Manhattan Project: National Parks World War II Film Festival on Saturday

 

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will present films from National Park Service sites that commemorate events and issues related to World War II and the nuclear deterrent used during the Cold War on Saturday, a press release said.

The film festival is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

National parks tell the stories of America’s World War II experience—from Pearl Harbor to the war’s atomic end, the press release said.

“The range of our nation’s national parks show how a resilient America mobilized its people to triumph over tyranny, explore places where technological and social barriers collapsed, confront the war’s darker legacies, and stand atop soils where American blood was shed, coastlines defended, and valor was memorialized forever,” the press release said. “Across the nation, national park sites help tell the story of our nation during World War II and help us ensure President Truman’s promise that ‘America will never forget their sacrifices’ will always hold true.”

National Park Service films on March 16, will come from:

• World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which includes the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The memorial honors 1,177 sailors and Marines who died in the attack on December 7, 1941.
• Manzanar National Historic Site, located in the Owens Valley, of California. The site was established to preserve the stories of the internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and to serve as a reminder of the fragility of American civil liberties.
• Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, located in the East San Francisco east bay area, commemorates a deadly munitions explosion that occurred on July 17, 1944, and the aftermath. The explosion killed 320 and injured 390—most of whom were enlisted African-American sailors working for a racially segregated military.
• Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, located in Tuskegee, Alabama, tells the story of the first African American military pilots that trained at Moton Field.
• National Prisoner of War Museum, located in Andersonville National Historic Site, in Andersonville, Georgia, tells the story of prisoners of war throughout American history.
• War in the Pacific National Historical Park, located in Hagatna, Guam, commemorates the bravery, courage, and sacrifice of those participating in the campaigns of the Pacific Theater of World War II.
• Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, located in Richmond, California, tells the story of the efforts and sacrifices of American civilians on the World War home front.
• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, located in Philip, South Dakota, tells the story of the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System and its role in the larger context of the Cold War.

The film festival will be in the AMSE auditorium, which is located at 115 Main Street East in Oak Ridge.

For more information or directions, please contact the Manhattan Project National Historical Park at (865) 482-1942. Visitors are encouraged to visit the website for more information on the park at https://www.nps.gov/mapr/oakridge.htm. Follow the park on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ManhattanProjectNPS, follow the park’s Twitter feed @MnhtnProjectNPS, or follow the park on Instagram @manhattanprojectnps.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park includes Oak Ridge; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The park commemorates the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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