Texas Towns WW II Attractions Surprise and Impress

Fredericksburg, TX – In the Texas hill country lies a town that to the outsider looks much like many other small Texas towns - church steeples dot the landscape, well preserved picturesque homes and barns tell the story of time gone by, and outside of town, cattle lazily graze. Only upon closer examination is Fredericksburg’s uniqueness revealed – its connection to World War II and its WW II attractions.

From its Main Street it appears almost as a non-descript storefront and historic hotel, but beyond the simple façade the Admiral Nimitz Historic Site & National Museum of the Pacific War is a deceptively large museum dedicated to telling the story of the brave men and women who fought in the Pacific Theater in World War II.

If you are wondering why this landlocked city would house a first-class ocean war related museum, it is because Fredericksburg is the birthplace of one of America’s most admired admirals, Chester Nimitz.

Nimitz, who went on from his humble Texas beginnings to graduate from the US Naval Academy, was the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet during WWII. A plaque, also on Main Street only a few blocks from the Museum, marks the place where Nimitz was born.

The National Museum of the Pacific War

The museum itself includes over 23,000 square feet of indoor displays – and that doesn’t include the nearby (2 blocks away) outside re-creation of the Pacific Combat Zone, which is complete with imported sand to replicate Pacific beaches. On selected dates re-enactments of US Pacific theater island invasions are held. All told, the museum encompasses eight acres of land.

The museum includes a number of exhibits and holdings that you won’t see anywhere else, most strikingly, the Japanese two-man midget sub, I-24. The I-24 was used in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th and was recovered intact after it was launched from its mother ship, the submarine HA-19.

The I-24 is displayed in the museum as if you were standing on the deck of the HA-19 as it is prepared to be launched in the early morning hours of December 7th, complete with the sound of water lapping against the sub and the distant lights of the nearby Hawaiian Islands visible. You can even hear the sub’s Japanese commander barking out the final orders.

Another memorable exhibit portrays the Jimmy Doolittle Raid. A B-25 bomber is set against the backdrop of the deck of the USS Hornet as it prepares to takeoff for the raid. Large background murals add to the effect of the entire exhibit.

Because the museum focuses solely on the War in the Pacific, it allows a close up examination of battles and issues that are often overlooked in more general interest military museums.

For example, The Battle for Guadalcanal/Henderson Field exhibit allows you to walk on a winding path to view an extensive tropical island fortress-like airfield scene complete with palm trees. The highlight of the exhibit is a FM2 Navy Wildcat fighter.

Other museum holdings include the uniform tunic of Pearl Harbor attack architect Japanese Admiral Yamamoto; an artifact from the USS Arizona; a pith helmet and pistol from Admiral Nimitz; a WW II PT Boat and a re-creation of its entire base; and, an M3 Stuart tank. All told, there are hundreds of individual items on display.

Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for children. The museum is open 10-5 daily each day, except Christmas. www.nimitz-museum.org, or call 830 997-4379.

WW II Themed Hangar Hotel

A few miles across town from the museum is the Hangar Hotel. As you approach the hotel on the grounds of Fredericksburg’s small airport, you’ll believe that the 50-room hotel is actually a converted aircraft hangar, but rest assured, it is not. Although from the outside it looks as if it dates from the 1940s, inside the Hangar Hotel is modern, comfortable and new from the ground up. The hotel is actually part of a complex that includes the hotel, an event center and a 1940’s airport diner.

The hotel sits directly on the flight line of the general aviation airport making it a favorite for pilots who fly in to Fredericksburg for visits. You can virtually taxi right up to the front door of the hotel in your aircraft; don’t worry about lengthy security checkpoints waits, there are none. To give you an idea of the layout of the hotel and the runway, you can walk to and from your aircraft as quickly as someone can walk to and from their car in the hotel’s parking lot.