Good. Splendid. Perfect. New orleans. Morning to all of you. And welcome to the National World war two museum and, our new and lovely battle, barksdale Parade Ground on behalf the board of trustees of the National World war two museum. I want to thank you for honoring us with your presence here today. It is indeed a momentous day in the life of this great institution. With the opening of the liberation, we finally tell the full story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world, a story that now includes words, an understanding of the cost of victory and its meaning. Today, with the opening of this capstone pavilion and we bring to completion a journey that began 23 years ago, or as our founder nick mueller would more accurate aptly states. If you include its inception as a mere idea and ten years of planning, 33 years. But on june six, 2000, the 56 anniversary of the dday invasion, we gathered nearby to celebrate the opening of the National Dday museum and the beginning of an ambitious and some might even call it nearly impossible goal to build a Museum Dedicated to the entire American Experience in World War Two. From our humble beginnings, were certainly didnt seem very humble at the time. Weve grown from a single telling the story of the dday landings into a world class seven acre, seven pavilion, 420 million World Class Institution that shares one of the most important stories in all of human history. This journey and our accomplishments to date. Our thanks to all of you, our closest friends, our supporters, our partners. Leaders and Community Members who have supported us all along the way. We owe all of you a deep debt of gratitude. Thank you all for making this day possible. Id like to extend a few special greetings to, some special friends in the audience. First, the governor of the great state of louisiana, john bel edwards. John, thank you very much for being here. Governor. Charles kay show, secretary of the American Battle monuments commission. Roger or hustler, director of facility planning and control for the state of louisiana. Please welcome the latoya cantrell, mayor of the city of new orleans. And state senator roy stewart plessis. Please, please give a warm welcome to state representatives mandy landry and gary l. Smith. And also to the Vice President of the new orleans city council. Council at large, helena moreno. We have other very special guests in the audience today as well. Please give a warm welcome to the daughter of two tuskegee airmen, lawrence, the host of abcs his good morning america, Robin Roberts roberts. Please, a warm round of applause and a welcome to renowned actor and Community Activist and native new orleanian, mr. Wendell pierce. And please welcome someone has been instrumental for decades in bringing the story of World War Two to the forefront of american consciousness and who, in doing so, has taught generations of americans that. Freedom is not. Please welcome acclaimed actor and director sir tom hanks. Please welcome recipient of the highest award for military valor given in the United States. Please welcome recipients of the medal of honor. Their family and other members of the congressional medal of honor society, national convention, who have been in town all week meeting for their annual convention. Thank you. Medal of honor recipients for being here. Please welcome with a warm round of applause. Our nations veterans and active duty military who are joining us this morning. And last but not least, really, especially so, please welcome our World War Two veterans, home front workers and Holocaust Survivors who are with us this morning and how blessed we are to have them in our presence. Now, lets pause for a moment to give thanks for the Many Blessings in our lives and for the privilege we have here at the museum to honor our nations veterans and the legacies of those who served during World War Two. To do that, please welcome rabbi kapell, the first female rabbi to serve in the States Military who will deliver special invocation. This morning, we have the honor privilege of dedicating liberation pavilion, which completes the camp of this incredible institute russian. As a rabbi reflecting on the horror inflict it on the people of israel during this past month, the of those who rescued the jewish people from the reign of nazi terror has been expanding fully highlighted. I am profoundly grateful to the National World war two museum for ensuring that the message of again will resonate for generations to come. From the bottom of heart. Thank you. We. That 16 million members of the allied forces gave their lives to the holocaust and to gain for the european continent. Jim bradley, whose father is immortalized in the statue of six marines, is raising the flag at iwo jima. Recalls that when he was a little his third grade teacher told him that his dad was a hero. His father replied. I want you to remember that the heroes are the ones who did not come back. Did not come back. It is with the most profound sorrow that we acknowledge these heroes today when we contemplate their courage and loss. We are overwhelmed, both humility and pride. We can best honor their memory by renewing our commitment to the ideals for which they lived and died. Freedom. And justice for all. To government of the people. By the people. And for the people. To one nation. Under god. We pray gods blessing on the continuing work of this institution. May it grow and prosper and be a source of inspiration for many, many generations to come. And let us say amen. Thank you, rabbi. It has taken the efforts of many, many people to build incredible institution. And the museum wouldnt what it is today without the monumental support from the great state of louisiana to governor edwards. Thank you. Thank you. That the state has been so supportive of this museum the very first day. Making it possible to open the doors of the National Dday museum 23 years ago. That support has never waned. And not for a moment. And your administration is continued to demonstrate that unyielding to this day in fact. The state of louisiana is the single largest supporter of the liberation pavilion. Governor, we know that the museums mission is a very important and personal one to you as a west point graduate, an airborne ranger. We thank you for your service to our great nation. We are indebted to you, sir. And for all that youve done to, advance the admission of this great institution. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome to the stage Governor John Bel Edwards. Good morning. And what a Beautiful Day it is here. In new orleans, louisiana. I thank you for allowing me to join you today. And i want to start by extending my personal gratitude louisianas gratitude and certainly our nation gratitude to all the World War Two veterans, homefront workers and Holocaust Survivors are here with us today from a young age, my mother and father instilled in the value of Public Service. And there is no more sacred or meaningful form of Public Service than military to leave. Home and risk your life to protect your country, to ensure their survival of liberty and democracy. I know there are some medal of honor recipients in attendance. You represent the very best of us. God bless you. We are eternally grateful for your service. A little over a year ago, i was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit normandy. It was one of the most memorable and powerful experiences of my life. While i was there, i paid my respect at the graves of louisa and the soldiers who never made it home. The gravity of what took place there was overwhelming. And it really makes you think about how trivial some of the things are that people are thinking about right now . Because at the end of the day, were all americans. And because of brave and women, like many of you here, we have the freedoms that we enjoy today to my right is a normandy liberty bell, which found its permanent home at the museum 14 years ago on veterans day, november the 11th, 2009. It was first rung at Independence Hall in philadel on july four, 2004, when it was gifted to the United States by a group of french citizens in memory of the u. S. Involvement at normandy and World War Two. Today it rings in memory of the more than 400,000 americans who gave their lives fighting for the cause of freedom in that war. And in honor of all the american citizen, soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines whose brave and sacrifice secured the victory and the peace that. The seven tolls of the bell represent, the many in a veterans life, each with a specific meaning to one. The choice serve this toll represents the veterans willingness, sacrifice his or her life for their country. A dedication to which few are called toll camaraderie. Representing the friendship hopes family and unity that bond all Service Members together told. Three. Patriotism representing the veterans pride in their country. A duty to protect it. And the joy in celebrating the freedoms enshrined in our constitution. Told for respect. Representing the respect given to a veteran by their community. Earned by them and owed by us for their service. Told five is dignity, representing the dignity with which a Veterans Community treats their fallen hero. Told six honor representing the honor that is due to a veteran when they died given by their fellow Service Members and community. He told seven. The of life. The seventh total represents the ultimate sacrifice that the veteran has made, whether killed in action or after long years of quiet. The value and contributions of a veteran cannot adequately be described by words alone. So please me in a moment of silence for the ringing the normandy liberty bell and the sounding of taps. Thank. Now we will hear from dr. Nick mueller on the meaning of liberation. Well, what a wonderful day. And thank you, governor edwards. Those meaningful words and i thank all of you here to celebrate, commemorate this wonderful day that began so many years ago. The last pavilion, one of seven, as youve heard in our master plan, devised some now 20 years ago. Last night was a very wonderful evening and very emotional for me. And thinking a lot about the many whove been on this journey with me and my friend Stephen Ambrose for those many years and some, sadly, who are not here, but made a tremendous contribution to me and to steve and ambrose and especially. I want to say that Stephen Ambrose should be here this day. Ive thought a lot about him in the last few days as this museum has come to life and he would be so proud and so pleased at what americas great americans have done to make this a reality. So to friends and staff and volunteers, veterans are distinguished and wonderful. Medal of honor recipients. Thank all. From my heart and mind for what has brought us to this day. I especially want to also thank my friend tom hanks, who finally responded to my personal appeal, which i wrote on Stephen Ambrose his typewriter and said, im channeling to invite you to be here for this one last event. And he was here at the beginning and has been a champion for so many years, especially in the early years when we didnt have credibility in terms of what we were seeking to do. But tom stevens, spielberg, tom brokaw, too, who is with us all the way along with members of congress, bob livingston, senator stevens, who set us on the path to do all of World War Two centers. In a way, good r and and mary landrieu, of course, and all the governors in past years this great state of louisiana, along with the federal government, has made a magnificent public partnership. Public partnership, along the leadership of the of new orleans and. I say that because for ten years they were paying my salary and Stephen Ambrose and a host of others when we had no staff and also, i have to recognize bart for zinger, the a great architect. You see the evidence of his masterpiece. All around you in Patrick Gallagher or gallagher and associates who brought our exhibits to life for all of you and especially the gallery me, the liberation about what it means to today the aftermath of World War Two. This museum is about war. But its also about the totality of the American Experience. Its a horrible war. It was a war that included the worst genocide, the holocaust in human history. But it was shaped after the war by American Values and policies and the spread of freedom and democracy. We have here establish an institute for the study of war and democracy. Don miller mentioned a few weeks ago to me that everybody in america was inside that war on the homefront and the battle front for four years. So unity and unification of the nation is something that you will feel here as you go through these exhibits. Youve heard Mission Statement that ends with understanding the price of freedom and be inspired by what learn. Think about for a moment. Let that sink in. Thats about education. About learning. Why is this museum and this pavilion then so important . Of course its important to pay tribute to the greatest generation that won war two, both on the home front and on the war front. Its a signature of our museum to tell personal stories of sacrifice and courage. And i think we do that better than any museum in america. Thank you. Ill clap for that to. But we are history museum. The history museum. That takes a wider view than that of just the individual soldier. Were than an ancestry museum. We tell their story in a larger context because wars are the crucible of change for all societies and World War Two brought about dramatic change in our country both during the war and after the war, and also to all nations of the world that we could advance liberty and freedom. And those changes are still taking place. Wars helped define the identity of a nation we wars shape our memories of what we believe and why we sacra fight. They also influence who we want to be. What were willing to fight for. To die for. Ultimately our values as americans. This liberation pavilion behind me documents those values from the personal stories of the citizen soldiers. Also through the words of our president s all of them veterans up until bush. 41 h. W. This last pavilion was perhaps the hardest for all of us to do was planned for some 20 years, and it came as a result of the end of our planning process in 2003, when our exhibit designers asked us, so what . So what will people think a 100 years from now. So what is how do you answer this . So what question to why World War Two should be important . Well, we thought about that plan. We thought about doing the road to berlin and the road to tokyo and the homefront and all of the other exhibits. But that got us back to the question of what it means today what americans then and how that torch was carried forward. And so we looked back to president Franklin Roosevelts four freedoms speech that he gave 11 months before harbor. These the foundational ideals that shaped the president s wartime aims and also the vision that carried forward in the postwar era. It was his vision for victory that these freedoms would one day be not just freedoms, but these would be freedoms that we could help spread throughout the world. And a sense, in essence, he spoke of the values of freedom and democracy and human rights. Im going to now invite a student to ja kobe mcswain the stage to come to read these for as reminders of the beliefs of the nation. During World War Two that have extended and are enshrined in pavilion. Morning. In a few days we look and seek to make this more secure and we look forward to a world founded upon the forward freedoms, the first freedom being freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world. The second freedom is freedom from any person to worship god in his or her own way. Everywhere in the world. The third freedom is freedom from everywhere in the world. And the fourth, freedom is freedom from fear anywhere in the world. Now, this is no vision in a distant millennium, but it is a definite basis of. The kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. This nation has placed this destiny in the hands, in head and hearts. The hearts of millions of free men and women and its fate in a freedom under the guidance. God. Freedom means. The supremacy of human rights. Everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights. And those who struggle to keep them. Our strength. Our strength is in our unity. Our unity of purpose. And today, high concept. There can be no in, say, victory. Thank you. Theres the future. And thank you, jacoby those ideals live on in our youth. And they will learn about those ideals here in this museum. These are aspiration, old ideals. But roosevelt knew that ideals and values were not enough by themselves. And just a few weeks earlier gave his powerful arsenal of democracy speech to nation, mobilizing americans power its industries and its people in a fight that he defined against authoritarian enemies whose intentions were evil. And he appealed to us rally around our moral center. He knew what often has been that the power of our example would not be enough without the example of our power. And our power came a United States of america where all in this together was unifying slogan of the war at home and abroad, forever every sacrifice gas rations, food rations. Everybody said we have to sacrifice. Were all in this together. Roosevelt said, when america stands together around these values, we can meet any challenge before us us. Well, we have 12,000 personal accounts in museum of veterans who tell their stories and their experi answers. And one thing they always speak to as well is the unity of our country. During World War Two. So pavilion is about freedom. You will learn that freedom fragile. You will learn that before the war, our country was unprepared and in isolation, without partners. You will learn about the cost of victory, the sacrifice. And you will learn that freedom has been earned by others. That that freedom has been entrusted to us. The torch has passed to us. Its this museum stands for me as a beacon to our past and illuminates our choices for the future. At our best, our exhibits and our education programs. Fire that torch. That torch. That is the american spirit. Everybody says you cant define the american spirit. Well, you cant define leadership either. But you know it when you see it. And all these medal honor recipients are those who carry that forward. Like all of our war, two veterans. The american spirit leaves us then with the question what will we do with that torch that is handed to us . What will we do to focus on the values that unite and defend the principles that made us what we are . As Stephen Ambrose said, the richest and freest nation of the world. Foremost, we are an Education Institution where people come to be inspired and to learn. Its my personal belief, the purpose of learning is to free people. Think about that. American leadership during World War Two and after was then led to an expansion of freedom and democracy and human rights throughout the world. Our leadership is challenged again by enemies of democracy and our values. Were perhaps challenged today as never before. We cannot predict the future but the past. Show us how we prevail to these threats, to our freedom before this pavilion begins with finding hope. Finding hope in a world destroyed. Hope is part of the aspiration for that freedom. People want, veterans said last night. On our videos, people cannot live without hope. This museum gives hope. And we want you to take that with you. Yeah, it provides hope. And with that hope comes strength. But freedom is always under pressure. Let me by saying Stephen Ambrose has called this museum his love song to democracy. Its mine as well. And i think yours as well. So. And i ask you to nourish it, protect it, advance its mission. And i want to say a special thanks to my success or Stephen Watson for his leadership for the last six years. And long before that. And accepting that torch and carrying forward, we had much to do. When i stepped down to americas role, steven six years ago, weve weathered many storms, covid. And here we. And its my to you, my friend. Its been an enormous, enormous accomplishment. So theres another steven at the helm right now, and thats Stephen Watson. So again, thank you to all of my friends and trustees and supporters and members, all of you here. Its my pleasure now to introduce dr. Robert citino the samuel z. Murray stone, senior world war historian here at this museum. Hes written 11 books on World War Two, one of the great museums of america. It took me two years from 2014 to 16 to lure him here. In fact, i offered him the job on the bench, sitting outside of churchills home and chartwell in 2015, and he came aboard in 2016. Hes holder of the samuel eliot morris award, which is the highest award by the society of military history. The same award that Stephen Ambrose also was awarded in the 1990s. And he came on board in 2016. I gave him responsibility to pass the to him to help finish the designs that were in the gestation and the creation stage. He did that marvelous job with that, along with our leader in the institute of the study of war democracy, mike bell. So Robert Citino its all years. Now following nick mueller. Thats always easy. But follow me, jacob, is just unfair. I have to do something about the scheduling. You know, like nick, if dont mind, ill begin on a personal. He said hes been working on this project the liberation project for 33 years. You know, for me, its only seven. It just felt like it was 33. I arrived here in 2016, i had a full head of luxurious brown hair and thats thats whats happened over the last few years. Now, nick mentioned he told me almost the first day i arrived on campus as the Senior Historian that i was going to be the lead historian for this liberation project. And, you know, that seemed like a great idea. I have some ego. I like being lead on anything. Then i actually thought about it. And then went into full on panic mode. This is a big story and a big responsibility. Its tough to get anyone to agree anything nowadays. How could we get them to agree on the legacy of World War Two . You can get ten people in a room and get ten different opinions on that. And as i thought about it, i just kept coming up with more questions than answers. Questions like, why we fight World War Two . What does the war and our victory in it mean us today . And then and even more question why do you fight a war in the first place . And this, i think, is things began to fall into place, at least for me, a great 20th century military thinker. Once put it this way, the only reason to fight war is to get a better piece. There has to be something wrong with the world in which youre living modern are so destructive, horrible, so violent that you should only fight one under the most dire circumstance is so dire that even the most peaceful people decide that a recourse to arms is the only way they can change things. Now, that idea came with its own corollary you can only judge a war its purpose. Its course, its morality by what comes after it. And never was this point made more sharply than in world two. Our museum shows it all its galleries. This was a hard and it was fought with extreme means. Cities burned, continents, crumbled. Soldiers and civilian alike died in the tens of millions more civilians and soldiers. In fact. And yet, World War Two was not merely an act of destruction. Real issues were at stake including the very existence of human freedom. The outcome of the war, while imperfect as humans are, offers the best definition yet of that better peace for which we fight our wars. So on its. World war two was an appalling event. Over 400,000 americans lost their lives in the course of it. Global deaths topped. 65 Million People in the holocaust. The world got a horrifying at what a systematic and planned genocide looks like. The human race is still trying to process that once thriving cities warsaw manila berlin were smoking ruins in 1945. And of course, two japanese cities had been destroyed by atomic bombs at the very end of war. Despite the violence and destruction, the wartime cause of the allies and nick spoke to this very eloquently, did aim at a higher moral best expressed in the four freedoms, which you heard, jacoby intoned from roosevelts famous speech. The cause for which the allies fought. In other words, out to be a better piece, one that was free from strutting dictators and the constant threat of invasion and war, free from oppression of. Every stripe, including poverty and famine. Fdr, his famous formula, expressed the hope that out of this war a Better Future might emerge for humanity. And while the post 1945 world has not been perfect, far from it, weve managed to avoid the nightmare scenario. World war three a Global Nuclear war, a fact for which we all be grateful. Global wealth is still unequally shared, but the world has seen progress on that. And famine endemic for centuries in much. The globe is much less common than it used to be. Dictators still wars, but they now find facing a much more united front of peace loving nations. So these are all reasons, i think, to remember and celebrate the liberation of 1945. And its why the museum decided to build the building behind me in, World War Two. It turns out the cause was just the ally nations united to defeat the dictatorships. And when it was over, the victors didnt just squeeze the losers dry, as they had done in virtually every previous war in human history. They tried to build a better world through the marshall plan, through the new United Nations enduring alliances like naito. And perhaps the greatest success. All the victors even turned their former enemies into allies, law abiding democracies, free societies. And thats what were doing here in the liberation pavilion. Were celebrating not just the military triumph, but the real victory. Always harder victory. Winning the peace. We never achieve perfection. And there are the mornings wake up and it seems like the very air you breathe is fire. But failing, achieve perfection must never mean that we stop striving for the good. And i think as we open this building, thats something on we can all agree. Thank you very much. Now, please welcome to the stage. Dr. Sharon estelle. Dr. Taylor is author, educator, speaker and member of the National World war two museums board of trustees. She is also a war orphaned daughter. That was the voice of god. Thats what call it. My parents would be so. Id read your first. Just a couple of lines from a poem written by lawrence binion. 21 september 1914. They not grow old as we are to grow old age, not weary them, nor the years condemn at the going down of the sun. In the morning we will remember them in the garden of remembrance in seattle. This quote is engraved on a wall commemorating those killed in war from washington state. These words flow beneath all we do with this museum, and it defines my life as the daughter of a World War TwoFighter Pilot killed in action on friday, april 30, 1945. I was three weeks old as a little girl in postwar years, people would complement me on my red and i would always say thank you. My daddy died in the war. Ive had the rest of my life to figure out why that was. My answer, and ive concluded that i was one of those people might know what happened to him because we did not. My father, First Lieutenant shannon. So was forever missing pearl harbor happened the year my parents graduated from high school. It upended their plans for everything loving each other. And my father, who flew an airplane he built with a friend in high school, knew that his destiny was to fly in defense of his country, more especially wanted to fly a fighter plane. But not just any fighter plane. He wanted fly a p38 lightning. Though he was worried that he was too tall to be accepted as a pilot, he was selected anyway and also residents doctor at the end of training declaring that his was the best fighter plane in the world. We only knew that his plane, it was shot down, but little else. Also, it was impos to attempt a recovery as the war was over in the next few days. And this part of the former germany became russian occupied until the berlin wall fell. 1989. This is when my wondering about my father became the search for him to bring him home. I needed to know what happened. Those last weeks of war and why my father never returned. I found the 478th Fighter Group he had p38 lightning pilots, all three squadrons of them who knew my father and said they still that they had died instead of him. They would always say he had that baby at home, you know. I also found a german researcher whose life was spent searching for and recovering crash sites throughout germany. We worked together for five years, culminating in the discovery of my fathers crash site in a field that looked exact as it was in 1945. My parents love story began in high school in cedar rapids, iowa in total, they filled nearly thousand pages of chorus binders, including illustrate it at all envelopes, original art and cartoons. And he also demonstrated stated in writing and in drawing how my mother was to fold and pin diapers on the baby. Its pretty cute, really. That only stopped after he was declared missing and then killed in nine months later. There was no proof that he was killed in action since no crash site was ever searched for. But when the war ended, that was the common practice. Only after nine months did my mother stop writing to her missing husband about new daughter. Employer rang him to come home to us only after months. Did my grandfather ever stop writing to the departed head of the army, begging for information about his son. Only nine months did my family begin the work of grief. When i learned that this war is building, that would equal measure. Celebrate the victorious end of World War Two and commemorate its fallen. My perspective was not completely celebratory. I could only imagine how it was for people like my mother and my fathers parents, when the war ended, when soldiers and pilots and sailors came home to a ticker tape parade lasted until now. As they should be celebrated as my father would have been celebrated had he home. But today, as my fathers ticker tape parade today, he is celebrated at home here within this glorious new building, as he is in Arlington National cemetery, where i buried him in 2010. He is finally home and his life and death are remembered on this campus, in this building. And an expressions of america every week i found this museum just after i found father and i have been included in its growth and success since the day. 15 years ago. When Stephen Watson and i spoke at the same american World War Two orphans conference in tucson. Since this has become my family, they have found a place for my father, for my parents, for me, and incomparable and always surprising ways. I, along with the other american World War Two, orphaned children who are here today, our grateful for the mission of this museum and the way it makes a place for those who return from war and those didnt. Today i am proud as always to stand here as my fathers and i thank you for all of you, for all you do, for our museum and. And now please welcome to the stage the president and ceo of the National World war two museum, steven watson. Good morning. And thank you, sharon, for those personal reflections. Was an unbelievable day. 15 years ago to. Be with sharon and with hundreds of men and women who had lost their fathers during World War Two. And to see how the was still so raw. 70 plus years after the war was over and it was incredibly meaningful yesterday for us to also dedicate the gold star families memorial, which is right here on our judith and Louis Freeman liberation terrorists. And in addition to the liberation pavilion, i hope youll take moment today to visit that memorial. So it was, of course, powerful personal accounts of the World War Two generation or specifically the dday veterans that inspired Stephen Ambrose embark on the journey to build open the National Dday museum. And its these accounts of the men and women of all ages, all backgrounds and wartime experiences that remain at the heart of our museum sharing their stories has set the museum apart from the very beginning and it only becomes more as the years go by. It is truly an honor to be joined by so many World War Two veterans. Holocaust survivors and home front workers and your families. Today this is your museum built in your honor to pay tribute to your service and to your sacrifice. So i offer my personal thanks again. Its a great privilege and responsibility to be entrusted to carry on your legacies and to ensure that future are inspired. Your actions and its the significance of your stories and the timelessness of our mission that has inspired our supporters since the earliest days in the 1990s and continues to inspire new advocates and audiences today. As you can imagine, building a museum that pays appropriate tribute, the enormity of the war itself has been a Monumental Task that has relied on dedicated support, ers and partners from literally across every corner of the world. First among them, of course, is our road Victory Capital Campaign donors. Who answered the call to action, donated the funds to make this possible. More than 420 million today. And i want to express thanks to all of you for your support. As we have the last couple of days, the state, louisiana, first amongst them. And again, thank you Governor John Bel Edwards for being here and your support. And id also like to thank those who made todays the liberation pavilion possible, the trott family philanthropies in honor of World War Two veteran david trott. Thank you byron and tina your support and for being here today and the Goldring Family Foundation and the walden Berg Foundation for your support. Thank you mr. Goldring and you for being a trustee and one of the great leaders of our museum and the pretty Family Foundation who sponsored the freedom theater experi ence on the third floor of the liberation pavilion. Last but not least, the barksdale, who 20 years ago led the way with the first major gift to our capital campaign, made this beautiful Parade Ground possible. So please give them all round of applause. Thank you you. Also, you heard it last night, and you heard nick mention it this morning. But we have had an Incredible Team of vendors, historical consultants and, partners, many of them that have been with us since the very beginning of this journey over 20 years ago, barbara sang your team, our architects, thank you, sir, and thank you for being here this week. Patrick gallagher, our exhibit designer in your team. Thank you, patrick. And specifically on the liberation pavilion and Donna Lawrence productions. Her team who produced the remarkable media presentations that you will see in the exhibits on the first and second floor. Also want to thank the remarkable team at 1220 exhibits who fabricated these exhibits on our longtime partner from right here in, new orleans, gary solomon, and team at the Solomon Group for the amazing work they have done, putting all of avy together. You heard from our lead historian just a few minutes ago, Robert Citino, who said, you know, six years ago when he arrived at the museum, this was job and i think you curled up robe as i and went off into the corner a while and before you came back. But there has just been a remarkable team here that have been working alongside robb. And i want to mention a few of those folks by name. Our Vice President of education and access colonel pete crane, erin clancey. Dr. Mike bell, rob again thank you. And i also want to thank a couple of the important people that often dont get recognized and that are the project managers that make all this work. So nina luckman and neal cooper, thank you for the amazing work that youve done, keeping all moving forward. And farnsworth and his team who managed the construction of this project. So please give them all a round of applause for a great job done. And of course, nick, one more. Thank you to you, sir. Were here because of you you had the vision, the tenacity. And i know this is just an incredibly proud day for you. So thank you again, nick. So were proud of all that accomplished. But if you know anything about National World war two museum, we dont. Weve got a lot more work. Do. We have to continue to tell the story of World War Two and knew in innovative ways, not just here on our campus, but beyond this campus. We have to find new ways to inspire audience is of all ages, all across the globe. And i think we really have to embrace our role as storyteller for generations to come. And we know that all of you here will join us on this journey it has taken your support to get us this far, and were going to count on you as we move forward. So to conclude todays program, id like to welcome one of those longtime partners. As youve heard, he with us when we cut the ribbon and opened the doors to the National Dday museum 23 years ago. An honor to have him here with us today. Along the way, mr. Tom hanks has attended many of our grand openings, served as narrator and executive producer of our signature experience beyond all boundaries, supported our successful road to Victory Capital Campaign, and received the museums highest honor, the american spirit award. We are deeply grateful for everything he has done for our institution and to keep the stories of the World War Two generation alive. Now, please join me in a warm welcome to the stage for mr. Tom hanks. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Ah, i warm well. Its nice. Thank you. Thank you so very. Im here because of Nick Mueller Nick Mueller and his 33 years of cajoling phone calls, emails mailings, etc. Today is the. 3rd of november 2023 and the 3rd of november. In 1943, there wasnt a human being on the planet earth who had any when World War Two was going to end. Not a one. None. The young people that we see here now, the honorees, the survivors, the veterans had any idea when or how peace was going to come to the world, how liberty going to be reestablished, how foes were going to be vanquished, how tyrants were going to be brought down. In 1943, the world in the world was in a state of stasis in which the future was just a huge black void with no guarantee of your loved ones coming home, no guarantee of the world being made. A new with no guarantee that there would be changes in the geography of the that would divide the free from the enslaved. None whatsoever. In 1943 on the 3rd of november, all that was known was territory that had been lost. The peoples that had been enslaved and those that had already given their lives. That was only that was the only surety that was there. What extraordinary moment. What an extraordinary what an extraordinary place in the zeitgeist in the history of. Humankind. The 3rd of november in 1943 marked. All that could be summoned at that point was faith and hope and an understanding that it possible to vanquish those who meant to enslave and conquer the world, to their own ends. A handful of nations in great britain, france and the United States of america viewed war then not as an exercise of conquest or power or a wrestling of natural resources, of theological or, racial or gender based superiority. The United States of america and its allies viewed war as. The path to liberation, as was made noted earlier. There was no move in order to conquer germany or conquer the empire of japan. Those law abiding democratic nations are now as strong a friend and ally as the united of america could ever have. And those people of both those nations have gone on to it. Enjoy the benefit of the democracy and of those four freedoms that yoko jacoby be read in there, in theyre in perfect entirety. Their ongoing work since those 80 years, but nonetheless, can you imagine simply and easily what would have happened if america and its allies did not take up their not to conquer, but to liberate. It has been said just recently, last night by one of my table mates that one of the veterans of the great of World War Two, that great wide conflagration said this this. We did not the enemy. We just took away their guns. There you have the task that lays before us and is, in fact the Mission Statement of this magnificent museum of this campus, of this repository of knowledge, of this place, where any human being of any age or station can come and see the example of our as americans and as Freedom People to period to take up the cause. Of what . Of conquering a vanquishing no liberty. A remove moving from those war mongers. Removing from those tyrants. Removing from those despots. Their ability to make war upon their neighbors. Or the world. This is an extraordinary place that has been built here that day 23 years ago. This neighborhood and the museum. The dday museum was essentially too brick warehouses a higgins boat, an a tank. Now, look at it. Now it is this fountain of perhaps the most important, that world war has left for the world. The knowledge of how it is done, the truth of that war was fought and the place where each us can contribute to that great arsenal. That is the arsenal of democracy. Each one of us can walk away from time spent in this museum. Armed with. The single most effective weapon in the improved ment of the world of. The perfection of our own nation in the making of. A more Perfect Union in this greatly important, greatly imPerfect World. What is that weapon . What is that tool . It is our common wisdom that we know the price that is paid by those who take it on their own response to build their old shoulders, to bring this single world word to those who are oppressed around our world. And that is liberation. The job of liberation go on for as long as we live. The job and the task of the responsibility of liberate the oppressed will forever be a part of the human condition. And we are lucky. We are fortunate. We are blessed that we live in the United States of america, where that concept liberating the oppressed, no matter how long it takes is, part of our National Fiber is part of the words that were set down in paper by both wise and very flawed over 200 years ago. I go back again to a november 3rd, 1943. What existed in the hearts of everyone who was alive at that point . What in the fiber of these young men and young women, though i see before us who are still young and forever young, they are forever at that place where they made that decision of what they were going to do and how they were going to contribute, how they acknowledged the truth that we are all in this together. What was it. It was hope and it was faith. And it was a willingness sacrifice. But it was also the common wisdom that the United States of america was the arsenal of freedom. Was the arsenal of thought. And it was on the forefront of. What of liberation. I invite you all to take the liberation. 4 billion is an extra ordinary, perhaps final chapter here in the job. And the story of the National World war two museum. But it is also an open ended place because it does not have the finite ending of the end of the war and the surrender of the japanese empire and the nazi regime. It actually leaves it open to understand that the true of our mode of building a more Perfect Union in a Perfect World began on the day after the war ended. And it continues now, and it requires vigilance. It requires attendance. It requires the desire to seek knowledge. And it requires, too, the accumulation wisdom that will be by anybody who attends this museum on any given day for the rest of time. Hope and faith can lead us into the greatest possibilities in the world that we still even imagine hope and faith and and the ongoing attempt to try can accomplish magnificent things. It can build a massive campus out of a handful of buildings in some artifacts. It can fuel the efforts of people over for 30 years in order to see it to its conclusion. It build pavilions dedicated to peace and to liberty. Hope and faith and collective may even lead to lsu beating alabama tomorrow. And if that can happen, ladies and, gentlemen, we can accomplish anything. Set our minds. Founded in 1964, the allamerican chorus is comprised of paratroop players from every brigade in the 82nd Airborne Division and represents the 19,000 men and women of the 82nd Airborne Division serve as americas guard of honor on behalf of Major General christopher c la neve and command Sergeant Major randolph de la pena. The chorus is honored to perform for you this. Think of the citizens who. Wore the storm clouds. Gather gather for a cross to see the. Let us switch little. To this free. Or oh oh oh for land. So oh oh oh oh. Says in a us of boy. Can. God bless america that that i love oh stand beside her and god will die with the light from above. From the mouths to. Our shores why we have fallen. Oh, god. Thats all that we call my. Oh, we. Oh, oh, god, thats my car. My home. Sweet. And my home