Hamilton Pool & Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War

There is so much to do we have been super busy in Hill Country. We have taken in sights from Fredericksburg to Austin and have too much for just one post. We went to Hamilton Pool in Dipping Springs, the Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, the LBJ ranch near Stonewall and the LBJ Library in Austin. We also checked out a couple wineries.

Fifty-two years ago this summer I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. One weekend, along with a few friends, I went to a swimming hole in Hill Country. We paid a rancher $1.00 admission and walked across the field and down an old rickety set of metal stairs to this beautiful spot. There were only a few people and some where jumping off the 45 foot falls. One thing I vividly remember was stepping on a broken beer bottle and going to a doctor in Johnson City to get stitched up. 

I had no idea what the name of the place was and on our first visit here in 2009 I could not find it. Somewhere over the years I saw a picture online and learned it was Hamilton Pool. The grotto and falls were as beautiful as I remember even though there was not a lot of water coming over the spring fed falls.  

It is now a Travis County park and admission is more than a dollar. There is a $10.00 reservation fee for either a morning or afternoon session and there was an additional $5.00 for two seniors upon arrival to the park. This limits the number of people so the place is not overrun. The rickety stairs have been replaced with a path and NO GLASS is allowed. 

To complete my step back in time I had to at least get my feet wet. As we were leaving the pool a young man walking in summed up his first look at the pool very well with an "OH MY GOD". If you are looking for a neat place to cool off on a hot Texas day, don't miss Hamilton Pool. 

From the pool it is about a mile along a spring fed stream with many huge cypress trees to the Pedernales River. It is a neat hike under the big trees which made it cool even on a hot day.

When we got to the river we were greeted by this duck. We believe he may be the resident moocher because when we did not give him any food he visited other hikers as they came to the river.

Keep an eye out along the trail and under the falls for fossils. This is one of the biggest I have ever seen. 

We were early for the afternoon session so we went to the Milton Reimer's Ranch section of the park. I'm guessing Milton was the guy who we paid for a visit 52 years ago. We took a short hike through the beautiful blooming wildflowers. 

The prickly pear cacti were in full bloom. Make sure you watch out for snakes. We saw one that looked harmless, but there are rattlers and coral snakes in the area. Don't let that stop you from visiting this beautiful place.  

Fredericksburg was the birthplace of Chester W. Nimitz who rose to the rank of Fleet Admiral. He was Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet, commanding allied air, land and sea forces during World War II. Nimitz wanted to attend West Point, but because the class was full that year he went to the Naval Academy instead.   

The entire National Museum Of the Pacific War complex includes a small museum about Nimitz's life growing up here and rising to become the commander in the Pacific Ocean. The George H. W. Bush Gallery explains what lead to the war and covers all the battles of the Pacific theater. There is also a Memorial Courtyard and the Japanese Garden of Peace. We visited the complex for two days and did not get to all of the exhibits.

The exhibits in the Bush Gallery start with the history of Japan rising from a Feudal society in the 1800's to a modern military power that began conquering the countries of Southwest Asia. 

It continues with the history of the war before the United States entered. These exhibits give you a clear understanding of what was going on worldwide that lead to WWII.

Of course the United States got into this war after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This is a two man Japanese sub that was captured that day. The sailor aboard became the first Japanese POW of the war. The day we were here the father of our friend Ron, who was wounded in the attack, was celebrating his 100th birthday. There are not many of these Pearl Harbor survivors left.

The day after the attack the United States entered the war against Japan, Germany and Italy. The shocked country responded by putting their full effort into winning.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor the United States wanted a quick response, so they planned and carried out a raid on Tokyo. Lead by Jimmy Doolittle, 16 B-25's took off from the deck of the USS Hornet on April 18, 1942 and bombed Tokyo. The raid was a morale success for the Americans and a propaganda success against the Japanese, as they thought their island nation was safe from attack. Because a Japanese patrol boat had spotted them, they had to take off earlier causing them to run out of fuel before reaching a safe landing place in China. Most of the airmen survived but several were captured by the Japanese.

This covers the sad tale of the Sullivan brothers, five sailors from Iowa who joined the Navy with the understanding they could all serve on the same ship. There ship, USS Juneau, was sunk by a Japanese torpedo in November 1942. While nearly 100 other sailors survived the sinking, all the Sullivan brothers where lost. 

A big part of the war effort was promoting the cause at home. There were movies, bond drives and campaigns that promoted working together to win the war.

A huge effort was made to encourage people not to talk about what war-related job they were doing. The poster with the gold star, which showed the family had lost a member in the war, stressed the importance of not talking.

These exhibits show the importance of the production in the United States for the war effort. In 1941 there were 512 B-17's in the military. By the end of the war nearly 13,000 had been built. This massive production gave us a huge advantage.

Another important tool was the jeep. Over 1,000,000 were built during the war by a couple different companies. The Bantam jeep was made in Butler, PA.

This 35 foot US Navy motorboat has been restored to the appearance of the one used by Nimitz when he became CINPAC commander in Pearl Harbor.

There are detailed interactive exhibits on every land and sea battle in the Pacific theater. The plan was to capture only those islands that made it easier for us to bomb Japan. Iwo Jima was needed because it was close enough to Japan that fighter planes could accompany and protect bombers. This battle was of particular interest to me as I had an uncle who fought there. Like so many veterans who have experienced the horror of combat, he never talked about his war time experiences. I only learned he had seen the raising of the flag atop Mount Suribachi in February 1945 when I read his obituary. 

The Bomb. We have visited Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and the Trinity site, all related to the development of the atomic bomb. The first bomb was tested on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. Three weeks later a bomb was dropped on Hiroshima killing 80,000 people. Three days after that a second bomb (picture) was dropped on Nagasaki killing 75,000. Many people, including Nimitz, were against using the bomb, but it did bring a quick end to the war and meant we did not have to invade the Japanese mainland.  

This map shows how many active combat troops the Japanese had in place when the bomb was dropped, ending the war. The military had ordered 370,000 purple hearts they thought would be needed if we had invaded Japan. I always say that I might not be here today if the invasion had taken place as my father was in the army and training for the invasion when the bomb was dropped.

On September 2, 1945 the peace treaty with Japan was signed aboard the USS Missouri. The Missouri was used because it was named after Truman's home state. Admiral Nimitz signed the treaty for the United States and General Mac Arthur signed for the other Allied forces.

Behind the Nimitz museum is the Garden of Peace that was a gift of the Japanese people. It symbolizes the goodwill between the two nations and the friendship and respect that existed between Admiral Togo and Admiral Nimitz.

This plaza is dedicated to the ten presidents, from Roosevelt to Reagan, who had some role during WWII.   Their positions ranged from Commander in Chief to Naval Academy cadet. 

The Memorial Courtyard honors individuals, ships and units that served in the Pacific theater. Plaques or paving bricks can be placed in the courtyard. We felt The Nimitz Museum complex was the most in depth military museum we  have visited, so make sure you plan plenty of time for a visit. 

We checked out the Fat Ass Winery, one of many that have popped up in Hill Country since our last visit. While we liked the logo, for our tastes the wine left a lot to be desired. If you liked Kool-Ad as a kid these sweet Fat Ass wines may be for you. If you visit us and we give you this glass please don't take offense. 

   While here we also visited two LBJ sites which we will cover in the next post. We have moved on and are now in Waco. We plan to stay in Little Rock and Jefferson City to tour the capitols as we head to the Escapade in Missouri.