New Orleans WW2 and Cemetery Tour

Even on my honeymoon people prepare for a bombing

FROM THE WEB SITE:
From the beaches of Normandy to the sands of Iwo Jima, The National World War II Museum's exhibits are a blend of personal accounts, artifacts, documents, photographs and original film footage. The stories of the dozens of amphibious landings and the thousands of men and women who made Allied victory in World War II possible are told through three floors of exhibit space. In addition, special exhibits draw on the Museum’s own collections, as well as relevant traveling exhibits to further illustrate and explore the war that changed the world. We recommend allowing at least two to three hours to visit the Museum... and three hours we did! The amazing thing was because of the Germany trip and south Pacific trip I got very choked up seeing these places live now days and then really viewing what was happening then. I have always liked ww2 but after going over sea's I am kind of obsessed with it.

Racism was in the open us against them and them against us

Gilligan

I couldn't believe Angie didn't know about The Bataan Death march- the south pacific theater is my favorite in WW2- I feel like The Europe one got allot more play I felt so cool to be able to show her stuff I knew about- 
On April 9, 1942, about 70,000 American and Filipino prisoners were forced to walk a deadly march of about 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernado.

On this walk the soldiers were badly treated, some were killed, and others died from sickness. If you were walking in this procession, you would see two heads on the side of the road every mile. If a person on the sides of the roads tried to give a soldier water or food, the person on the road would be killed.

On the railways, the soldiers were squeezed into the cars. People couldn’t breath, and some people died right there on the spot. The troops finally got to Camp O’Donnel tired and weak. This was the end of the Bataan Death March. All of the American and Filipino soldiers were held prisoners.

Japanese Occupation of Guam (1941 - 1944)

On December 10, 1941, Guam surrendered to the Japanese. Guam became the only populated U.S. soil to be occupied by another country in World War II, the people of Guam were forcibly subjected to intolerable hardships administered by the Japanese military. Grenade slaughters and rapes were common.

love the architecture

Concentration camps were established by the 29th Division of Japan's Kwantung Army and approximately 600 Chamorro's (that is what people native to Guam are called) were executed. Some Chamorro's were beheaded when the Japanese learned of the 3-year humanitarian effort by Chamorro's to successfully feed and hide U.S. Navy radioman George Tweed who escaped in the initial invasion.
Tweed's cave is a popular "boonie stomping" destination on Guam today.

There were more than 140,000 black and white prisoners in Japanese prisoner of war camps. Of these, one in three died from starvation, work, punishments or from diseases for which there were no medicines to treat.

Some of the guards made a sport of hurting or killing the POWs. The Marchers were beaten with rifle butts, shot or bayoneted without reason. Most of the POWs got rid of their helmets because some by Japanese soldiers on passing trucks hit them with rifle butts. Some enemy soldiers savagely toyed with POWs by dragging them behind trucks with a rope around the neck. Japanese guards also gave the POWs the "sun treatment" by making them sit in the sweltering heat of the direct sun for hours at a time without shade.

78,000 prisoners (12,000 U.S. and 66,000 Filipino). They began marching up the east coast of Bataan. Although they didn't know it, their destination was Camp O'Donnell

One of my favorite places when I was overseas.

Prisoners of the Japanese found themselves in camps in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and other Japanese-occupied countries.

The terms of the Geneva Convention were ignored by the Japanese who made up rules and inflicted punishments at the whim of the Camp Commandant.

The majority of prisoners were put to work in mines, fields, shipyards and factories on a diet of about 600 calories a day. I topped out at 6000 calories a meal in NOLA.

Prisoners suffered from malnutrition, ulcers and cholera.  Around 61,000 prisoners were put to work on the railroad. Of those 13,000 died.

Now lets get back to light fun stuff. CEMETERIES

CEMETERY TOUR

walking to the cematary

Only in New Orleans could cemeteries be major tourist attractions. It was amazing-  With a spooky history, unique, ornate tombs, and some of them dating back to the late 1700s, I really felt even in the day time the dead may zombifi or come out..

St. Louis Cemetery, home to Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau's grave, a popular location for movies shot in New Orleans. Easy Rider the most famous.

These houses are built on old cemetery grounds

“Marie Laveau- Died in 1881

Marie Laveau tomb

Marie Laveau was the famous Voodoo priestess of the nineteenth century that Dr. Hook wrote a song about. New Orleans Voodoo as a social phenomenon became popular during the 1800’s. Under Marie Laveau’s guidance Voodoo thrived as a business, served as a form of political influence, provided a source of spectacle and entertainment (like politics nowdays), and was a means of altruism. But what Voodoo is in its pure form is religion: forms of worship brought to Caribbean and American colonies through the slave days.
This mutation of West African religion under the strain of slavery ultimately gave rise to the New-World phenomenon known as “voodoo.” More than any one person, Marie Laveau transformed the religious practices of African slaves into a major social and cultural institution of nineteenth-century New Orleans.
Her tomb is the most visited tomb in the US- people still bring her offerings and put 3 x's on the walls for good luck.

One of the tombs From the Italian American one head is missing and they think Dennis Hopper ripped it off and had it on his fireplace mantle during the filming of easy rider.

offerings

From the hit movie Easy Rider this is the ACID TRIP scene.. 1969.
After this happened the city never allowed shooting in the cemetery's again.... see below

scale of old New Orleans

"Apartments"
Wall vaults - burial compartments within perimeter of burial ground. One vault was often used for an entire family. After a respectable time, the remains of a burial were pushed to the back where construction of the vault allowed it to fall to a receptacle below; the space was then ready for another recipient. These compartments were vaulted in early construction. 

"Houses"
 Pediment Tomb - A multiple vault tomb whose height is greater than its width and whose top is surmounted by an integrated frontgable end pediment of flat, triangular or segmental design.

When you die in NOLA its like the green way to die- no single plots.

"Sky Scrapper"
Society tomb - professional or benevolent societies were common in the early history of New Orleans and served to administer to the burial needs of the individuals who belonged to them. There are many historically important ethnic groups as well as volunteer firemen groups represented by this tomb style. A society tomb is a multi layered tomb wall that contains several burial vaults. They are like mausoleums in most ways, except that most people in a society tomb are connected in some way.

Time for a Cosby moment

This was a super factual post so this is your moment of laughter..