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cases" is- "landmark available for $8.95 plus shipping. >> each week, american artifacts visits museums and historic races. next, we traveled to new orleans to visit the national world war ii museum and learn about their road to berlin exhibit. two-parthe first of a program. mr. huxen: i am senior director of research and history here at the national world war ii museum in new orleans. we are standing in the road to which opened in december to the 14 after years of development. our mission is to tell the american experience in world war ii, wyatt was fought, how it was one, and what it means today. -- why it was fought, how it was

won, and what it means today. here we are in the first gallery of road to berlin and behind me, you will see the large portraits of the political leaders of the axis and allied powers, a lineup, if you will, of the side that will engage in this great struggle. when our visitors arrive in this gallery, we believe that they will know that pearl harbor has , due to a visit on the other side of the street on our museum. with the country already at war, we have a video that introduces them to the five major strategic elements that the united states and our allies must master in order to win. the spiced -- these five key includec elements technology -- it's not enough to out produce our enemies.

we have to make better equipment and weapons. control of the sea. control of the air. mastery of amphibious landings, which was highly debated going into world war ii a successful military strategy. all of these things combine into the eventual invasion of europe and the normandy landings in june of 1944. that's the high point of the allied efforts. >> roosevelt and the british prime minister winston churchill, huddled in the .rcadia conference american military factions including army chief of staff george marshall and brigadier general dwight eisenhower launched an immediate invasion of france. mr. huxen: when the united

states injured world war ii after the attack of pearl harbor, we were faced with a strategic choice -- japan or nazi germany -- when the united states entered world war ii. roosevelt believed that hitler and nazi germany were our chief enemy. the problem was we were not ready to fight the not cease -- the nazis on the continent of europe. we looked at a plan to perhaps invade across the english channel into normandy but realized it would not have the material resources or the army built that was necessary for victory. in the meantime, the soviet union was taking a terrible pounding on the eastern want, and so franklin roosevelt and winston churchill realized they had to do something to meet joseph stalin fleeting for a second front, but it would not be in france. we decided we would land in north africa.

so we tell the story of this north african farmhouse we are standing and that decision and its consequences. -- problem we will face is can our troops, green young citizen soldiers, fight the battle hardened nazi army and win? we are now entering the north african gallery here at the museum. behind me over here is our weapons case. featured are handguns, rifles, shotguns, mortars, other weapons that we will use to fight in europe. in one grandhis rifle, which became the standard rifle for infantrymen in the united states army. we also have the in 11 a1 pistol in this case. it was designed by john browning, and it will become the

standard issue very popular pistol that will be issued to many u.s. army personnel. in the museum, we tried to build in environmental challenges that the u.s. faced, our forces faced around the world in world war ii . and so, what we have here in the gallery is an environmental treatment that not only shows the rocky desert we will be the battle but also of february 1943, where the united states is unfortunately going to be very, very badly whipped by the germans in the desert. many of our viewers may remember the famous scene in the movie where georgeatton"

patton is brought in to try to reorganize american or cyst -- forces to beat the germans. in this case, we have a tricolor french flag. many americans and others do not realize that when we landed in morocco in north africa, the ranch -- the french government .as allied with nazi germany we actually did have to do some withing against the french the initial landing. is this in this case hat. this one is unique because it is a tropical where issue that the germans will give the ss part of troops -- part of their elite forces, i should they. the force will be in charge of carrying out the holocaust in europe.

and one other thing i thought i out -- you had issue, "war hits red oak." this was the point where the reality of war in north africa and the european theater will start to come home to americans with these losses in such a small town, so many boys in one single battle. behind me is a 105-millimeter howitzer. the howitzer was originally designed to shoot at aircraft, but in north africa, we discovered this was an ideal gunsank weapon where the

could be lowered and then fired at tanks across the desert in north africa. it was a very effective weapon. this map introduces visitors to when the allies landed in north africa in november of 1942. you can see on the map that the allies are represented in blue, but the axis powers and the territories they control are represented in red. you get a sense of the scale of 's all hitler -- adolph hitler power where he and benito mussolini have an empire -- really more german, but they have an empire that stretches across europe and north africa. have a of red means we long way to go in this war. this jeep actually plays an audio track that mimics what it to be in the track.

the united states is going to reorganize its forces. general george patton is going to come in, and we are going to drive forward victory in north africa when in may 1943, we win in battle, germans driving germany out of north africa. unfortunately, it was not a complete the degree because the germans will escape with a lot of men and equipment into italy to continue the fight. onsicily is the next stop the road to berlin. we are now entering the sicily gallery here at the national world war ii museum. you can see at this map the initial landing where allied forces are going to drop parachutes and then also come in landings in july 1943. sicily is going to prove to be a

very quick campaign, all told. only 38 days long, but it was held -- filled with a lot of drama. it heated the rivalry between george patton and bernard montgomery, the british commander. something i wanted to point out that is of special significance, i think, in this gallery that we want visitors to understand is that war is a very messy, dirty, .nd often unfair business in those landings at sicily, we are going to see the worst friendly fire incident that american forces suffered in .orld war ii better than 300 american paratroopers are going to be shot down by allied forces as they approach southern italy early in the invasion. this is something that came about because of inexperience and green troops and beer -- and fear.

it's part of war and not an easy, glorious march to victory, like a lot of people think it was today. though we call it the good war, very bad things happened in that good war. here we have an airman cloth map .f italy and tunisia when paratroopers were dropped into unknown territory, they dyed intoe these maps scarves they would wear, and this is how they would try to maneuver territories around them . in this space, you can see taking palermo, which was the to fallropean capital to the allies. general george patton raced up the western side of sicily to take palermo and then headed to the east to cross the northern border of sicily, combining with

bernard montgomery to push against the germans and italian forces, eventually driving them off of the sicilian island across the straits of sicily into the southern boot of italy there. so you get a sense of the campaign and how it moved to this very rapid conclusion, only 38 days after the landing. we are now leaving the sicily gallery and entering the italian in the national world war ii museum. you can see on the map to my right the situation the allies faced in september 1943 as we begin the invasion of southern .taly the italian campaign had been urged by winston churchill to be a soft underbelly of europe that

he could drive up the peninsula and possibly get at nazi germany and win the war. it's not going to turn out that way at all. and that, the italian campaign is going to be a long and bloody from the beginning, the allies will face great challenges with the amphibious landing we must perform to win. it's always important as you walk through these galleries to remember the ultimate fight we , which is theave invasion of normandy. having trouble making amphibious landings in italy to other bodes ill for the normandy landings that we know are coming at some point. haveis italian gallery, we an environment like an italian villa. our video here tells the story of this overall campaign that goes through the very end of the war all the way to may 1945. this bitter fighting that

occurred. in this gallery, you will find out stories of americans who were often marginalized at the edges of american society at .his time japanese americans and african americans in particular are featured in this gallery. we are committed to telling diverse stories of americans here at the museum, but we try to tell those stories within the context of the overarching narrative of the american experience in world war ii. so in italy, visitors will find out stories about african-americans who fought with the 92nd id. they will find out stories about japanese americans fighting with the 442nd regimental combat team, and they are going to find out how tough it was to fight against the elements. , the environment and

nature plays a terrible role in this campaign where we are fighting up mountains trying to draw towards rome. we're standing next to a panel involving john r fox's story. he was an african-american fighting with the segregated 92nd infantry division. a mortar fire come down on his position in the midst of a german attack where, frankly, the germans were about .o break our line when fox was discovered a couple of days later, he was surrounded by over 100 dead germans. so in 1998, he was eventually awarded posthumously the medal .f honor in this case over here, we have a congressional gold medal that to a member of the

,42nd regimental combat team which was a segregated unit of japanese-americans who fought in italy in world war ii. he had actually been interred at before he wasona allowed to fight for his country. the 442nd put up the most impressive record of combat of virtually any unit in world war ii. they were eventually awarded 21 medals of honor, including one that to daniel in a way -- ue, who later became a longtime senator from hawaii. daniel kyle starts to become a well-known figure back in the united states -- ernie pyle starts to become a well-known figure in the united states, detailing what it was like for a

soldier. you can see a couple of his the war.m i wanted to point out this artifact in between the books. lighter.ee his zippo this lighter was given to a young g.i. named reed switzer from ernie kyl to sort of exemplify the spirit the troops had. they identified with him because he identified with them, average americans out on the battlefields having to fight. one other artifact i thought i would point out here that brings home the reality of what these young men and women were facing -- young men on the battle lines, of course, but you can see next to ernie pyle's book, a cigarette case and a purple heart medal. this cigarette case belonged to a young private by the name of andrew sexton, a medic who was the bullethot, and went through the cigarette case

but was stopped on the other into thet and fell case. he later credited this with saving his life. if you can imagine what an experience like that must be like, certainly, it brings home the reality of life and death these young men and women were facing and that ernie pile understood so well -- ernie p yle understood so well. we have a 4.2-inch mortar, which will turn out to be an extremely effective weapon for allied groups. it weighed about 330 pounds with , maximum range of 4400 yards minimum range of about 650 yards . could fire about 20 rounds a minute for a short duration, and you could, of course, fire it were much longer, but it changed the rate of fire the longer you

went. if you will follow me, over here, you can see one of the that that 4.2-inch mortar would have fired in this exhibit case over here. we have in this case a number of are here, but up top, we have a couple of dummy guns. these were taken from italians. kind of interesting when you think about it that these were toy guns captured by the once again, the reality is everybody is shooting with live rounds most of the time, and that reality is brought home very dramatically in this case as well. we have a couple of purple hearts, and below it, a coffin that belongedag

-- anthonygonzaga , private and infantryman. he had written a letter to his brother in which he feared he might not make it home but begged his brother not to say .nything to his parents indeed, he was killed in september 1944 while fighting in italy. thought ielement i would point out in this case you can see the graphical firing table, a slide rule basically, for the 4.2-inch mortar that we were viewing in the previous room in the gallery. make you wanted to adjustments to hit your enemy, this was how you would calculate that. the adjustments and then, hopefully, hit your .arget

behind me, you see a sign -- fabricated sign, but something we put throughout the museum in these galleries to remind people of how far away they often are from victory. you can see 736 miles from berlin to italy. what we tell the public, however, is that the road to berlin will not go through italy. despite the efforts of the allies to fight at the italian peninsula, it's raining, -- the terrain, the nazi army -- all of combine to bring us short of our goal of ultimate victory against nazi germany. we are not over to make it over the alps. in order to hit nazi germany directly, we will next visit the gallery that talks about the air , the one place where we were able to directly strike the heart of hitler's him higher --

empire. entering our air war gallery. up to this point at the museum, we have had a visitor on kind of . chronological march the air war was going on throughout 1942 to 1945, and it was the one part of the war where we were constantly trying to hit nazi germany. could not strike them from north africa or italy physically, but we could from the air, and you could see on our map, we are from north mission africa and especially great britain where the eighth air force was located. in this gallery with the air war, the air war went through several stages. you had some initial beginnings,

but most importantly, by the end of 1943, we are basically losing .he air war very badly we are losing disproportionate bombers going up trying to hit the heartland of nazi germany and other industrial facilities throughout europe that nazis were using. the reason this was so problematic for us -- if you think about it, for example, a b-17 bomber, which was the workhorse of the european bombing campaign, had a trained -- had trained personnel in it where you had 10, 11 men in there that every time one of those was shot down, it was one thing to lose your plane, but it's another thing to lose all of those trained personnel. that was true of the other side as well.

luftwaffe of the german air force had trained pilots were this was going to be a key element of what would eventually happen with the air war where it's about ultimately replacing pilots in planes. however, by late 1943, what we want people to understand -- we had to have control of the air in order to launch the d-day invasion of normandy. we do not have it in late 1943. in fact, we are getting beaten rather badly in the air. we tell that story in this video here. then we are going to bring our into life at fort up an airfield in east anglia where you will have the eighth air force stationed in a hut just like what we have fabricated in this gallery. one of the features in this reality-- we do suspend

a little bit. you can see up top our animation, which depicts a lie b-17of thousands of bombers, b 24 liberators, other , the massive air force we eventually build up in england, but what we try to tell people about in the story here is the turning point in that air war. what will happen in early 1944 is a huge shift. we tell the story of the berlin rate of march 6, 1940 or, where we will put up better than 1000 planes in the air -- march 6, 1944. the key to this is that in the earlier raids i referenced, you're looking at 100 or 200 aircraft, 60 of them getting shot down. once we start putting up 800 bombers, we will lose about 69

bombers. this was one of the worst in terms of total numbers that we are going to lose, but in percentage terms, we were only of our bombers at this point, and the key to this was fighter protection. the b 51 aircraft is going to come online in production, and it's going to be probably the best fighter aircraft of world war ii -- the p 51 aircraft. it's fast, maneuverable, and most importantly, it can fly .uch greater distances they are able to give those bombers protection to do their job, and they are going to be able to fight and kill off luftwaffe as it comes off those fighter pilots that the germans had trying to kill the pilots, instead find themselves being shot down in numbers that nazi germany would not sustain.

have the medal of to anthat was awarded aviator by the name of archibald matthews. he had no formal training, and b-17 when it was hit by flak and the pilot was killed. archibald and a couple of other crew members tried to land the aane, even though he's not pilot and had no formal training. the pilot was wounded, and math is going tohies have the rest of the crew bailout. he attempted to then land the plane in england but crashed upon landing, killing himself and the pilot on board. for his heroism where he could have bailed out himself and left

the wounded pilot but did not, he is awarded the medal of honor . what we have in this case is wreckage from first lieutenant augusta's hamilton's p 47, which crashed in july 1944 of france. augustus hamilton actually was .et to go home his bags were packed. he had a wife and newborn child, at his unit then requested volunteer to do one last mission. he went up and is going to find by alf under severe attack bunch of german messerschmitt 190 aircraft, and he is shot down and killed. his remains were not discovered until the crash site was discovered in france in 1993.

remnantsese are the from that crash site. his plane had been named mrs. ham, after his wife and son, whom he would never meet. there is a plaque commemorating his sacrifice and ultimate bravery for going ahead with you could have gone home but volunteering for one last mission in support of the cause for which he had to give his life. gallery is that , we beginn march 1944 to wrestle control of the air away from the luftwaffe, and only if we can gain control of the air can we launch the normandy invasion on d-day. not know what that day will be yet in the plans, but it

will turn out to be three months after march 6, 1944. >> [indiscernible] >> join american history tv on saturday, november 7, four tourists and live interviews from the national world war ii museum in new orleans. we will explore the road to berlin in the african-american story and take your questions or historians joining us throughout the day. world war ii -- 70 years later -- live from the national world war ii museum, saturday, november 7, beginning at 11:00 a.m. eastern here on american history tv on c-span3. next, lorraine at