First Call? National Pacific War Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas

Pre-Interview Tweet intro-
Excited to start our PM PD with a call to the @PacWarMuseum in Fredericksburg. This place is amazing and they are excited to chat/tour artifacts with @LewisvilleISD Social Studies teachers. Thanks for connecting us, Rick!

Bloggers- Val and Lois
David Shields rang us up early and kicked off early introductions. Then he explained the exciting work that they are doing with the San Antonio School District.

David stood with his back to the outside artifacts, that looked like a mini battlefield and face stadium seating for reenactments. (Curious because Nimitz was a navy officer.) When they developed the mini-battlefield they worried that they were glorifying war. David then went on to describe the different sections of the set up and why they determined to put them there with a quick review of WWI. Explaining that this is a reflection of the movement of war.

David then walked over to a quanza hut (like the one pictured above), that has been made into a classroom. He went on to define education artifacts, saying they are resources that are rebuilt or created for visitors to get a feel of what the history was like.

David answered questions about what was most popular- saying it was the gallery. Stating that it would take a day and a half to walk through the entire thing.

After showing us the replica of the plane that former President George Herbert Walker Bush flew when he was shot down. David shared that they are only able to display 25% of their collection. It is not a stagnant gallery but will be changing always. They have created narratives that focus on a single theme- like freedom, women in the workforce, or movement during the war, and race relations.

What is a surprising fun fact about Charles C. Nimitz?

He was court marshalled at the very beginning of his career. On his first command in the Philippines and ran it to ground then went to sleep. The next day the court proceedings took place and the leadership showed him mercy. It was from this that he took on a more merciful to others. From then on every chance he had he did whatever he could to maximize his opportunities.

Seeing a cool floor map- the question was asked what was it of?

It is at the beginning of the tour to show the vastness of the territory that was involved in the war in the Pacific.

Time was up! We are excited to talk to him again.