Photographs and stories of individual service members cover the limestone walls of the memorial courtyard. Image by Tom Adkinson

FREDERICKSBURG, Texas – Every day is Veterans Day in Fredericksburg, one of the small towns that dot the Texas Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin. Thoughts of veterans are omnipresent here because of a major part of the National Museum of the Pacific War – a memorial courtyard that honors service members with their personal stories.

The reason the museum and the memorial courtyard are here is a tribute to Fredericksburg’s most famous native son, Chester Nimitz, who was the U.S. fleet admiral during the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in World War II.

Relatives of a service member visit the spot in the memorial courtyard where the service member is honored. Image by Tom Adkinson

Nimitz had deep roots in the Hill Country, and after the war, Fredericksburg’s town leaders proposed converting his grandfather’s hotel into a museum in his honor. Nimitz declined at first. He ultimately agreed under the condition that the museum honor all of the men and women who served in the Pacific Theater.

The museum complex covers six acres in the heart of Fredericksburg, and the main structure’s history museum details the war from Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor to its surrender in Tokyo Bay. However, open-air portions of the complex are what make visitors’ hearts swell with pride on November 11 and every other day of the year.

A bronze statue of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz is a major attraction at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Image by Tom Adkinson

The memorial courtyard features Texas limestone walls covered with acknowledgements of individuals and units who served. Photographs of wartime Americans frozen in time and just a few words tell emotional stories. One tells about Hisao Matsumoto, who was born in the U.S. but moved with his parents to Hiroshima, Japan, when he was three years old. At age 16, he survived the atomic bomb that landed on Hiroshima. At age 19, he moved to the U.S., enlisted in the air force during the Korean War and ultimately worked for the Library of Congress.

The 10 U.S. presidents who served in World War II are the focus of a special plaza at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Image by Tom Adkinson

Behind the memorial courtyard is the Plaza of Presidents which contains 10 monuments honoring presidents who served during World War II. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman were commanders-in-chief. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush served in uniform.

The Japanese Garden of Peace at the museum was a gift from the people of Japan to recognize the complicated history of the U.S. and Japan. Image by Tom Adkinson

One more element adds a quiet touch – the Japanese Garden of Peace. The garden was a gift from the people of Japan to the people of the U.S. to symbolize the complicated friendship between the two countries. A marker in the garden notes the friendship and respect that existed between Nimitz and his adversary, Japanese Admiral HeihachiroTogo.

Veterans Day, always celebrated on November 11, originated as Armistice Day in 1919 after World War I, then known as “The Great War.” Its symbolism is that hostilities ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month one year earlier.


Trip-planning resources: PacificWarMuseum.org and VisitFredericksburgTX.com.

(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at Amazon.com.)