Heartland View

The old meets the new at the new, rejuvenated WWI museum.

On top of a hill in the heart of Kansas City, Mo., the old memorial that was built in 1926 stands tall.

Two sphinxes stand guard of the tower and the two old, but classic buildings. One sphinx represents memory and the other, future. The theme of memory and future is shown throughout the new and improved memorial.

Hidden under the old memorial holds incredible technology that captivates and leaves you in awe, wanting to see and know more about the fascinating era of WWI that occurred from 1914 to 1918.

"The museum has exceeded all of my expectations," Nick Peterson of Des Moines, Iowa, said excitedly.

The two heavy doors leading into the underground museum give you the feeling you are going to be walking into an old, dusty museum that echoes your footsteps.

As soon as you take your first step into the building all the low expectations are lost; the shiny marble floor leads you to a glass bridge which stretches over a field of orange poppies basking in the sun that shines through the ceiling windows.

As the bridge leads you into the circular museum, you begin you tour in a small theater that shows a short orientation film on WWI. Glass doors lead you into a room with a mural of the city of Paris.

Portraits of old leaders that were important in the beginning of the war gaze at you through a screen that flashes famous quotes they once said.

Old guns and canons fill the rooms and information covers the walls. Interactive video tells a chronological story of WWI in each room.

You can look through small holes in the walls to see models of old trenches and listen to narrations of what the soldiers said about trench life. Gun fire and screaming fill your head, bringing you into the dark and scary life the soldiers once knew.

After you have survived the trenches you make your way to "No Man's Land" where you walk over the debris of the battlefield and read the words of a German infantryman.

A chronological case gives a month by month account before America entered the war. Vintage wartime clips are shown on plasma screens that surround the room.

The excitement begins as you enter the "big screen movie room." The "movie" concept is an understatement: as you enter the battle field lain out before you, a screen spanning the length of at least 100 feet behind the model battlefield.

Explosions go off as light shows of flames blow up in front of you while the voices of soldiers yell. A narrator talks about the issues that brought America into the war.

After the amazing light show you make your way to learn some more at the interactive study stations.

The technology it brings makes you feel like you are in the future. Laser pointers let you learn at your own pace as you move back and fourth through the information lain out before you.

Then you can make your way to some audio alcoves and listen to the voices of General Pershing, President Wilson and Kaiser Wilhelm II. You can also listen to music, poetry or prose of the era as you sit in the empty alcove.

After you experience the voices of the war and weave through the chronological maze which has significant objects of the war; you end up in a room devoted to the mobilization of America. The room contains information about the casualties as well as maps of the major battle fields.

Remains of a building destroyed by artillery surrounds you as you enter a hidden crater.

Wrap up the experience with the room made for "peace" and see a glimpse of the future foreshadowing WWII.

The museum is a great experience if you want to learn more about the Great War that devastated Europe from 1914 to 1918.

Memories of the past are brought back to life so we won't forget our past as we look into our future.

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