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I am a retired Air Force police officer but I
attended Army Infantry School and I have a strong
affection for the ground-pounding foot soldier. As I
looked at these pictures I could envision myself with
whatever current rifle our military was carrying in the
conflict, depicted in the photos.
The heat of Cuba in the Spanish American War photos
reminded me of the swamps of Ft. Benning, GA in the
middle of July. The picture of the one legged Colored
Infantry troop of the WW I, 369th Harlem Hellfighters
and of the black legless Vietnam veteran sitting in his
wheelchair, both men with their children present in the
photo, gave pause to how these men were mistreated and
forgotten after their war.
As we rounded one the corners of the display the
Colonel stated, “I've been there.” We were looking at a
picture of 9th Infantry soldiers on the grounds of the
Forbidden City in Peking during the 1898-1902 Boxer
Rebellion. She explained that the entire grounds are
paved with stone so attackers could not tunnel into the
City. The 9th Infantry used this to their advantage over
100 years ago.
I have served in Europe and the rolling hills of
eastern France and western Germany do not allow the
viewer to grasp the destruction of WW I in the Argonne
Forest. The photo of a machine gun crew amongst the
shattered trees in the Argonne captures that war. The WW
I dental surgeon working on a soldier's toothache in a
sandbagged bunker that had obviously taken enemy fire
recently, made you wonder what type of pain relief the
patient was receiving. Also would the dentist finish his
work before the next artillery barrage? The wounded
Marine on a litter lying in the mud of a US trench, is
classic WW I combat medicine. With all the modern
material the military has to use, the wool blanket is
still the soldier's best friend in the field.
The WW II Battle of the Bulge photo of Cpl Frank
Johnson wrapped in multiple OD green wool blankets
sitting on bales of more blankets in the sub-freezing
December of 1944 reminds you that the US Army has taken
wool blankets to war since the French and Indian Wars. I
have seen many D-Day photos but the one on displayed of
a dead soldier with crossed rifles at his feet (insignia
of the Infantry) on Omaha Beach was new for me.
I once interviewed Dale Robertson the Hollywood and
TV actor. He was a combat engineer in WW II and his
platoon assembled the first pontoon bridges across the
Sieg River in Germany. He told me the first man to walk
over that bridge was killed by enemy machinegun fire.
There is a photo of a pontoon bridge and a dead soldier.
Every war displayed, progressively had more women in
the pictures, just as in each succeeding war more women
helped carry the load. The opening picture of the
display is of a Civil War soldier on the left with his
muzzle loading single shot rifle and on the right a
modern Gulf War soldier with his latest version of the
M-16 fully automatic battle rifle. But both men have
leather boots on their feet and it is boots on the
ground that prosecutes and wins wars. Soldier, Marine or
Air Grounds-man, rifle in hand and the enemy out front,
or in recent wars all around you, this is who defends
our Nation and keeps you safe at home. The pictures
capture your history and honor your Soldiers.
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