ORIGINAL VINTAGE WWII LANDING CRAFT
JOINS REPLICA AT
THE NATIONAL D-DAY MUSEUM
NEW ORLEANS – (Sept. 28, 2004) - Since its opening in June 2000, more than one million
visitors have toured the National D-Day Museum. This four-story, 75,000-square-foot facility
houses some of the most important artifacts relating to World War II.
From the 1930s to the Normandy Invasion, this museum traces America’s role in the war. The
22,500-square-foot Louisiana Memorial Pavilion houses the Museum’s reproduction of the
LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) or Higgins boat, reproduced from original WWII plans
by more than 100 volunteers, many former employees of Higgins, a New Orleans-based
company.
A replica Higgins Boat, which proved pivotal during the Normandy invasion, has been an
illustrative piece since the Museum opened. On Tuesday, September 28, 2004 the original
Higgins boat joined its replica at the D-Day Museum. The boat was discovered by the first
owner who purchased the Higgins Landing Craft in the late 1950s. He knew the boat was
important, so he contacted the National D-Day Museum, who was able to purchase the 36-foot
vessel for $4,000 in order to make it seaworthy again.
The rampless Landing Craft Vehicle was restored by the Higgins Boat Society and the D-Day
Volunteer Restoration Crew, a group of war veterans, wooden-boat enthusiasts and history buffs,
with a donation from the Gloria Shearin Smith and the Ivy A. Smith, Jr. Charitable Trust.
The replica, which was built from original blueprints in the late 1990s, has the front-end ramp
that enables soldiers to climb into the water and onto the shores of Nazi-held France. However,
the newer addition to the museum was built in the 1940s and has no such ramp. The restored
vessel dates back to 1944-45; it’s actually the type that saw service before Higgins developed the
forward ramp, including the 1942 invasion of Guadalcanal in the Pacific Theater. The Landing
Craft also delivered reinforcements during other amphibious landings.
Both Landing Crafts represent the innovation of New Orleans shipbuilder Andrew Higgins, a
maverick Adolf Hitler called the “new Noah” and President Dwight Eisenhower credited as “the
man who won the war for us.” Additionally, this craft is said to be the first successful personnel
landing boat that the United States military ever had.
For more story information, please contact Hallema Sharif Clyburn at (504) 558-1785.
B-ROLL PACKAGE INCLUDES
CHRONOGICAL ORDER OF VIDEO




1:50
Dr. Gordon "Nick" Mueller - President and CEO, National D-Day Museum
Tom Czekanski - Collections and Exhibit Manager, National D-Day Museum
Bruce Harris - Restorer, Higgins Boat Society
Extra Footage (Audience, Painting, Picture, Newly Restored Boat and Replica)
The picture of the man and woman
:30
Gloria Shearin Smith and the Ivy A. Smith, Jr., Charitable Trust
Painting
:30
Depiction from the Coast Guard of Douglas Munro being awarded the Medal
Of Honor
SOUNDBYTES AT DEDICATION
3:00

Dr. Nick Mueller
Reason Museum is in New Orleans
The Museums relationship with Gen. Eisenhower and Andrew Higgins

Tom Czekanski
Information on how the boat was discovered

Bruce Harris
Brief description on the restoration project and the significance of the numbers (P10-21)
on the boat
Produced For:
Media Contact:
The National D-Day Museum
Hallema S. Clyburn
(504) 558-1785 (O), (504) 388-4448 (C)