On July 1st, The Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum opened an exciting, new interactive exhibition entitled Heroic Journeys: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories that explores the heroic actions of everyday Americans who were thrust into extraordinary circumstances.

“It is the first exhibit to be curated at the Intrepid,” said John Zukowsky, Chief Curator of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. “It is in keeping with the museum’s vision of interpreting the humanity behind the hardware.”

Heroic Journeys transforms the Museum’s main hall into a collection of powerful, personal stories presented through letters, photographs, artifacts, and multimedia presentations that showcase the courage and humanity of ordinary Americans, from those fighting during the World War II era through today’s heroes who are serving abroad in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Key artifacts in the exhibit include the Intrepid’s TBM Avenger, the famed Iwo Jima statue used in the 7th War Bond Drive of 1945, and a Bell 47/H-13 Sioux helicopter of the type used in MASH units of the Korean War. Through such artifacts, visitors will experience the journey that heroic individuals have taken as they move from citizen, to combatant, to returning veteran. This exhibit exemplifies the Museum’s mission of honoring our heroes, educating the public and inspiring our youth.

Utilizing a restored Bell 47, for example, visitors will be able to sit in the cockpit and listen to the audiotape of pilots who flew these rescue missions. Visitors are also able to lie on the gurney attached to the chopper’s skids, so they can experience first-hand the fears and sensations a wounded soldier experiences as he is being flown to the MASH unit.

The Avenger, which is now the backdrop of the moving Kamikaze experience for Heroic Journeys, is also used to help visitors learn about the many women factory workers during World War II, exemplified by Rosie the Riveter, who built Avengers like this in plants throughout New Jersey and nearby Tarrytown on the Hudson. Tools used in the construction of these and other Grumman-designed planes of the war are on display and an interactive exhibit shows stills and videos of these factories that supplied America’s ‘arsenal of democracy’ during the war.

The exhibit also features information on President George H. W. Bush, who piloted his Avenger to a successful attack of a Japanese radio station on Chichi Jima, despite his plane being seriously damaged and his crew members lost in the fray.

Other major audio-visual educational experiences in the installation include an exhibit in the Challenges Theater, where visitors are able to hear the thoughts and experience the feelings of those tested in combat. Vivid and descriptive soldiers’ letters are brought to life for those who enter the Sacrifices theater.

As visitors exit the exhibition they can learn the history of the Purple Heart award as well as hear the stories of those who have been wounded in the service of their country, including the story of retired Marine Boyd Barclay, whose first tour in Vietnam was with Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion of the 12th Marines.

Barclay was also attached to the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marines as the fire support coordinator. After Vietnam he was accepted into Flight School at Pensacola, Florida. He returned to Viet Nam flying with VMO-3 and was medically retired from the Marine Corps from wounds suffered flying HUEY gunships. In addition to the Purple Heart, Barclay’s military decorations include the Silver Star and Air Medal.

Moey Inc. developed and constructed the Heroic Journeys exhibit in conjunction with the Intrepid Museum staff. Moey is a company devoted to the development of exhibits and the intersection of art, science, technology, design and education.

Heroic Journeys is funded by generous gifts from the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, Inc., and Reba White Williams in memory of her brother, Alexander Jacob “Punk” White, Jr., Lt. j.g. U.S.N., who was wounded while piloting his fighter bomber in Korea in 1952.