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Rotarians learn of new exhibits at USS Midway Museum

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Ramona Rotarians learned about the newest additions to the USS Midway Museum when one of its docents, who served on the ship in the early 1960s, spoke at a recent Rotary Club meeting.

“It’s a nice place to take families and walk around,” Glenn Sparrow said of the naval aircraft carrier museum along San Diego’s Embarcadero. “It’s an evolving type of museum.”

New is the Battle of Midway Theater, a 90-seat theater named after the United States’ victorious June 1942 battle that Sparrow said was probably the most important naval battle of World War II.

Built between 1943 and 1945 as the first super aircraft carrier, the USS Midway was named after that battle. The carriers fighting in the Battle of Midway were about one-third the size, said Sparrow. The theater features a holographic movie called “Voices of Midway.”

“It’s about the personal stories of some of the people,” said Sparrow.

He advised Rotarians to first look at all the new displays that include mannequins dressed in authentic regalia and timelines before entering the theater.

“That’s our big new thing,” he said. “It seems to be very popular.”

Other new displays on the ship are an armory where small guns were kept and a dental department in the hospital section.

“There were three naval dentists that decided they were going to do that,” said Sparrow. “They’ve got it in three different decades.”

The museum continuously adds more aircraft and recently acquired a Sikorsky Dragonfly helicopter, one of only 88 built, and an EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, said Sparrow. Volunteers are refurbishing both.

Nearing completion is the Combat Information Center, which Sparrow called “a massive undertaking.”

Opened as a museum in 2004, the USS Midway attracts about 100,000 people a month and, during the last 12 months, a total of 1.2 million people, he said.

Sparrow, a docent for nearly six years, said he was deployed on the USS Midway from 1961-63 in the Western Pacific.

The museum’s self-guided audio tour is available in six languages, he said, noting the third most popular language after English and Spanish is Mandarin Chinese.

He also talked about the large number of volunteers who work at the museum and on exhibits and maintenance.

Sparrow said admission is $20 per adult for the day and $10 for parking. Admission prices are less for seniors and those under age 18. Wheelchairs are available and an elevator can transport visitors from the hangar deck down to the second deck and up to the flight deck. While not all areas are handicap accessible, Sparrow said, “You can see a good deal of the ship.”

USS Midway Museum is next to Navy Pier at 910 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego. For more information, visit www.midway.org or call 619-544-9600.

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