NEW ORLEANS -- A grand celebration of Hollywood proportions has opened the newest wing of The National WWII Museum in the Big Easy.

Tom Hanks and Tom Brokaw along with congressional leaders, military veterans and active units gathered Friday for a ceremony to open the Solomon Victory Theater, which hosts the multi-sensory production "Beyond All Boundaries," the Stage Door Canteen and a restaurant created by celebrity chef John Besh.

The new offerings expand what was established in 2000 as the National D-Day Museum and has evolved into The National World War II Museum. With at least 900 World War II veterans dying every day, the museum is pursuing an urgent mission to preserve as many stories and memories as possible as it continues to expand the size of its facility through 2015. Museum officials are in the middle of a $300 million capital campaign to fill out its six-acre campus with exhibits and other features that represent all aspects of the War that Changed the World. So far, $90 million has been raised toward this goal.

While New Orleans may not seem an obvious spot at which to honor the Greatest Generation, it was the production site of the Higgins boat -- the amphibious landing craft that ensured quick ferry of soldiers, jeeps and tanks from the sea to the shores of France, North Africa and South Pacific islands. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower credited the Higgins boat for winning the war for the Allies.

Andrew Jackson Higgins, a flamboyant entrepreneur, developed the boat, which featured a drop ramp for landing and unloading, that could haul heavy equipment and supplies across the swamp. More than 20,000 of these crafts were manufactured on the current site of the University of New Orleans.

Expansion plans for the National D-Day Museum stopped and attendance dropped after the massive flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Although the museum escaped damage, the disaster drew an outpouring of support by veterans and lawmakers from around the nation, which jump-started building in 2008.

The museum's mission attracted Hanks, who is executive producer of "Beyond All Boundaries," the new show in the 4-D Victory Theater with a panoramic screen. The 45-minute production is a natural extension of his work on the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan" and 2001 TV mini-series "Band of Brothers."

Working with historians, Hanks enlisted a crew of Hollywood voices that include Kevin Bacon, Kevin Connolly, Blythe Danner, Viola Davis, Neil Patrick Harris, Kevin Jonas, Tobey Maguire, Brad Pitt, Bill Sadler and Elijah Wood. The writings of journalist Ernie Pyle weigh heavy in the production. Pyle became famous during the war for relaying how it felt to be a soldier and not just the logistics of battle. He was later killed reporting in the South Pacific.

"Beyond All Boundaries" puts viewers into the battlefield where they can feel the zing of bullets fly by their heads and see their wounded friends reaching out to them. The production relies on layers of screens and sets to create dimensions. The production uses archival footage as well as high-resolution animations. It is so immersive that planners knew they needed a lighter attraction to accompany the experience.

The Stage Door Canteen is dedicated to the stars who entertained the troops during the war. Singers and musicians re-enact 1940s vintage performances on the stage.

In true New Orleans style, The American Sector restaurant boasts the culinary talent of Besh, a Desert Storm Marine veteran. "American Sector" is what the 1800s French population called the surrounding district. Ironically, the French sequestered to this sector anyone considered too American.

Local vets volunteer as museum guides and have a profound effect on people curious to hear their personal accounts. The accounts of women, African Americans and Native Americans also are presented. In addition, the museum offers the personal stories of German and Japanese soldiers who fought against Allied forces. Each segment contains button-activated voice recordings with wartime photos of the person speaking.

The South Pacific wing for many visitors provides the most overwhelming experience in the permanent collection of film footage and photos.

During the Bataan Death March in 1942, for example, the Japanese marched 75,000 American and Filipino captives 60 miles to prison camps. The soldiers were starved, tortured and many were killed. The scarring effect of witnessing war is evident in many of the accounts and are recommended for mature museum visitors.

"A wounded man kept crying 'Mother, Mother! Help me!' as he struggled to rise. Another burst from the machine gun silenced him. That beseeching plea on the clear, cold Christmas night will remain with me for the rest of my life," according to an account of Sgt. Bruce Egger, 328th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 26th Division.

The museum plans to solicit additional personal accounts from veterans through online appeals, which will be presented when the museum is completed in 2015, said Kacey M. Hill, museum spokesman.

Many families already have donated letters and other artifacts and the museum officials want to provide a place in history for every vet.

Planned pavilions will tell the stories of the Merchant Marines and the Coast Guard, as well as what happened in North Africa. Once the six-acre site is fully developed, officials say it could take up to three days to view all parts of the museum.

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