Stephen E. Ambrose and Gordon H. "Nick" Mueller, PhDs, immersed in academic life at the University of New Orleans, had differing points of emphasis in their careers: Ambrose moved beyond traditional scholarship to pen works of military history or biography that captured wide public attention, while Mueller, a specialist in diplomatic history, focused his attention on institution-building and the development of overseas study programs.

But the two historians were the best of friends for 30 years, colleagues who pursued personal and professional dreams together. They shared business ventures and family vacations, helped one other launch educational tours to Europe, spent countless hours sailing, hiking, canoeing, and talking about pivotal episodes and figures from the past. Their energy and ideas were contagious. Beginning in 1990, and continuing for more than a decade, these comrades from academia pursued a bold vision, the creation of a museum that would tell the world about the millions of Americans who came together in the 1940s to defend freedom and democracy from tyrannical regimes bent on defeating the United States. The history of this cataclysmic war carried values and extraordinary stories of valor and that simply had to be passed on to younger generations.

Together, Ambrose and Mueller on June 6, 2000, brought to life The National D-Day Museum, an institution ultimately designated America’s National WWII Museum by a 2004 act of Congress. TripAdvisor users ranked the Museum #3 museum in the United States in 2018.