James Barksdale Donates $5M to D-Day Museum

NEW ORLEANS — Former Netscape CEO James Barksdale has donated $5 million to help expand the National D-Day Museum.

The planned $282 million expansion would quadruple the museum’s size over five years by adding new galleries and "virtual reality" exhibits to cover all theaters and services involved in World War II, officials said Friday.

"The National D-Day Museum is dedicated to educating our country’s children about this epic time in the history of our world. The price of peace and the consequences of war are lessons that we must teach to present and future generations," Barksdale said.

The expansion will also add a World War II research center and a USO-style canteen and restaurant and will feature music of the war years to show the importance of entertainment during times of conflict. A documentary also is in the works with Tom Hanks for a planned 400-seat theater.

Since its opening in June 2000, the 56th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, more than 1.5 million people have visited the museum.

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On the Net:

National D-Day Museum: http://www.ddaymuseum.org/