The Stories We Owe Them

Travel

Audio By Carbonatix

The next time you’re in New Orleans, save a morning for Magazine Street. Walk into the US Freedom Pavilion at The National WWII Museum and look up. Suspended overhead is My Gal Sal, a restored B-17 Flying Fortress. It’s an impressive machine. The longer you look at it, though, the more you find yourself thinking about the people who climbed aboard one like it and took off. (nationalww2museum.org)

On Wednesday, November 11, at 11 a.m. Central, the museum will hold its Veterans Day commemoration in that same pavilion. Retired Navy Capt. Elmer “Royce” Williams, a World War II veteran who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Korean War, is scheduled to speak. The U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club will perform. The ceremony is free, with registration available for both in-person and online attendance. The museum is also offering free admission that day to veterans of all conflicts. (nationalww2museum.org)

That last detail matters. A museum devoted to the Second World War is making room to honor people who served in other wars, and people whose years in uniform never made the evening news. If you go with your kids, there’s a conversation to have right there. Ask them what they think it takes to leave home for months at a time. Then ask what it might take to come home and pick up where you left off.

If you can’t get to Louisiana on a Wednesday, watch some of the ceremony together. And if you have a veteran in your family, consider asking a question you’ve never asked. Where did you go first? Who made you laugh when you needed it most? What did you miss about home? Give them time to answer, and let them decide how much they want to tell you.

For families who can travel the following weekend, the museum’s Family and Military Appreciation Block Party on Saturday, November 14, includes free museum access, live entertainment, and activities for children. I’d pick a few exhibits, give the kids time to ask questions, and leave the rest for a return visit. (nationalww2museum.org)

There’s plenty I love about the idea of a New Orleans weekend. I’d still leave time for a good meal and a long walk. But I’d give this morning to the museum. And when I got home, I’d make that phone call. A visit can remind us what we owe the people who served. Listening is one way to begin paying it.