Weekend, on cspan 3. To join the conversation, like us on facebook. Each week, american artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums, and Historic Sites around the country. The United States entered world war i a century ago on april 6, 1917. Next, we tour the National World war i museum and memorial in kansas city. Doran i am doran cart. I am the senior curator. The museum is the Nations Museum for the history of world war i. It is a global museum. All about all the involved in world war i. Everything from the summer of 1914 to the peace treaty of june 1919. Our collection is the most comprehensive collection of world war i materials in the world. It is not the largest, but it is comprehensive in that we do deal with all nations involved in the war. , when you are going to the exhibition, you see about 10 of the Museum Collection at one time. The rest we use for research, references, loans to other institutions, and just to make sure we have an encyclopedic collection of the war. When we are teaching about the history of it, we want to cover everything. Where i am standing right now is in front of a wall that depicts the various Shoulder Sleeve Insignia worn by the American Expeditionary forces in world war i. These were used to identify the units and to create a feeling of belonging to a particular unit. Our visitors are fascinated with the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia but they were not really worn until after the war. The only time you see insignia on the uniform, they are post armistice of 1918. These were developed by the units and by the American Expeditionary forces to represent the Great Variety of americans that served in the war. Americans were in uniform by the end of the war in june of 1919. To illustrate the variety of insignia that were worn on the american uniform, we have moved over to the 1917 u. S. Service codes that were worn coats that were warned by the majority of the soldiers in the army. One of the insignia is the standing buffalo. This is very important, this was worn by the africanamerican soldiers of the 92nd division. There were two africanamerican divisions in the war, 92nd and 93rd, both of them were segregated from the rest of the army. Most of the soldiers, of course, enlisted soldiers were africanamerican and most of the officers were caucasian. Even though they fought alongside their compatriots in the war and fought along with the french during the war, they were segregated and were not treated very well. As we progress through the museum into the rest of the american section, we are going to look at a special exhibition dealing with american Womens Service in the war and showing some of the uniforms they wore. A lot of people do not realize the american women were in uniform during world war i. Front of an exhibition case that shows many of the uniforms in our collection from american Womens Service during the war. One, in particular, is a recent acquisition to the museum. This is from a woman who was in the United States corps of telephone operators. To operate the telephone exchanges in france and in other places. Women were especially wanted for this duty because in the states, most of the operators were women. A lot of the young women who were asked to volunteer for this service, they also spoke french. They communicated between the french and the american units. Even though they served and were in the army, they did not untile veteran status 1977. One of the black eyes of american activity during world war i, that these women served their country honorably but were not accorded full veteran status until mike and 77. Until 1977. We are going to look at two uniforms that were worn by the same individual for two countries at war during world war i. One of the interesting things about world war i is that sometimes the lines were blurred about country allegiances and who supported which countries during the war. ,n two uniforms that we have they really exemplify this clearly. There was a soldier from the german control part german controlled part of denmark. Because ofr started, where he lived, he was forced into the german army. He served in the german army until his brother was killed on the eastern front. He got on a train in full uniform, went back to denmark, and disappeared. His family hid the uniform, his inle, and accoutrements, and 1917 right before the United States entered the war, he went to live with his brother who was in connecticut. He got on the last ship out of denmark before the United States entered the war. He was working in connecticut. He took part in the Selective Service act and was drafted in the United States service. His uniform as the United States soldier is shown here next to his german uniform. He basically ended up near the same place in france he had been as a german soldier two years before. The incredible feeling that he was there serving, he deserted, went to the United States and went back as United States soldier to serve with the American Expeditionary services. To have both of these uniforms to survive and become part of the Museum Collection is a pretty interesting thing to have happened. As i mentioned earlier, the africanamericans who served in the 92nd and 93rd, we will take a look at some of their men. Equipment. Their was thehe most famous 369th infantry regiment. They were known as the fighting rattlesnakes. You can see their Shoulder Sleeve Insignia. They came from the 15th New York National guard and when the u. S. Troops were federalized, they became part of the 93rd division. When they got to france, the french were in dire need of. Upport they were fighting along the river and established the reputation as incredible fighters. One man, henry johnson, was the first africanamerican to receive any metal on the american side medal on the american side. Another aspect of their history theirere bandleader bandleader. He created a band out of musicians out of the 369th and they were credited with bringing jazz to the people of france. He had an incredible feeling for how music would affect the soldiers. Course, the commander of the American Expeditionary forces was general john j purging. During his earlier john pershing. We will stop over and look at his headquarters flag. From a little town in missouri. This was his headquarters flag. 1918, Wellesley College awarded him a special honor of making him an honorary member. This was very important because his wife, frankie, was a member of that society. She and his three daughters died in a fire at the presidio in San Francisco three years before that. He had not gotten over mourning the loss of his wife and daughters. When the society made him an honorary member, he was so touched and he sent them this flag so they would have that as a remembrance of frankie. A few years ago, one of the trustees of Wellesley College got it donated from the college to the museum and it has held a place of pride ever since. Generalhe tools that pershing had as his had at his disposal was one of the first tanks. By 1917, they had come into their own. The french twoman tank behind me, this was one of the main battle tanks used by the americans during the latter year of the war, especially in 1918. When youeresting, think about the people who came out of the war and became part of our society after world war i his name was george s patton. There was a fellow training american troops in pennsylvania and the operation of tanks and. Is name was Dwight Eisenhower he was also involved in the use of tanks during world war i. The 37 millimeter gun on this ,ank was used in attacking fortifications, and machine gun nests. They had two types of guns, a machine gun and the actual 37 millimeter gun. This tank is one of three known tanks known to exist that were battle damaged. This tank was hit by a german shell. Luckily, to have it still here, it was a shrapnel shell and not a high explosive shell. We do not know what happened to the crew but we do know that three of the men who worked on this tank tried to repair it and one of them was from kansas city. They signed their names on the inside of the drivers hatches. Played anlso Important Role in one of the most famous heroes of world war i. ,is name was John Lewis Barkley one of 120 americans awarded the medal of honor for their actions in world war i. John Lewis Barkley was in the Third Division of the American Expeditionary forces. On october 8, 1918, he was acting as a forward observer and he realized there was a german regimen going around him if he did not reveal himself and he came up with a plan to protect his regiment. He climbed inside an abandoned french tank, took a german machine gun that was laying about, and he knew how to repair it, and he let the germans go by him. In the ensuing battle, he killed germans 200, maybe 240 and saved his regiment from being attacked from the rear. When he left the tank, he only had a couple of burns on his uniform and when they went back after the battle, they looked at the tank to assess what he had done, they found over 4000 cartridges in the tank. For his action on that day, thinking of no one but his own men, he was awarded the medal of honor. After the war, he became a celebrity. He was in new york with the publication of a book he wrote about his time in world war i. Approached by a very famous artist. He wanted to paint a portrait of barkley at that time, in the early 1930s, and this is the portrait that was painted of barkley in his National Guard uniform at the time. Also in the exhibition, we have all of his medals, including the medal of honor he was awarded for his actions. The other connection with barkley was that he was also a trustee of our museum in the 1960s. His daughter was also a trustee and she was the person who materials. Of the one of the other incredible pieces of our collection is the model 1917 Harley Davidson motorcycle used by the army. We will go take a look at it now. When the United States entered the war in april of 1917, they needed ways to communicate among the different troops. They purchased a lot of motorcycles. Motorcycles were used for messengers, for troops guarding intersections of road, and they were also used with sidecars to transport officers. What we have in the National World war i museum and memorial is a model 1917 army Harley Davidson. It is painted with the army colors and it is all original except for a few of the running parts. This highly had quite a history this harley had quite a history. It was used by the americans and the british. After the war, it was sold as surplus in england. It was purchased by a fellow who it asit as his rode his transportation until the early 1950s. From there, it went to another fellow and then it came to the United States to a collector. We acquired it from that collector in 2006 and it became part of the exhibition here in the museum. Davidson,see harley the same appearance as it was in 1917, a pretty incredible thing. The next thing we will see on exhibition is another vehicle that was used by the United States during the war. It was a model 1918 ford and villains. Ambulance. Before the United States entered the war, americans had been volunteering to serve antimilitary and efforts to serve in humanitarian efforts. Volunteers went into action before america became a belligerent by driving ambulances for the french and british. By doing so, helped save many of those soldiers lives. They often went over with donations of ambulances from american societies that wanted to support their volunteer efforts. The ambulance and museum is a model 1918 in the museum is a model 1918 ford model t and the volunteers who drove the early in theces, they were primary in primarily the american Field Service. The Field Service was organized in late 1914 and the ambulances started driving to pick up wounded soldiers. The american Field Service is still in existence today. Afsoes by the letters of and is involved with Students Exchange students coming to the United States. The next piece were going to look at is a french 75 millimeter cannon. Non wasminology for can gun. Although it was a french gun, it was also used by americans during the war, including a local captain from the kansas city area who became famous after the war. His name was harry truman. When United States entered the war in 1917, the army was not prepared to fight in an international war. One of the things they were lacking, besides the number of men, was also artillery. World war i was a war of artillery. 60 of the battlefield deaths were caused by artillery, the projectiles that were fired over the battlefield. When the americans went over to france, they primarily used french artillery pieces. One of the major ones was the french 75 millimeter gun. It was advanced for its time and had an incredible recall system. Recoil system. Fired, it didas not have to be constantly readjusted. The americans used for guns and a battery four guns and a battery. Fromf the batteries was independence, missouri, and his name was harry s truman. Harry truman went on to become the president of the United States. What he learned during world war i helped him throughout the rest of his career. One of the interesting things 75, in french, of american soldiers during world war i, they pronounced french in their doughboy style of french. The french 75 millimeter gun was acquired as a gift from the people of france in the 1980s. The french ambassador visited the museum and wondered why the museum did not have a 75. It was a symbol of their actions during the war. He was told they had been looking for a long time for one. He went back to france, found an original 75 millimeter gun, had it restored, and shipped to kansas city. Heree been the curator since 1990. In that time, i have developed an incredible passion for learning about the war and especially about the people who were in the war itself. None of them are left to tell us their stories anymore. We have to present to the public through the objects they left, what their lives were like, how they were affected by the world war, and what were the things they would like to have remembered about them. To me, that is the most important part of my job because it was the humanity that was important to our story. The other thing about the story of the museum that i ive always been proud of is that that i have always been proud of is to learnnot about the people and how they suffered and how they excelled in the