A visit to the National WWII Museum

Opened in 2000, the New Orleans-based National WWII Museum is spread out among three buildings and houses over 100,000 artifacts from that global conflict -- everything from fully restored aircraft and tanks down to medals and diaries. While many items in the collection — including but not limited to Allied and Axis uniforms, weaponry, vehicles, letters, artwork, photographs and other mementos — are on exhibit, the majority are kept safely in storage to be used for research and future exhibitions, or are being restored to their original condition. (All photographs courtesy of Michael Kilcarr)