william c lee airborne museum

The museum is a wonderful collection of William Lee's involvement with the Airborne. The home is 3 stories of memorabilia uniforms, guns and wonderful I tires highlighting his life from birth to death. The home was beautiful to see.

We enjoyed our 2 hour stop as we were "killing time." Had no expectations but left with appreciation of history, presentation, thoroughness. There is an abundance of information to read, archives to review, and photos to scan regarding Lee, WWII, and paratroopers. Great display of firearms and timeline of parachutes. There were 4 in our group of varying ages and interests - none were disappointed we made the stop. Free self guided tour but donations welcomed. Proud of Dunn, NC for making this available.

My visit to the beautiful historic home and museum was well worth the trip. Upstairs there was a vast archive of papers and documents. The grounds were well kept and staff was polite. If you are a civil war enthusiast it is a great stop to take.

The William C Lee Museum memorializes the career of the man now regarded “Father of the American Airborne”. Assigned by Franklin Roosevelt to form an infantry force for delivery to its combat posting by parachute, General Lee became the charter commander of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division, the famed Screaming Eagles. Ben is particularly drawn to this, since the general chose as his artillery commander, Ben’s Uncle Tony McAuliffe, who was also his mother’s godfather. Through a series of coincidences, Brigadier General McAuliffe assumed bivouac command of the division just before the Germans launched an armored offensive later remembered as the Battle of the Bulge. Occupying and fortifying the little Belgian city of Bastogne, the division bottled up the Nazis at a key crossroads. When the German commander sent a truce party to demand his surrender, McAuliffe created quite a stir by replying with the single word “NUTS!”. The staff major who delivered the reply found it necessary to clarify whether “Nuts” was affirmative or negative. General Lee received a crushing disappointment when he suffered a heart attack during the mobilization of the division, and was perforce relieved. The division had been the fulfillment of his long held vision for an airborne assault force. Prophetically, General Lee had told his assembled paratroopers “The 101st has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny.”.The museum itself is more an archive and not a display of ordnance or equipment, yet comprises quite a collection of artifacts, memoranda and correspondence. A history buff could probably spend a week there. This was Ben’s second visit, and will likely not be his last. Especially if you are ever planning a visit to the Airborne and Special Forces Museum in Fort Bragg (that is where you will find all of your transport and weaponry), be sure to include a stop in Dunn to browse this facility. It is staffed by volunteers who have a real passion for it. In any event, do by all means visit their website, to read of the inauguration of American airborne.