The National World War II Museum, located in New Orleans, just opened a section devoted solely to the labors of civilian mariners and shipbuilders to win the war.
The LTJG Ralph E. Crump Merchant Marine Gallery features videos, artifacts and personal narratives of those who took part in building and sailing the Liberty Ships, Victory Ships, tankers and other crafts that transported and supplied troops around the globe.
As the museum noted in its announcement, “Without the Merchant Marine and the fleet of ships carrying supplies from the United States and the ‘Arsenal of Democracy,’ there could have been no Normandy, no Saipan, and no guarantee of the Soviet Union staying the war.”
Included in the gallery is a scale model of a Liberty Ship. More than 2700 of these vessels were built in American yards during the war effort.
For more information about the gallery and the museum, go to nationalww2museum.org/visit .