Families are invited to an afternoon filled with history and fun at the National Museum of the Pacific War, 328 East Main Street, at 2 pm. Learn about the use of “target kites” in WWII, then decorate one to take home. This program is recommended for children between the ages of six and ten years. All materials for easy and fun kite assembly are provided. At the end of the program, kites can be taken home to be flown. Admission to the program is $5.00 per child; this fee will cover the cost of supplies. The program will be capped at 18 children, pre-registration is encouraged.

The National Museum of the Pacific War will commemorate 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor today, December 7 with its annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony at 12:25 p.m. in the Memorial Courtyard on the museum grounds at 340 E. Main St., in Fredericksburg. For details, visit www.pacificwarmuseum.org.

Paying tribute to all Veterans from all services who have served our country, this ceremony held at the National Museum of the Pacific War in the Plaza of Presidents – Outdoor Courtyard at 340 E Main St in Fredericksburg, TX is featuring keynote speaker Author and Vietnam veteran, Allen Clark.

The program will also include patriotic musical renditions from the Ambleside School Chorale and Silver Taps (echo taps) played by Mr. Bill Smallwood and Dr. Jim Fonder. The Medina Regional Special Operations Center will render a 21-gun salute.

The program will be free and open to the public, and all veterans and their families are encouraged to attend. Veterans of all conflicts and wars will be recognized.

Dog lovers might enjoy this free demonstration showing how canines have played an important role in the military. The National Museum of the Pacific War presents War Dogs Demonstration this Saturday, July 9 at 10:30 a.m. in the Memorial Courtyard on museum grounds at 340 E. Main St., in Fredericksburg. Watch as trainers from Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio train dogs for military action – bomb sniffing, attack dogs and puppy/retiree adoption programs. At 1:00 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Admiral Nimitz Museum, Patsy Swendson, founder of the Penny’s From Heaven Foundation which trains dogs to work with wounded warriors, will be on hand. Swendson will introduce several military personnel and the dogs that help them. The event will be followed with a screening of a war dogs movie. For information, call 830-997-8600

History and legends of our nations flag program followed by a program and demonstration of flag disposal by Boy Scouts at National Museum of the Pacific War‘s George Bush Gallery. The grounds of the museum will be decorated with near 5,000 flags placed by Boy Scouts and NJROTC from Fredericksburg. This program is free with standard fee for museum attendees. Please call 830/997-8600 for more information.

If avoiding hazards like tanks and low-flying WWII-era planes while golfing at one of the best ranked courses in Texas sounds like fun, then the Nimitz Golf Classic at Boot Ranch is for you! The Second Annual Nimitz Golf Classic is scheduled for Friday, June 3, and promises to be an event to remember.

Designed by PGA Champion Hal Sutton, Boot Ranch is an exclusive golf course recently ranked in the top 10 courses in Texas by the Dallas Morning News. Spaces are filling up fast, but there are still some teams left for people interested.

The schedule of events for the day includes a players’ breakfast, a 9 a.m. cannon shot start for an 18-hole four-man scramble, and lunch and beverages along the course. Evening events include a cocktail reception and private tour of the George H.W. Bush Gallery, dinner in the Nimitz Museum Ballroom, and a live auction and a dance featuring the music of Sentimental Journey and the Memphis Belles. Live auction items include a trip for two to Callaway Headquarters and Training Center in San Diego, California, for personalized club fittings for two sets of Callaway clubs; a week in a beautiful Santa Fe home; a trip for two to Honolulu including a week-long stay in the Ala Moana Hotel plus airfare, including a personalized Admiral’s barge tour of Pearl Harbor and the USS ARIZONA Memorial, plus much more.

Registration for the all-inclusive event is $750 per golfer or $3000 per team of four, with all proceeds directly benefiting the education programs of the National Museum of the Pacific War and Operation Comfort, a program that supports the rehabilitative, recreational and financial needs of wounded military receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. For registration or more information, contact Marty Kaderli at 830.997.8600 x204. Visit http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/Event_2011GolfClassic.asp for a detailed schedule of events and photos from last year’s Nimitz Golf Classic.

The Admiral Nimitz Foundation will hold the 2nd Annual Nimitz Old Texas Round-Up Barbecue on Saturday, April 9, at 6 p.m. at the National Museum of the Pacific War to raise money for the Admiral Nimitz Foundation which supports, operates, and manages the National Museum of the Pacific War. Dinner will be served from 6 – 7:30 p.m.

There will also be a silent auction and the raffle drawing for a $5,000 travel voucher.

The barbecue-themed fundraiser is inspired by Fredericksburg native Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. During his command in the Pacific, Nimitz would hold barbecues for Texans (and those who wished they were Texans) serving in his command. It was a chance for the men and women to enjoy a few hours of food and recreation without thinking about the war. The five-star Admiral was the Navy’s last Fleet Admiral and was born in Fredericksburg, TX

Captain Paul O. Monger (U.S. Navy), the commanding officer of USS Nimitz will visit the museum with the same namesake—The Admiral Nimitz Museum (one part of the National Museum of the Pacific War). The USS Nimitz, one of the U.S. Navy’s ten big-deck nuclear powered carriers, is one of the largest warships in the world. It is named after World War II Pacific Fleet Commander Chester W. Nimitz.

Captain Monger will be speaking with visitors at the National Museum of the Pacific War on April 9th at 3pm in a question and answer session that is free and open to the public inside the Nimitz Ballroom. Later that evening, Monger will attend the Nimitz Old Texas Round-Up Barbecue which begins at 6pm.

Monger is the son of a career naval aviator and retired rear admiral. Hegraduated from the Naval Academy in 1982. During his career, he has served as a flight instructor, commanding officer of F14 Squadron VF-154 and was the personal aide to the secretary of the Navy during the 1990s. Monger has received various awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the 2001 Navy League Leadership Award.

Tickets for the barbecue are $25 for adults 21 and older, $15 for those ages 12- 20, and children 11 and younger are free. Each dinner ticket includes two drink tickets. Tickets will be available at the door or you can purchase yours today in the Museum stores or online at Nimitz-bookstore.com. Raffle tickets are available at the National Museum of the Pacific War stores for $5 each or 5/$20. The Almost Patsy Cline Band is a Hill Country staple that performs country hits will be providing music for the gathering thanks to a donation from the Perdernales Creative Arts Alliance and Oktoberfest.

From christopherpic's Flickr photo Stream

On March 12 and 13 the National Museum of the Pacific War will hold its first Living History Programs of 2011. The program demonstrates weapons and strategies that were vital in the struggle for dominance in the Pacific theater in World War II. Re-enactors use landing craft, tanks, explosive charges, and even a flamethrower to explain and illustrate the equipment and tactics used by the American Army and Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army forces in WWII. The mock battle represents one such battle—the deadly struggle for island of Tarawa.  There will be three shows each day (10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. & 3:30 p.m.).

The program takes place at the Pacific Combat Zone, which is located two blocks east of the museum complex on East Austin Street between Elk and Lee. Admission to the 90-minute program is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Children under six years of age are admitted free. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the George H.W. Bush Gallery, the Admiral Nimitz Bookstore or online. Tickets are also available at the Pacific Combat Zone on the day of the programs, but due to their popularity, advance purchase is recommended. Admission includes earplugs. The National Museum of the Pacific War is a Texas Historical Commission property supported, operated, and managed by the Admiral Nimitz Foundation.

The Admiral Nimitz Foundation and the National Museum of the Pacific War, 340 East Main Street, is hosting a day celebrating the anniversary of Admiral Nimitz’s birthday. People can attend at no cost with the purchase of Museum ticket. Regular museum hours are 9:00am – 5:00pm. Please call 830-997-4379 for more information.

Award-winning author, James Hornifischer will be available this Saturday to sign copies of his new book, Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal at the National Museum of the Pacific War, 340 East Main Street at 2 pm on Saturday.

Hornfischer is a member of the Naval Order of the United States and the Navy League, and was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry as an “Admiral in the Texas Navy.”  He has appeared on the History Channel and Fox News and frequently speaks to veterans’ organizations, civic groups and professional naval organizations on the subject of the Pacific Theater in World War II.