WWII in Gettysburg

Bring your group to Gettysburg for a fresh look at this historic town.
 
Our modular WWII program offers maximum flexibility: (1) bus tour only; (2) leadership program; (3) or both.  Your event can be tailored from a half-day bus tour of WWII sites in Gettysburg, to a full-day tour, to a 2-day leadership program with guest speakers and other activities.  Choose what works for you.
 
BUS TOUR
Hear stories of WWII leaders who came to Gettysburg—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and others.  Learn civilian stories of war-time shortages, scrap drives, local ingenuity in supporting the war effort (flower-less junior prom, sportsmen helping farmers).

See where a young Dwight Eisenhower trained tank soldiers on the Civil War battlefield, visit a POW camp site, see where the military trained for psychological warfare, and learn about a secret map-making facility that provided maps for the invasion of Japan.

Walk in the Gettysburg National Cemetery which Lincoln dedicated, and which today is the final resting place of 1,600 WWII veterans. Hear stories of the men who gave their lives in combat,  from Pearl Harbor and the Battle of the Bulge, to D-Day and Guadalcanal. 
 
EXTEND YOUR BUS TOUR with a visit to the Eisenhower home and farm, bordering the battlefield on one side and offering a panorama mountain view on the other. 
 
Allow time to drive out to the POW interrogation camp in nearby Camp Michaux, where German and Japanese prisoners were questioned for military intelligence before being assigned to work camps. Discover the remnants of the camp still there today.
 
LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Gettysburg’s most famous citizen, Dwight D. Eisenhower, first visited Gettysburg with his West Point Class in 1915, and then returned to run a tank training school here in 1918.  Learn how Eisenhower grew from an average student in college to become a top commander in WWII and later be elected to two terms as President. See why he and wife Mamie chose Gettysburg for the only home they ever owned. See the battlefield through the eyes of Eisenhower, who loved to give tours to his guests, including British commander Bernard Montgomery, French WWII ally Charles deGaulle, and personal friend and ally Winston Churchill. Pair your tour with an Eisenhower leadership program to make this visit to Gettysburg truly memorable.
 
Plan a lunch or dinner with a guest speaker on the POW camps, the psychological warfare training facility, or war-time leaders Eisenhower, Churchill, and FDR

Build Your Own Program

Half-day WWII Tour (basic tour covers downtown Gettysburg sites, battlefield stops, Camp Colt, and the national cemetery)

Add extended tour stops

• Eisenhower home and farm (allow minimum of one hour)
• POW interrogation facility, Camp Michaux (allow minimum of two hours)

 
Add leadership sessions

• Eisenhower: Preparation for Leadership
• WWII Leaders: FDR, Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Marshall
• Guest speakers: psychological warfare training at Camp Sharpe; POW camps in America; Camp Colt