Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 4/15/99
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   18

SLU WORLD WAR II EXHIBIT OPENS APRIL 19
     HAMMOND -- From Piney Woods to Killing Fields: Louisiana's Florida Parishes and
the Challenges of World War II, an exhibit examining the Second World War and honoring
American combat veterans, opens April 19 at Southeastern Louisiana University's Center for
Regional Studies.
     The public is invited to the exhibit's opening reception, scheduled for 4 p.m., April 22, at
the Center for Regional Studies, located on the second floor of Southeastern's Sims Memorial
Library. Area veterans are especially welcome, said Center Director Samuel C. Hyde Jr.
"Southeastern faculty, graduate students and alumni will be on hand to explain the displayed
artifacts and to discuss informally the history of World War II," he said.
     The exhibit, which will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through June 27, 
highlights Allied and Axis fighting power through displays of period uniforms, weapons,
photographs and documents on loan from area veterans and private collectors. In conjunction
with the exhibit, the Center is conducting an archives and oral history project preserving the
recollections of Florida Parishes' war veterans.
     Hyde said the exhibit's use of artifacts is designed to give "a more human and realistic
face" to the war. From Piney Woods to Killing Fields will "emphasize the contributions of
surviving combat veterans who reside in the Florida Parishes by presenting to the public a
graphic illustration of the power of the enemies they faced," Hyde said.
     "America's citizens army, drawn from a generally unprepared nation, courageously
waged war against ruthlessly professional German and Japanese armies, magnificently equipped
and thoroughly experienced in combat," Hyde said. "The exhibit reveals a war where the
outcome remained in doubt to Americans who actually experienced combat, since there was no 
                             (MORE)
SLU WORLD WAR II EXHIBIT OPENS   Add One
certainty of victory until the least gun was fired."
     The exhibit includes pistols, rifles and machine guns from German, Japanese, French,
Finnish, Russian, British, Italian and American armies. The weapons are displayed alongside
fully-uniformed mannequins of American paratroopers and Marines, British Royal Marines, and
German Panzer Grenadier. 
     "Helmets, decorations and armbands invoke the grim glitter of Nazi Germany and war-
captured flags and samurai swords reflect the fanatical honor of Imperial Japan," Hyde said. An
array of Allied and Axis accouterments and personal equipment detail day-to-day front-line
service.
     Hyde said the exhibit mixes visual objects -- military armaments, period newspapers,
photographs, historical summations and statistical abstracts   with audio-visual mediums such as
original radio broadcasts, documentary films and interactive computer programs. The mix, he
said, "will help viewers understand just how challenging the conflict was for the everyday heroes
of the Florida Parishes."
     For additional information, contact the Center for Regional Studies staff, 504-549-2151.
                            - SLU -
     This press release is available on the World Wide Web:
      www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp99.htm