workers, and families. This human-centered storytelling is a hallmark of how America remembers war.

The museum spans a campus-like layout, and each building focuses on a unique theme — a structure that allows for diverse interpretations:

Solomon Victory Theater – 4D Film Beyond All Boundaries
Narrated by Tom Hanks, this immersive 4D film offers a sweeping overview of the war. It’s the perfect starting point for grasping the broader context of the exhibits.
Louisiana Pavilion – D-Day and the Homefront Mobilization
Beyond the full-scale Higgins boat, this pavilion reconstructs the “Arsenal of Democracy”: rationing, propaganda posters, and factory records illustrate how the war effort mobilized the entire nation, not just soldiers.
Campaigns of Courage – Road to Berlin / Road to Tokyo
The heart of the museum’s narrative. From North Africa to Berlin and Pearl Harbor to Japan’s surrender, the exhibits map the war’s progression through geography, climate, and logistics — a familiar analytical lens for geoscientists.
Boeing Center – Technology and Responsibility
Aircraft and submarine simulators are impressive, but it’s the accompanying stories of their engineers, operators, and fallen soldiers that highlight the human cost of technology — an essential consideration for researchers invested in ethical science.
Liberation Pavilion – Aftermath and Today’s World
This space connects 1945 to the present: liberation, occupation, the rise of the UN, refugee crises, GI Bill, the Cold War, and civil rights movements. It invites reflection on how the war’s end reshaped international order.

For AGU attendees, this museum isn’t just historical. It echoes academic values:

It mirrors the geoscientific method of interpreting systems — spatial, environmental, and technological.
It prompts inquiry into how science and technology are used during conflict and the ethical lessons drawn from that.
It underlines the importance of international cooperation — a principle at the heart of AGU’s global mission.

While globally renowned for its size and content, the true significance of The National WWII Museum lies in the question it raises: How do we choose to remember war? Each nation constructs its own narrative — this museum reflects America’s chosen story and values.

For researchers gathering in New Orleans for AGU, this museum is more than a historical stop. It offers a deep, intellectual space to reexamine the intersections of war, technology, humanity, and global cooperation.

Wonsuh Song (Ph.D.)
Lecturer, Shumei University / NKNGO Forum Representative