Good. Splendid. Perfect. New orleans. Morning to all of you. And welcome to the National World war two museum and, our new and lovely battle, barksdale Parade Ground on behalf the board of trustees of the National World war two museum. I want to thank you for honoring us with your presence here today. It is indeed a momentous day in the life of this great institution. With the opening of the liberation, we finally tell the full story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world, a story that now includes words, an understanding of the cost of victory and its meaning. Today, with the opening of this capstone pavilion and we bring to completion a journey that began 23 years ago, or as our founder nick mueller would more accurate aptly states. If you include its inception as a mere idea and ten years of planning, 33 years. But on june six, 2000, the 56 anniversary of the dday invasion, we gathered nearby to celebrate the opening of the National Dday museum and the beginning of an ambitious and some might even call it nearly impossible goal to build a Museum Dedicated to the entire American Experience in World War Two. From our humble beginnings, were certainly didnt seem very humble at the time. Weve grown from a single telling the story of the dday landings into a world class seven acre, seven pavilion, 420 million World Class Institution that shares one of the most important stories in all of human history. This journey and our accomplishments to date. Our thanks to all of you, our closest friends, our supporters, our partners. Leaders and Community Members who have supported us all along the way. We owe all of you a deep debt of gratitude. Thank you all for making this day possible. Id like to extend a few special greetings to, some special friends in the audience. First, the governor of the great state of louisiana, john bel edwards. John, thank you very much for being here. Governor. Charles kay show, secretary of the American Battle monuments commission. Roger or hustler, director of facility planning and control for the state of louisiana. Please welcome the latoya cantrell, mayor of the city of new orleans. And state senator roy stewart plessis. Please, please give a warm welcome to state representatives mandy landry and gary l. Smith. And also to the Vice President of the new orleans city council. Council at large, helena moreno. We have other very special guests in the audience today as well. Please give a warm welcome to the daughter of two tuskegee airmen, lawrence, the host of abcs his good morning america, Robin Roberts roberts. Please, a warm round of applause and a welcome to renowned actor and Community Activist and native new orleanian, mr. Wendell pierce. And please welcome someone has been instrumental for decades in bringing the story of World War Two to the forefront of american consciousness and who, in doing so, has taught generations of americans that. Freedom is not. Please welcome acclaimed actor and director sir tom hanks. Please welcome recipient of the highest award for military valor given in the United States. Please welcome recipients of the medal of honor. Their family and other members of the congressional medal of honor society, national convention, who have been in town all week meeting for their annual convention. Thank you. Medal of honor recipients for being here. Please welcome with a warm round of applause. Our nations veterans and active duty military who are joining us this morning. And last but not least, really, especially so, please welcome our World War Two veterans, home front workers and Holocaust Survivors who are with us this morning and how blessed we are to have them in our presence. Now, lets pause for a moment to give thanks for the Many Blessings in our lives and for the privilege we have here at the museum to honor our nations veterans and the legacies of those who served during World War Two. To do that, please welcome rabbi kapell, the first female rabbi to serve in the States Military who will deliver special invocation. This morning, we have the honor privilege of dedicating liberation pavilion, which completes the camp of this incredible institute russian. As a rabbi reflecting on the horror inflict it on the people of israel during this past month, the of those who rescued the jewish people from the reign of nazi terror has been expanding fully highlighted. I am profoundly grateful to the National World war two museum for ensuring that the message of again will resonate for generations to come. From the bottom of heart. Thank you. We. That 16 million members of the allied forces gave their lives to the holocaust and to gain for the european continent. Jim bradley, whose father is immortalized in the statue of six marines, is raising the flag at iwo jima. Recalls that when he was a little his third grade teacher told him that his dad was a hero. His father replied. I want you to remember that the heroes are the ones who did not come back. Did not come back. It is with the most profound sorrow that we acknowledge these heroes today when we contemplate their courage and loss. We are overwhelmed, both humility and pride. We can best honor their memory by renewing our commitment to the ideals for which they lived and died. Freedom. And justice for all. To government of the people. By the people. And for the people. To one nation. Under god. We pray gods blessing on the continuing work of this institution. May it grow and prosper and be a source of inspiration for many, many generations to come. And let us say amen. Thank you, rabbi. It has taken the efforts of many, many people to build incredible institution. And the museum wouldnt what it is today without the monumental support from the great state of louisiana to governor edwards. Thank you. Thank you. That the state has been so supportive of this museum the very first day. Making it possible to open the doors of the National Dday museum 23 years ago. That support has never waned. And not for a moment. And your administration is continued to demonstrate that unyielding to this day in fact. The state of louisiana is the single largest supporter of the liberation pavilion. Governor, we know that the museums mission is a very important and personal one to you as a west point graduate, an airborne ranger. We thank you for your service to our great nation. We are indebted to you, sir. And for all that youve done to, advance the admission of this great institution. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome to the stage Governor John Bel Edwards. Good morning. And what a Beautiful Day it is here. In new orleans, louisiana. I thank you for allowing me to join you today. And i want to start by extending my personal gratitude louisianas gratitude and certainly our nation gratitude to all the World War Two veterans, homefront workers and Holocaust Survivors are here with us today from a young age, my mother and father instilled in the value of Public Service. And there is no more sacred or meaningful form of Public Service than military to leave. Home and risk your life to protect your country, to ensure their survival of liberty and democracy. I know there are some medal of honor recipients in attendance. You represent the very best of us. God bless you. We are eternally grateful for your service. A little over a year ago, i was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit normandy. It was one of the most memorable and powerful experiences of my life. While i was there, i paid my respect at the graves of louisa and the soldiers who never made it home. The gravity of what took place there was overwhelming. And it really makes you think about how trivial some of the things are that people are thinking about right now . Because at the end of the day, were all americans. And because of brave and women, like many of you here, we have the freedoms that we enjoy today to my right is a normandy liberty bell, which found its permanent home at the museum 14 years ago on veterans day, november the 11th, 2009. It was first rung at Independence Hall in philadel on july four, 2004, when it was gifted to the United States by a group of french citizens in memory of the u. S. Involvement at normandy and World War Two. Today it rings in memory of the more than 400,000 americans who gave their lives fighting for the cause of freedom in that war. And in honor of all the american citizen, soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines whose brave and sacrifice secured the victory and the peace that. The seven tolls of the bell represent, the many in a veterans life, each with a specific meaning to one. The choice serve this toll represents the veterans willingness, sacrifice his or her life for their country. A dedication to which few are called toll camaraderie. Representing the friendship hopes family and unity that bond all Service Members together told. Three. Patriotism representing the veterans pride in their country. A duty to protect it. And the joy in celebrating the freedoms enshrined in our constitution. Told for respect. Representing the respect given to a veteran by their community. Earned by them and owed by us for their service. Told five is dignity, representing the dignity with which a Veterans Community treats their fallen hero. Told six honor representing the honor that is due to a veteran when they died given by their fellow Service Members and community. He told seven. The of life. The seventh total represents the ultimate sacrifice that the veteran has made, whether killed in action or after long years of quiet. The value and contributions of a veteran cannot adequately be described by words alone. So please me in a moment of silence for the ringing the normandy liberty bell and the sounding of taps. Thank. Now we will hear from dr. Nick mueller on the meaning of liberation. Well, what a wonderful day. And thank you, governor edwards. Those meaningful words and i thank all of you here to celebrate, commemorate this wonderful day that began so many years ago. The last pavilion, one of seven, as youve heard in our master plan, devised some now 20 years ago. Last night was a very wonderful evening and very emotional for me. And thinking a lot about the many whove been on this journey with me and my friend Stephen Ambrose for those many years and some, sadly, who are not here, but made a tremendous contribution to me and to steve and ambrose and especially. I want to say that Stephen Ambrose should be here this day. Ive thought a lot about him in the last few days as this museum has come to life and he would be so proud and so pleased at what americas great americans have done to make this a reality. So to friends and staff and volunteers, veterans are distinguished and wonderful. Medal of honor recipients. Thank all. From my heart and mind for what has brought us to this day. I especially want to also thank my friend tom hanks, who finally responded to my personal appeal, which i wrote on Stephen Ambrose his typewriter and said, im channeling to invite you to be here for this one last event. And he was here at the beginning and has been a champion for so many years, especially in the early years when we didnt have credibility in terms of what we were seeking to do. But tom stevens, spielberg, tom brokaw, too, who is with us all the way along with members of congress, bob livingston, senator stevens, who set us on the path to do all of World War Two centers. In a way, good r and and mary landrieu, of course, and all the governors in past years this great state of louisiana, along with the federal government, has made a magnificent public partnership. Public partnership, along the leadership of the of new orleans and. I say that because for ten years they were paying my salary and Stephen Ambrose and a host of others when we had no staff and also, i have to recognize bart for zinger, the a great architect. You see the evidence of his masterpiece. All around you in Patrick Gallagher or gallagher and associates who brought our exhibits to life for all of you and especially the gallery me, the liberation about what it means to today the aftermath of World War Two. This museum is about war. But its also about the totality of the American Experience. Its a horrible war. It was a war that included the worst genocide, the holocaust in human history. But it was shaped after the war by American Values and policies and the spread of freedom and democracy. We have here establish an institute for the study of war and democracy. Don miller mentioned a few weeks ago to me that everybody in america was inside that war on the homefront and the battle front for four years. So unity and unification of the nation is something that you will feel here as you go through these exhibits. Youve heard Mission Statement that ends with understanding the price of freedom and be inspired by what learn. Think about for a moment. Let that sink in. Thats about education. About learning. Why is this museum and this pavilion then so important . Of course its important to pay tribute to the greatest generation that won war two, both on the home front and on the war front. Its a signature of our museum to tell personal stories of sacrifice and courage. And i think we do that better than any museum in america. Thank you. Ill clap for that to. But we are history museum. The history museum. That takes a wider view than that of just the individual soldier. Were than an ancestry museum. We tell their story in a larger context because wars are the crucible of change for all societies and World War Two brought about dramatic change in our country both during the war and after the war, and also to all nations of the world that we could advance liberty and freedom. And those changes are still taking place. Wars helped define the identity of a nation we wars shape our memories of what we believe and why we sacra fight. They also influence who we want to be. What were willing to fight for. To die for. Ultimately our values as americans. This liberation pavilion behind me documents those values from the personal stories of the citizen soldiers. Also through the words of our president s all of them veterans up until bush. 41 h. W. This last pavilion was perhaps the hardest for all of us to do was planned for some 20 years, and it came as a result of the end of our planning process in 2003, when our exhibit designers asked us, so what . So what will people think a 100 years from now. So what is how do you answer this . So what question to why World War Two should be important . Well, we thought about that plan. We thought about doing the road to berlin and the road to tokyo and the homefront and all of the other exhibits. But that got us back to the question of what it means today what americans then and how that torch was carried forward. And so we looked back to president Franklin Roosevelts four freedoms speech that he gave 11 months before harbor. These the foundational ideals that shaped the president s wartime aims and also the vision that carried forward in the postwar era. It was his vision for victory that these freedoms would one day be not just freedoms, but these would be freedoms that we could help spread throughout the world. And a sense, in essence, he spoke of the values of freedom and democracy and human rights. Im going to now invite a student to ja kobe mcswain the stage to come to read these for as reminders of the beliefs of the nation. During World War Two that have extended and are enshrined in pavilion. Morning. In a few days we look and seek to make this more secure and we look forward to a world founded upon the forward freedoms, the first freedom being freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world. The second freedom is freedom from any person to worship god in his or her own way. Everywhere in the world. The third freedom is freedom from everywhere in the world. And the fourth, freedom is freedom from fear anywhere in the world. Now, this is no vision in a distant millennium, but it is a definite basis of. The kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. This nation has placed this destiny in the hands, in head and hearts. The hearts of millions of free men and women and its fate in a freedom under the guidance. God. Freedom means. The supremacy of human rights. Everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights. And those who struggle to keep them. Our strength. Our strength is in our unity. Our unity of purpose. And today, high concept. There can be no in, say, victory. Thank you. Theres the future. And thank you, jacoby those ideals live on in our youth. And they will learn about those ideals here in this museum. These are aspiration, old ideals. But roosevelt knew that ideals and values were not enough by themselves. And just a few weeks earlier gave his powerful arsenal of democracy speech to nation, mobilizing americans power its industries and its people in a fight that he defined against authoritarian enemies whose intentions were evil. And he appealed to us rally around our moral center. He knew what often has been that