In support of an official event 

The Museum will be closed Sunday, May 25
In addition, the Fourth Hangar will be closed Saturday, May 24

Access to the Presidential Gallery will be limited from May 15 to June 5
 

Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

Fact Sheet Search

  • Douglas SM-75/PGM-17A Thor

    The SM-75/PGM-17A Thor intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) was the product of the early Cold War race to deploy nuclear armed missiles before the Soviets. Thor was designed to be an interim nuclear deterrent while the U.S. Air Force developed long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles

  • Boeing LGM-30G Minuteman III

    The Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is the United States' only current operational land-based strategic nuclear missile. It is one leg of the nuclear deterrent "triad" that also includes USAF bombers and U.S. Navy submarine-launched missiles. U.S. nuclear forces are on alert

  • Boeing LGM-30A Minuteman IA

    The Minuteman missile concept pushed rocket technology to a new level and it vastly improved U.S. nuclear strategic deterrence. Minuteman was the first U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to use solid fuel, permitting quick-response launches in case of attack. The first Minuteman missiles

  • Home at Last: MIAs Since the End of the War

    The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office leads the effort to find, recover and identify remains of Americans missing in action (MIA). Since 1973, remains of more than 700 MIAs in Southeast Asia have been returned to the U.S. and identified. Around 1,800 remain unaccounted

  • Operation Homecoming

    The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 included provisions for exchanging prisoners of war. The plan to bring American prisoners home was called OPERATION HOMECOMING. Prisoners were to be returned to U.S. control during February and March 1973, with the longest-held generally returning first. The North

  • Family Odysseys: Working at Home for POW-MIAs

    Families of Americans captured in Southeast Asia could not be sure whether missing servicemen were alive or dead, since North Vietnam refused to release a list of prisoners. Quiet Diplomacy Initially, the U.S. government urged families to remain silent because public outcry might make POW treatment

  • Unbroken Will: The Lance Sijan Story

     The Vietnam POW experience includes many examples of extraordinary endurance and courage. One of the most notable is the story of Air Force Lt. Lance Sijan, who was shot down, captured and ultimately awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions as a POW. After being shot down over Laos

  • Inner Strength

    Communication allowed POWs to maintain strength and a sense of community. But talking or writing--any communication--was strictly against prison rules. The North Vietnamese, however, were never able to stop POW communication. This success marked an important victory for the prisoners. Sending

  • The "Hanoi Hilton" and Other Prisons

    The most notorious POW camp was Hoa Lo Prison, known to Americans as the "Hanoi Hilton." The name Hoa Lo refers to a potter's kiln, but loosely translated it means "hell's hole" or "fiery furnace." Hoa Lo's 20-foot walls, topped with barbed wire and broken glass, made escape nearly impossible. The

  • Brutality and Endurance

     North Vietnam did not treat Americans as prisoners of war. Instead, they justified brutalizing POWs by claiming they were simply outlaws in an "undeclared war." Sixty-five POWs died in captivity, either by execution, torture, injury or disease. Torture was Common North Vietnamese brutally and