The International Museum of World War II
Natick: Friday, October 20, 2017
The International Museum of World War II in Natick, MA (@ 8 Mercer Road, near the Natick Mall) was the Harvard Class of 1960’s destination on Friday, October 20, 2017. This session, starting at 10:00 AM, followed by a nice lunch provided by the Museum, had its genesis in the realization that we are the last generation with meaningful memories of World War II. Each attendee, aided by an Acoustiguide audio recording and the excellent Museum staff, interacted with the most comprehensive collection of World War II artifacts, letters and documents in the world. More than 7,500 pieces are on display, integrating the human, political and military stories of the global war. It is an intense, emotional experience. The Museum’s website, https://museumofworldwarii.org provides much more information about the Museum.
Our Class made a generous contribution (in addition to the admission fee and the cost of the lunch) to support a significant expansion of the Museum. The Museum, occupying a 10,000-square foot space, opened in 2013 (although the collection was begun in about 1999). The expansion to 62,500 (!) square feet in the same location, now underway and scheduled for completion and its grand opening on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2019, will make available to the public considerably more World War II memorabilia, provide for more research and educational facilities and enable the Museum to be open to all many more hours each week.
The following were immersed in the history of World War II: Perry Caminis, Peter Chen, Bill Cunningham, Ken Deitch, Lou Geoffrion (with brother Peter), Ron Goodman, Dave Hawkins, Gerry Levenson, Fred Leventhal, Dick Lindzen, Bill Markus, Ken Marshall, Joe Moscatelli, Tare Newbury (the initiator of the event and the person in charge), Lionel Spiro, Henry Wadzinski and David Wizansky. To a man, the feedback from the experience was extremely positive.
