For Immediate Release

October 22, 2007

Major World War II Exhibit To Include Rare Medal of Honor And 1,000 Other World War II Civilian & Military Relics Opening in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania

Allentown, PA – A major World War II exhibit opening Veterans Day, November 11th at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum will showcase more than 1,000 civilian and military relics from the Second World War.  The announcement was made today by museum director Joseph Garrera.

Premier items in the exhibit include the Medal of Honor awarded during WWII in 1945 to Frances J. Clark of the 28th Pennsylvania Division on loan from the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg.  Often referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Medal of Honor is America’s highest award for gallantry; it requires “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” Other items include original documents and medals that tell the stories of Lehigh Valley military personnel, including several killed in action.  One such casualty, Private Peter Sass, was a 1940 graduate of Allentown High School.  Sass became a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne and was killed in France during the D-Day Invasion at Normandy.  “We will not be glorifying war,” said Garrera.  “Our intention is to show the extreme sacrifice on the battlefield and the Home Front, because in victory there is great sorrow.”

Other authentic battlefield relics in the exhibit will include items generously loaned or donated by WWII Lehigh Valley veterans and their families.  The exhibit will include an original Japanese battle flag retrieved from the battle-scarred island of Iwo Jima, hats worn by Nazi soldiers and a pilot’s suit from a Japanese pilot who was captured in the Pacific.  An original Japanese samurai sword obtained by a Lehigh Valley sailor serving in the Pacific during the formal surrender of a Japanese military unit will be exhibited for the first time ever.

According to Garrera, the exhibit will cover 10,000 square feet of the museum, qualifying it as one of the largest WWII exhibits in the country.  It will showcase more than 1,000 items from the World War II era.  “This will be the largest, most comprehensive exhibit ever assembled by the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum or any of its affiliates in the 103 year history of our organization,” said Garrera.

According to Garrera, the exhibit will contain original uniforms worn by military personnel and civilian Home Front volunteers.  Official posters that were used to inspire the American public and authentic newsreel reports of the war will be displayed.  In order to keep the public highly motivated, the federal government produced and fostered the production of slogans, books, posters and related items that served to bolster support for the war.  

The exhibit will showcase a collection of original Glenn Miller WWII memorabilia signed by Miller and other icons of the era, including Judy Garland, Bob Hope and members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra.  Formed in 1938, the Glenn Miller Orchestra quickly began breaking attendance records up and down the East Coast.  In early 1940, Down Beat Magazine announced that Miller had topped all other bands in its Sweet Band Poll.  Featured in a radio series airing three times a week on CBS and later in two movies, the band also recorded chart-topping albums. At the height of his success, Glenn Miller dedicated himself to the goal of serving his nation by entertaining the fighting troops and volunteered for induction into the Army, where he ultimately organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.  He died mysteriously in December of 1944 when his aircraft disappeared from radar during a military flight from England to France.  Today Miller is remembered as an icon and truly great band leader of the WWII era.

Unique to this exhibit will be memorabilia telling the WWII Home Front story—the story of the men and women who remained in America, working in places like Bethlehem Steel, which produced naval vessels, and Mack Trucks, which manufactured vehicles that were used by the Allies across Europe to fight the war.  The work and sacrifice of those who remained at home played a pivotal but often-overlooked role in the war and its victorious outcome.  Home Front items on display will include a comprehensive collection of material ranging from “Remember Pearl Harbor” memorabilia to “Anti-Hitler” and other propaganda used to galvanize American resolve to sacrifice at home and abroad.

“The exhibit will tell the story of America’s supreme sacrifice; it will honor the dead and the living – civilian and military – the people who saved America and the world in our darkest hour,” said Garrera.

The exhibit opening on Veterans Day, November 11 will follow a parade celebration starting at 2:00 p.m. down Hamilton Street in Allentown.  The parade will proceed to the Heritage Museum at 432 W. Walnut Street, where a brief opening ceremony for the exhibit will occur at 3:00 p.m., at which time the exhibit will officially be declared open.  The Heritage Museum will remain open with extended hours until 8:00 p.m. on “Veterans Day.”  Museum admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children, with Lehigh County Historical Society members receiving free admission.

For more information contact Joseph Garrera, executive director, Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, 432 W. Walnut Street, Allentown, PA 18102 or by calling 610-435-1074.

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