National Museum of the Pacific War

The first thing I asked when fining out that the National Museum of the Pacific War was in Fredericksburg, Texas was why was it in Fredericksburg, Texas? Well Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is from there. This museum is massive as it covers all of the Pacific Theater during WWII and looks briefly at the history of the region and some of the causes of the conflict in that area.

We easily spent 4 hours in this museum and if we hadn’t gotten hungry we could have spent much more time. I recommend getting to the museum early. It is only a block or so away from Main Street Fredericksburg and the parking spaces can fill up fast. This museum is actually in two sections: the main building and the Pacific Combat Zone which is a couple of blocks down the road. There is a reason when you purchase tickets they are good for two days – there is a lot of this museum to see. For adults tickets are $15 but there are 6 acres of museum to see and World War II Veterans get in for free.

We only walked through the George H. W. Bush Gallery. And I want to go back because we missed so much. The museum is a six acre campus and there is so much that we wanted to see and do in Fredericksburg that we just didn’t have time. We missed an entire garden: the Japanese Garden of Peace. From the Pacific War Museum website:

…a gift from the people of Japan to the people of the United States, in honor of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.”

I recommend this museum to everyone because wars cost lives and even those that come back living have lost more than most of us will ever know. We need museums like this that tell us in detail not just that we won but what we lost to gain that victory. Understanding past events, understanding cultures and motivations of individuals and nations is the key to peace. Let us walk into that garden together.

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Thank you KW Photography for the use of your wonderful photos!

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