Friends of the National World War II Memorial

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Friends of the National World War II Memorial Preserving the National World War II Memorial. Honoring the legacy. Inspiring generations.
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Friends of the National World War II Memorial (Friends) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., as a sacred place of remembrance, learning, and inspiration. Established in 2007 by the Memorial’s creators, Friends leads efforts to maintain this iconic site, ensuring it remains a must-see destination for over 5 million visitors annually. Through meaningful ceremonies, impactful educational programs, and vital preservation initiatives, Friends honors the legacy of the Greatest Generation and shares the enduring lessons of World War II, inspiring unity, shared values, pride in America, and hope for the future.

🎉🇺🇸 Happy 100th Birthday, Warren Nees!Before Warren Nees became an electrical engineer, a husband of 75 years, a father ...
10/14/2026

🎉🇺🇸 Happy 100th Birthday, Warren Nees!

Before Warren Nees became an electrical engineer, a husband of 75 years, a father and grandfather, and the man everyone knew could “fix absolutely anything,” he was a young sailor answering his country’s call during World War II.

Born in Minneapolis in 1926, Warren was drafted into the U.S. Navy right out of high school in 1945. He trained as an electrician’s mate at Great Lakes and served aboard a destroyer es**rt based in Key West until August 1946.

When he came home, Warren used the GI Bill to earn a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota. That education launched a career that would span decades with Control Corporation, later Control Data, and Montevideo Technology Incorporated.

And beside him for much of that extraordinary journey has been Phyllis, his high school sweetheart. They married in 1951 and have now shared 75 years of marriage, raising three daughters and building a life centered on family, friendship, and countless memories.

Outside of work, Warren loved goose hunting, golfing, playing cards, telling a good joke, and—true to form—repairing just about anything that needed fixing.

From a Navy electrician’s mate to an electrical engineer, devoted husband, father, grandfather, outdoorsman, card player, problem-solver, and family patriarch, Warren has filled a century with service, ingenuity, hard work, humor, and love.

Happy 100th Birthday, Mr. Nees—and thank you for your service to our nation!

Help us celebrate this extraordinary milestone by signing Warren’s digital birthday card and leaving him a message of congratulations and gratitude:

🔗 http://www.wwiimemorialfriends.org/birthday-card/warren-nees

🎉🇺🇸 Happy 100th Birthday, Albert Marlin “Marlin” Brown!Marlin has a motto:“Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”Afte...
10/14/2026

🎉🇺🇸 Happy 100th Birthday, Albert Marlin “Marlin” Brown!

Marlin has a motto:

“Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

After 100 years, it’s fair to say he has lived by it.

Growing up in Depression-era Alabama, Marlin worked whatever jobs he could find to help his family. At 17, he volunteered to serve his country during World War II. His U.S. Army service eventually took him across the Pacific to the Philippines and Japan, where he witnessed firsthand a world forever changed by war.

Then he came home and kept learning.

Marlin earned advanced degrees in education and mathematics and spent nearly a quarter-century teaching at Augusta College, sharing his love of learning with generations of students.

And retirement hardly slowed him down.

🐕 He and his wife, Jessie, raised prize-winning Shetland Sheepdogs.
🌹 He cultivated about 400 rose bushes, many of them prize winners.
📷 He became an accomplished photographer, traveling to photograph polar bears in Canada, birds in Trinidad and Ecuador, and the landscapes of Alaska.
❤️ And he and Jessie have now shared more than 57 years of marriage.

He even has a Christmas tree decorated entirely with Snoopy ornaments — fitting for a man known for his humor, stories, and ability to find joy in life.

From Alabama to the Pacific, from the classroom to adventures around the world, Marlin has filled a century with service, curiosity, learning, laughter, and a wholehearted approach to living.

Happy 100th Birthday, Albert Marlin Brown — and thank you for your service to our nation!

Help us celebrate this extraordinary member of the Greatest Generation by signing his digital birthday card and sharing a message of congratulations and gratitude:

🔗 http://www.wwiimemorialfriends.org/birthday-card/albert-marlin-brown

U.S. Army Captain James Montross Burt of Lee, Massachusetts, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary action...
10/14/2026

U.S. Army Captain James Montross Burt of Lee, Massachusetts, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on October 13-23, 1944, near Wurselen, Germany.

Burt graduated from Norwich University as part of the Norwich Corps of Cadets in 1939. He entered active service in 1941 and was assigned to the 66th Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. Promoted to captain, he commanded Company B, 66th Armor, in nearly continuous combat from the day the unit landed at the Normandy beach in June 1944 through the end of the war.

Captain Burt’s Medal of Honor citation is unique in that he was awarded the Medal not for a single act but for his actions during a 10-day period starting on October 13, 1944, as the 2nd Armored Division fought to capture Aachen, Germany.

Burt left military service after the war and became a mathematics and business instructor at Franklin Pierce College. He died at age 88 in February 2006.

Hollywood spies. Secret missions behind enemy lines. A daring bombing raid over Romania.Three extraordinary stories from...
10/13/2026

Hollywood spies. Secret missions behind enemy lines. A daring bombing raid over Romania.

Three extraordinary stories from World War II. One fascinating morning of history!

Join Friends of the National World War II Memorial this Saturday, October 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET for our FREE Monthly Virtual WWII Conference Series, featuring four outstanding authors and historians:

🎬 Michael Benson | Hollywood vs. N***s
Discover how some of Hollywood's most influential studio leaders secretly fought back against N**i efforts to spread propaganda and influence American public opinion.

🇫🇷 Katie Sanders & Nicholas Reynolds | Ortiz's War
Follow the remarkable story of Peter J. Ortiz, a U.S. Marine and OSS operative whose daring missions behind enemy lines helped support the French Resistance and save Allied lives.

✈️ Adam Makos | Tidal Wave
Experience the dramatic August 1943 American bombing raid on the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, and discover the extraordinary human stories of courage, loyalty, and unlikely connections across enemy lines.

Moderated by bestselling author and Friends' Resident Historian Alex Kershaw, this engaging program offers fresh perspectives on the people, decisions, and sacrifices that shaped World War II.

FREE. LIVE. ONLINE.

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from these remarkable storytellers! Register today and invite a fellow history enthusiast to join you.

🔗 https://www.wwiimemorialfriends.org/monthly-conference-series

U.S. Army Captain Arlo L. Olson of Toronto, South Dakota was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acti...
10/13/2026

U.S. Army Captain Arlo L. Olson of Toronto, South Dakota was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on October 13, 1943 while serving in the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division near Monte San Nicola, Italy.

On October 13, 1943, and throughout the following two weeks, Captain Olson showed tremendous leadership and courage during the push across the Volturno River in Italy. He repeatedly led his men in attacks against German forces, personally capturing several enemy positions, until he was mortally wounded during a reconnaissance patrol. Captain Olson died on October 28, 1943. He was 25 years old.

Captain Olson is one of nine Eagle Scouts to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Norman Scott of Indianapolis, Indiana, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic...
10/12/2026

U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Norman Scott of Indianapolis, Indiana, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on October 11-12 and November 12-13, 1942, during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Scott graduated from the Naval Academy and was commissioned as an ensign in March 1912. By October 11, 1942, he was serving as a rear admiral and led his force to victory in the Battle of Cap Esperance. He intercepted a Japanese Task Force, destroyed eight hostile vessels, and sent the others away. He died in battle a month later during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Scott and many of his staff were killed when the ship he was on – the light cruiser USS Atlanta – was hit by gunfire from the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco during the nighttime fighting in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on October 11-12 and November 12-13, 1942. Scott was buried at sea, and the Navy ships USS Norman Scott (DD-690) and USS Scott (DDG-995) were named in his honor.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jack James Pendleton of Yakima, Washington was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his ...
10/12/2026

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jack James Pendleton of Yakima, Washington was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on October 12, 1944 while serving in Company I, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division.

On October 12, 1944, in Bardenberg, Germany, Staff Sergeant Pendleton voluntarily led his squad in an attack against an enemy machine gun. After being seriously wounded, he continued forward alone, purposely drawing the machine gun's fire so that another squad could advance and destroy the enemy position. He was killed by the intense fire from the machine gun. He was 26 years old.

U.S. Army Air Corps Colonel Neel Ernest Kearby of Arlington, Texas was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary ...
10/11/2026

U.S. Army Air Corps Colonel Neel Ernest Kearby of Arlington, Texas was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on October 11, 1943 while serving as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot with the 348th Fighter Group near Wewak, New Guinea.

Colonel Kearby was one of two U.S. fighter pilots to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions while flying the P-47.

One month later, with 12 victories to his credit, Colonel Kearby was transferred to the headquarters of the 5th Air Force Fighter Command. Despite his assignment to administrative duties, Colonel Kearby still wanted to be in combat.

He flew missions whenever he could, and his victory tally continued to rise. For a time, Colonel Kearby was in competition with Richard B**g to be the leading Army ace of the Pacific Theater. Like Colonel Kearby, Major B**g wasn't assigned to a combat unit at the time and flew in addition to his assigned duty of instructor in order to stay in combat.

On March 5, 1944, Colonel Kearby and two other pilots attacked a formation of 15 Japanese aircraft near Wewak. After shooting down one of the aircraft, Kearby himself was shot down. The P-47, his personal aircraft named "Fiery Ginger IV," crashed into the jungle below. Colonel Kearby escaped by parachute, but died of his wounds. He was 32 years old.

Colonel Kearby's remains were found in 1947, but they were left unidentified for two more years. He was buried in Dallas, Texas in July 1949.

U.S. Army Air Forces Major Richard Ira B**g of Superior, Wisconsin, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary...
10/10/2026

U.S. Army Air Forces Major Richard Ira B**g of Superior, Wisconsin, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on October 10, 1944, over Borneo and Leyte, in the Philippines.

B**g enlisted in the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program in May 1941, was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and was awarded his pilot wings in January 1942. By October 10, 1944, he was serving as a major in the 49th Fighter Group. From October 10 to November 15, B**g was assigned to duty as a gunnery instructor and not required to perform combat duty. However, he voluntarily engaged in repeated combat missions. He was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots and the country's top flying ace in the war, credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft, all with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions from October 10-November 15, 1944. B**g then became a test pilot and flew P-80 Shooting Star jet fighters out of Lockheed Air Terminal in California. On August 6, 1945, the plane’s primary fuel pump malfunctioned during takeoff. B**g was able to clear the aircraft but was too low for his parachute to deploy. The plane crashed into a narrow field at Oxnard Street and Satsuma Avenue, North Hollywood. His death was front-page news across the country, sharing space with the first news of the bombing of Hiroshima.

B**g was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1986 and has several commemorative monuments named in his honor around the world, including an airport, two bridges, a theater, a veterans historical center, a recreation area, a neighborhood terrace, and several avenues and streets, including the street leading to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. He is buried at Poplar Cemetery in Poplar, Wisconsin.

Victor Leonard Kandle of Roy, Washington, a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Hon...
10/09/2026

Victor Leonard Kandle of Roy, Washington, a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on October 9, 1944, near La Forge, France.

Kandle joined the Army in September 1940, and by October 9, 1944, was serving as a first lieutenant with the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. On October 9, near La Forge, France, he led his platoon in capturing a German stronghold and destroying two machine gun emplacements. Then, with his men providing supporting fire, he attacked a fortified house and forced the Germans inside to surrender. He was killed in action two months later on December 31, 1944. He was just 23 years old.

He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on October 9, 1944. Kandle is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Épinal, France.

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Washington D.C., DC

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+12026752017

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