GETTYSBURG, Pa. — 2020 will encompass the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Now, you can experience a different side of Gettysburg on a two hour "World War II in Gettysburg" bus tour, plus a bonus walking tour of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
This year's bus tour will depart on select Saturdays from April 4 through November 14 at the Gettysburg Tour Center in the 700 block of Baltimore Street.
The Memorial Day Weekend tour will be held on Sunday, May 24.
Many tour dates coincide with key historical dates/anniversaries/holidays, including:
- April 11 (U.S. troops liberate Buchenwald concentration camp/FDR dies)
- May 9 (V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day)
- May 24 (Memorial Day)
- June 6 (D-Day)
- August 8 (Hiroshima/Nagasaki atom bombs)
- August 15 (V-J Day—Victory in Japan Day)
- September 5th (Japan formally surrenders)
The tour also features a bonus 45 minute walking tour of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
“We are excited to continue this multi-year partnership with the history experts at Tigrett Leadership Academy,” said Max Felty, president of Gettysburg Tours, Inc., operator of the battlefield bus tours. “Most people only know the Civil War connection with Gettysburg. This unique program provides our visitors with a look at Gettysburg’s intimate role in World War II, a rarely-explored aspect of the town’s rich history.”
“Our ‘World War II in Gettysburg’ tour tells the inspiring stories of key wartime leaders who came to Gettysburg, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill,” says Antigoni Ladd, co-founder and curriculum director of Tigrett Leadership Academy. “WWII in Gettysburg guests will also learn about General (and later President) Dwight D. Eisenhower’s decades-long history in Gettysburg, dating back to 1918.”
For more information and a full schedule, you can visit the Gettysburg Battlefield Tours website here.
All veterans are eligible for a 10% discount, and World War II vets ride for free.
