History & Videos

Gettysburg is synonymous with the idea that ordinary Americans can be called upon to do extraordinary things. In 1863, the fields outside this small Pennsylvania town became the turning point of the Civil War. Eighty years later, a new generation answered a similar call on battlefields around the globe.

But Gettysburg's connection to World War II runs far deeper than symbolism. During the war, the town and surrounding region played a direct role in the fight for freedom. A secret Navy office in Gettysburg produced vital military maps. Camp Sharpe trained the “Psych Boys” in psychological warfare operations. A German prisoner of war camp operated within the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park. And nearly 500 World War II veterans are interred at the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower - Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe - chose Gettysburg as his permanent home and later used his farm as a temporary White House during his presidency. Nearby, Camp Ritchie trained military intelligence operatives, Fort Detrick pioneered biological defense research, and Carlisle Barracks served as a key Army installation. Just down the road in York, Pennsylvania, the famous “York Plan” became the model for the Arsenal of Democracy, showing how American industry could be rapidly converted to wartime production.

We established the WWII American Experience Museum here because the spirit of Gettysburg - courage in the face of tyranny, sacrifice for something greater than oneself - is the same spirit that carried the Greatest Generation through the darkest days of the twentieth century.