Eighty years ago, veterans of World War II were starting to come home, able to spend the holidays with their families again in peacetime. As we reflect on the happiness they experienced, let us all find peace, joy, and comfort with our loved ones as we share this precious time of year. From all of us at the American Heritage Museum, Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings to you, wherever you are, and our best wishes for a happy and healthy 2026! ![]()
(Artwork by @djangostudios for the American Heritage Museum)
Meet the Sd.Kfz. 2 Kettenkraftrad!![]()
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#AmericanHeritageMuseum #visitma #militaryhistory #historymuseum #WWII #ww2 #WorldWarII #worldwar2 #army #tanks #worldoftanks #tanknerd #kettenkrad #motorcycle #tractor #airborne
Let's Learn About Fire Hazards!![]()
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#AmericanHeritageMuseum #visitma #militaryhistory #historymuseum #WWII #ww2 #WorldWarII #worldwar2 #army #tanks #worldoftanks #tanknerd #LCVP #landingcraft #DDay #higginsboat #navy
Speaker Series: Cold War Massachusetts - Tomorrow, 12/12 at 2:30.![]()
Did you know MIT in Cambridge became one of the most important research centers for U.S. Cold War defense technology, especially through its Lincoln Laboratory, founded in 1951. The lab played a major role in developing the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) air-defense system—one of the earliest large-scale computer networks, and a precursor to modern digital command-and-control and networking technologies. Learn more tomorrow!
Don't miss this Friday's Speaker Series - Cold War Massachusetts: Hidden Infrastructure and the Legacy of Preparedness. Dec. 12th, 2:30 to 3:30. See: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/speaker-series-cold-war-massachusetts-hidden-infrastructure-...
Battle for Berlin
IS-2 Iosef Stalin – RUS | TANK
SU-100 – RUS | TANK DESTROYER
Messerschmitt ME-109G-10 – GER | AIRCRAFT – FIGHTER
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was one of the last major offensives of the European theater of World War II. On April 16th, 1945 massive Soviet forces attacked from the north, east and south. Over the course of the next week, the Red Army gradually took the entire city. The forces available for the city’s defense included roughly 45,000 soldiers in several severely depleted German Army and Waffen-SS divisions. These divisions were supplemented by the police force, boys in the compulsory Hitler Youth, WWI veterans and women’s auxiliary units. Knowing his inevitable fate, Hitler committed suicide on April 30th in an underground Berlin bunker. The city’s garrison surrendered on May 2nd, but fighting continued to the north-west, west, and south-west of the city until the end of the war in Europe with the German formal surrender to the Western Allies on May 8th and to the Soviet Union, in a separate ceremony, on May 9th.
