Military Gallery - Discovery Parkdiscoveryparkofamerica.com/.../2017/09/The-Military-Gallery.pdf · Seeking ways to break the stalemate of trench warfare, bombs and grenades were

Discovery Park of America – The Military Gallery Page 1

Military Gallery

The Military Gallery is located on both the entry and lower levels of Discovery Center. On the

entry level, the exhibits focus on the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. The War

Remembrances Oral History Theater is also located on the entry level. On the lower level, in the

South Atrium your students will find our collection of military vehicles and large weapons, as

well as displays about the Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Cold War, and our current

conflicts.

Entering the Military Gallery from the Native Americans Gallery, you and your students will first

come across displays about the Civil War. The artifacts and displays focus on Tennessee’s

involvement in the conflict and the River Battles that took place in this part of the country.

Among the artifacts on display is a set of original journals kept throughout the war by J.P.

Cannon of Obion County. Cannon served with the 27th Alabama Infantry Regiment of the

Confederate Army. The 27th Alabama was active in the Western theater throughout the war,


seeing action in 8 states over a 3 year, 4 month period. Following the Battle of Nashville in

December, 1864, the regiment was virtually destroyed. The photograph displayed as a large

banner is of a Federal line outside of Nashville, taken during that battle.

Civil War weaponry is on display, including an original LeMat Revolver that has remained in

pristine condition over the years and a Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver that has rusted and

decayed after being buried for over a century. The LeMat Revolver was invented by Dr. Jean

Alexander LeMat of Louisiana and is known as the “Grapeshot Revolver” because of the second

barrel designed to fire buckshot. The Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver was the most widely

used revolver of the war, with over 130,000 having been issued to Federal Troops during the

war. The example on display was buried during the war and later found during the construction

of a home in Union City during the early 1980s.

Union City saw action several times throughout the war. In March, 1862, Federal troops

surprised and captured the Confederate Garrison. In December 1862, General Nathan Bedford

Forrest brought his cavalry to town and captured the Federal Garrison without firing a shot. In

July 1863, Federal Troops again garrisoned in the town, and General Forrest again captured the

entire force and gathered supplies.

In March, 1864, Union City was again occupied by Federal troops. The 7th Tennessee

Calvary, United States Army was garrisoned in the city. General Forrest, in command of the

7th Tennessee Cavalry, Confederate States Army, reportedly told his men that he was

sending them to Union City to clean out the Tennessee Yankees, and if they didn’t, they should

“…never come back!”

The Confederate Troops attacked and forced the Federal Garrison to surrender. Afterwards,

General Brayman, commanding the Federal troops in the area, decided not to leave any more

detachments in Union City, fearing that General Forrest would simply capture them again. Union

City remained unoccupied for the remainder of the war.

The Ironclad warship cutaway recreates a section of a City Class Ironclad warship, and is

built to-scale. The display is the focal point of an exhibit focusing on the river battles that were

fought in the region. This area played host to what is known as the Western Theater of the

Civil War. Federal and Confederate Armies clashed repeatedly throughout the war, with much

of the fighting taking place on or near the waterways that were so crucial for both armies.


Control of the waterways equaled control of supply lines. A video presentation provides an

overview of several of these battles, including the still controversial battle of Fort Pillow.

The Battle of Fort Pillow was fought on April 12, 1864. General Nathan Bedford Forrest, in

need of supplies, attacked a Federal Garrison comprised largely of freed black soldiers.

Accounts of the battle are still debated. What we can say for sure is that the battle was a

Confederate Victory, with General Forrest and his men taking control of the fort and having

suffered only 14 casualties compared to the Federal Garrison’s losses of nearly 300 men.

The period following the Civil War is known as Reconstruction. There is a video presentation

providing an overview of this period next to a case featuring reproductions of the 13th, 14th, &

15th amendments as well as items from the Ku Klux Klan. When the Civil War ended,

Tennessee was the first Confederate State to rejoin the Union, but it was in no way spared

from the difficulties of the Reconstruction era. The KKK was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee,

in 1865, as a social club for Confederate Veterans but grew into a violent organization dedicated

to maintaining white control as the state and the nation struggled to find solid ground on which

to stand in the wake of four long years of devastating conflict and amid the new reality of a

United States of America without slavery.

In the World War I area, your class will encounter not only American but also foreign weaponry.

From machine guns to gas masks and the tools used to adapt to trench warfare, the artifacts on

display speak to changes in warfare that led to death counts and devastation never before

seen. Many of the items on display were used by service members from this area.

When war broke out in Europe in 1914, the United States tried to stay out of the conflict. When

drawn into the war in 1917, Tennessee once again answered the nation’s call. Over 130,000

Tennesseans served during the war, nearly 6% of the population.

Among the items on display is a gas mask carried by Raymond L. McNatt of Union City. Gas

masks became essential for survival during the First World War; 30% of all American casualties

were the result of poison gas attacks. There is also a pair of “Pershing Boots” worn by

McNatt. Known as “Pershing boots” because General John Pershing approved the design, the

trench boots were designed to protect soldiers’ feet in the muddy trenches that covered much of

Europe by the time American troops first arrived in 1918. By then our allies had been fighting for


four years. The influx of fresh troops and supplies helped turn the tide against Germany and the

central powers, bringing about the war’s end in 1919. McNatt was not the only Obion County

resident to serve during the conflict. The photograph of men in formation that is enlarged and

placed as a background of one of the display cases was taken in downtown Union City.

Life in the trenches was hard, and going over the top into the no-man’s land was incredibly

dangerous. Machine gun technology had advanced beyond the early Gatling guns that had

been prone to jamming, and as men charged toward enemy lines, they often faced an incredible

barrage of fire from machine gun positions. Russian and German machine guns from WWI are

on display.

World War I saw two other major changes in warfare, as well, the widespread use of

submarine warfare and the introduction of airplanes into warfare. The widespread use of

submarines by the German Navy was a contributing factor in the United States joining the war.

As the war progressed, Germany began to use their U-boat fleet with less and less discretion,

until finally openly declaring that its fleet would engage in unrestricted submarine warfare. After

German submarines sank three American merchant ships, the United States declared

war. After the war, the German fleet was surrendered. Among the ships surrendered was U-

boat 150. There is a torpedo gyroscope on display in the gallery that was taken from one of

the U-boat 150's torpedoes.

When the war began, airplanes were still a relatively new invention. Balloons and Zeppelins

had been used in warfare for several years, primarily for reconnaissance and artillery targeting.

Airplanes were adapted and used for these purposes as well. The first recorded case of an

aircraft being brought out of the sky by another involved a Russian pilot ramming his plane

into an Austrian reconnaissance aircraft, killing everyone, including himself. Pilots began to

carry hand-held firearms as they took to the air, but it wasn't until machine guns were fitted to

the planes that the era of air combat began.

When engineers devised a way to synchronize the firing of a machine gun with the spinning of

an airplane’s propeller, pilots gained the ability to fly towards and attack a target directly.

Seeking ways to break the stalemate of trench warfare, bombs and grenades were dropped

onto enemy forces below.

Pilots were portrayed as modern-day knights in the media, becoming popular heroes and

serving as important propaganda for their governments. Despite all of this, airplanes played a


relatively small role in the war. The stage was set for World War II, though, as armies learned

how aircraft could be used and how to coordinate the activities of air and ground forces.

World War II was the largest conflict in human history. Over 100 million people from 30

countries served in military units. The war began in Europe in 1939, when Germany invaded

Poland. As with World War I, the United States tried to stay out of the fighting but was drawn

into the war when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The State of

Tennessee once again contributed greatly to the war effort, with over 300,000 men and women

serving during the war. Tennessee's most famous contribution to the war effort may be the

research conducted at Oak Ridge in East Tennessee. A production site for the Manhattan

Project, the research project that led to the development of the atomic bomb, the population of

Oak Ridge grew to as many as 75,000 people during the war. The project was top secret, and

many of the workers didn't even know what the project they were working on was really for until

the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. The work of

the men and women at Oak Ridge is recognized on the lower level of Discovery Center with the

display of replicas of the two atomic bombs dropped during the war, “little boy,” and “fat man.”

Union City and Obion County were affected by the war, as well. The uniform of Lieutenant

Edward Jessup of Union City is on display, and so is the pocket Bible he carried during the war.

Robert Wood of Union City served on the USS SC-536, a submarine chaser, in the Pacific. A

compass from that ship is on display, as well. Men from the region didn't just go off to war,

though; with the opening of the Embry Riddle Airfield, a training site for pilots, the war came to

Union City. PT-17 Stearmans like the one hanging in the South Atrium were among the aircraft

used to train new pilots. There are uniforms and artifacts from the airfield on display in the case

just outside the War Remembrances Theater.

The following was written by former Obion County historian, R.C. Forrester.

This Obion County airfield began operations as a training base for aviation cadets in

1942. The land was acquired in early March, construction proceeded immediately, and

the first class arrived in July 1942. Riddle-McKay Aviation School of Florida, a private

contractor for the U.S. Government, built and operated the base under the name Embry-

Riddle Field. John Paul Riddle, a pioneer in aviation training, airplane manufacturing,

and airline operations, headed the company. During the war, schools operated by

Riddle-McKay trained some twenty-six thousand young men to fly. Civilian flight


instructors at Embry-Riddle Field taught approximately nineteen classes of cadets over a

two-year period. Many of those cadets saw action in World War II theaters of operation

around the world.

The original training planes were PT-17 Stearmans.

Embry-Riddle Field originally encompassed 870 acres. In 1942 there were no paved

runways, although there was a paved area in front of the two metal hangers (still extant),

and a wooden flight tower. Barracks for cadets, an administrative building, a dining hall,

and several maintenance shops completed the base. In 1943 two more wooden

hangers, a link trainer building, and additional barracks were built.

After World War II the Embry-Riddle Field was given to Obion County, and the name

was changed to Tom Stewart Field, in honor of the U.S. Senator. The name was later

changed again to Everett-Stewart Field to honor both Senator Stewart and his one-time

assistant and later congressman, Robert A. “Fats” Everett of Union City.

Also displayed on the entry level are two machines used for the decoding of secret messages, a

German Enigma machine and an American M-209 Cipher Machine. These machines are

both original artifacts, not reproductions and are rare today because while the technology is no

longer state of the art, the machines were top-secret while in use. During the war, the allied

forces were able to crack the enigma cipher and intercept messages the Germans believed

were secure. The Axis powers were never able to fully break the M-209 Cipher, providing us

and our allies a strategic advantage during the war. There is a touch screen interactive game

next to the machines, allowing students a chance to decode secret messages.

If your class entered the Military Gallery through the Native American’s Gallery, the War

Remembrances Theater should be your last stop on the entry level. As with the Oral History

Theater in the Regional History Gallery, the War Remembrances Theater features a video

presentation of local residents sharing their own experiences. Local veterans who served in

World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War recount their wartime experiences. Medals

donated by veterans who have contributed their remembrances are on display, also.

After leaving the War Remembrances Theater, your students may head downstairs into the

South Atrium where the Military Gallery continues with a collection of large weapons and

vehicles, as well as displays about the Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Cold War, and our

current conflicts.


A PT-17 Stearman hangs from the ceiling, and a UH-34D helicopter dominates the space. An

iconic World War II Jeep is on display, as is the now equally iconic Humvee. Not just American

military vehicles are on display, though. Two vehicles widely used by the armed forces of our

ally the United Kingdom are on display also: a Ferret Armored Car and an FV101 Scorpion

Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle. A replica of a World War I-era British Mark 1 tank also

stands in the Atrium.

The PT-17 Stearman was a primary training aircraft. This means that when new pilot trainees

were first learning to fly, the Stearman was one of the aircrafts used. A two seat airplane, new

pilots could take to the air with their instructors and move one step at a time from passenger to

pilot. Powered by a 220 hp R-670-5 model engine from Continental Motors, the PT-17 could

reach a top speed around 100 mph and cruise at altitudes over 10,000 feet. Our PT-17 was

purchased from a private collector in Virginia. The easiest way to transport an airplane is to fly it,

though; so Mike Rinker, Discovery Park Volunteer, travelled to pick up the plane and flew it to

the Everett Stewart Regional Airport. The day it was moved to Discovery Park, he landed the

plane on Everett Blvd, and then taxied it into the park. (The Wright Flyer, although displayed in

the south atrium as part of the Transportation Gallery, must be considered when studying

military history. Flown in 1903, it was only ten years later that technology had advanced to the

point that planes featured in World War I.)

The UH-34D Helicopter on display in the south atrium has been painted with the same

markings as a particularly famous example of the helicopter: the helicopter that pulled Astronaut

Alan Shepherd, the first American in space, from the Atlantic Ocean after his historic flight.

Designed as transport helicopters, the Marine Corps adapted them for use as assault

helicopters by attaching machine guns and rocket launchers. Our UH-34D was purchased

from a private collector who had been storing it in a field on his farm in upstate New York. When

Discovery Park staff arrived to make the purchase, Christmas lights were hanging from the rotor

blades.

The Ferret Armored Car was developed after World War II by the British army for use as a

reconnaissance vehicle. They are small enough and fast enough, reaching top speeds near

60 mph, to be used in urban environments, but rugged enough to be used on all types of terrain.

They were used by all British Commonwealth Countries and remain in service in parts of the

world today.


The FV101 Scorpion looks like a tank, but this tracked and armored vehicle of British origin

was designed as a reconnaissance vehicle. The Scorpion has a sting, though; the 76mm

main gun can fire high explosive rounds as well as anti-tank rounds. When the United Kingdom

and Argentina went to war in 1982 over the Falkland Islands, the Scorpions were the only

armored vehicles deployed with British troops.

The British Mark 1 tank was the first heavy tank to see combat. The British army began

developing tanks early in World War I. The vehicle had armor to protect the men inside,

weapons to assault enemy positions, and treads to move across scarred no-man’s-land and

scale German trenches. By the end of the war, Britain’s French allies had also developed and

fielded a large number of tanks; the Germans produced only a small number, but German

military leaders realized the potential of tanks between the wars. Our replica tank is decorated in

dazzle camouflage, a technique that used bright colors and irregular shapes to “break up” a

vehicle’s appearance, making it hard to tell where it began and ended.

The Jeep and Humvee may be recognizable to most of your class, and although the role of the

Humvee shifted in recent years with the introduction of “up-armored” variants and their use as

combat vehicles in Iraq, both vehicles were designed with the same end goal in mind: to

develop a fast and lightweight multipurpose truck that could navigate difficult terrain to move

troops, supplies, and weapons to and from the front lines. When the Humvees were first

introduced, soldiers called them “Jeeps on steroids.”

The Jeep on display in the Military History Gallery is a 1942 Ford GPW. During the late 1930s,

the Army had an aging fleet of vehicles in need of an upgrade. After World War II began in

Europe, the need became urgent. In 1940, the Army issued a request for bids for a new

“general purpose, personnel, or cargo carrier especially adaptable for reconnaissance or

command, and designated as ¼ ton 4x4 truck.” They allowed just 11 days for proposals, and

49 days for the completion of a prototype. They gave manufacturers a total of 75 days to take a

vehicle all the way from concept, through the design and development phases, to manufacturing

and the delivery of 70 test vehicles. Only two companies accepted the challenge: the American

Bantam Car Company and Willys Overland Motors. Only Bantam promised to finish during the

allotted timeframe; so Bantam won the bid.

The Army needed more vehicles than Bantam could make, though, and asked Willys and Ford

to submit prototypes as well. By the end of 1940, the Army had three trucks. They were very

similar to each other, but not identical. The Army ordered 1500 of each for further testing.


By July 1941, the Army was ready to order more but wanted a standard design. They chose the

best aspects of all three prototypes and ordered 16,000 more trucks. Willys-Overland couldn’t

build them fast enough, though. In October 1941, Ford began building the new trucks as well,

manufacturing vehicles like ours: the Ford GPW, or “Government Contract, Passenger Vehicle,

Willys-Licensed Design.

Your students may ask how the trucks came to be called “Jeeps.” There are some interesting

theories. The popular myth is that is comes from “GP,” for “General Purpose,” being pronounced

as “Jeep;” but, there is no evidence that this is true. Another theory is that troops named the

vehicle for the Popeye cartoon character, ‘Eugene the Jeep.’ Eugene was Popeye’s pet, known

for being small but able to move anywhere.

The most likely explanation is that during the late 1930s, “Jeep” was used as slang for a foolish

or inexperienced person. In the Military, the term was applied to anything inexperienced and

untested, both men and machines. The soldiers who tested the prototype vehicles refereed to

them all as “Jeeps.” In early 1941, the Willys Company demonstrated the capabilities of the

vehicle by driving up the steps of the U.S. Capital building. The driver that day had been

working with the Army on tests and had heard soldiers calling the trucks “Jeeps.” When a

reporter asked him what the vehicle was called, he replied, “It’s a Jeep!” A newspaper article

was published and reprinted nationally. It featured a picture of the truck and called it a Jeep.

The name stuck.

The Ford GPW and the other World War II vehicles and weapons displayed on the lower level

floor work in concert with the artifacts and weapons on display on the entry level to tell the story

of that conflict.

Information about The Korean War, The Vietnam & Cold War, and Modern Conflicts (with the

exception of those stories presented in the War Remembrances Theater), is presented entirely

through the vehicles, large weapons, and display cases located in the south atrium on the lower

level of Discovery Center.

The Korean War was fought from June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953 and is often called “the

forgotten war.” Following World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided by the victorious allied

forces. The country had been previously occupied by Japan and was divided at the 38th parallel

with Soviet forces occupying the north and American forces occupying the south. Allies

against Nazi Germany during World War II, the United States and Soviet Union were soon at


odds, and the Soviet Union backed the North Korean invasion of the South. By the time of the

invasion, the American Forces stationed on the peninsula following World War II had been

withdrawn, and the Communists forces nearly took control of the entire land mass. A counter-

offensive pushed the invaders back behind the 38th parallel before Communist Chinese Forces

joined the war. The early days of the war resembled World War II, with swift infantry attacks

and bombing raids; by 1951 the lines had settled, and trench warfare like that of World War I

continued afterward.

Much of the weaponry and gear used in this war was very similar or identical to that used in

World War II. The conflict was different in a key way, though; during the Korean War, both the

United States and Soviet Union were armed with nuclear weapons. Several American

Generals, including Douglas MacArthur, supported using nuclear weapons. Fearing further

escalation of the conflict, though, the option was avoided.

Korea was also the backdrop for the integration of the American Military, with integrated units

going into combat for the first time. Nearly 1.8 million Americans served in the conflict, more

than 100,000 of whom were African Americans, and 33,651 Americans died in combat.

Despite these numbers, the conflict became known as the forgotten war. From 1950 – 1953,

the American public was still enjoying a hard won peace and was still a bit war-weary. Korea

was also the last war to not be televised, a factor that contributed to its not capturing the

public’s attention in the same way the Vietnam War would, with nightly death counts and

front-line footage on the evening news.

The service of those who fought in Korea is every bit as notable as those who fought in other

wars, though, with the diverse geography of the Korean peninsula providing backdrops that

ranged from freezing tundra to blistering beaches, from steep mountains to rice paddies, and

everything in between.

Obion Countian R.C. Forrester served in the Army during the conflict. His uniform is on display.

He would later serve as the Obion County historian, working to help ensure that no history is

ever truly forgotten. The uniform is displayed with a picture of the Korean War memorial in

Washington D.C., dedicated in 1995 to the men and women who served during the conflict.

Following Korea, the Cold War continued as the United States and Soviet Union stood at

odds with one another over deep philosophical differences. The Korean War had erupted


suddenly, but the Vietnam War grew slowly. The United States Government dates the start of

the Vietnam War as November 1, 1955. It was on this date that the Military Assistance Advisory

Group (MAAG) that had been operating throughout the region since 1950 was reorganized into

country specific units, and MAAG-Vietnam was established. Vietnam was fought as part of the

larger U.S. policy to prevent the spread of communism during the cold war. Vietnam had

previously been a French colony, and French forces were fighting to retain control over the

country. The communist North Vietnamese forces were backed by China with both weapons

and training. The MAAG was intended to support the French and South Vietnamese with

training and expertise. The U.S. also supplied weapons and financed most of the French war

effort. The French were defeated in 1954 and withdrew. The country was divided with a

communist government under Ho Chi Minh controlling the north and a democratic government

controlling the south. The situation was far from stable though, and from 1955 – 1960 rebel

forces in South Vietnam were at constant odds with their government over the issue of

American involvement in Vietnamese affairs. In 1960, the communist government of North

Vietnam formally backed the rebels, and the level of American involvement began to rise. The

peak of American involvement in Vietnam was reached in April 1969, when 543,482

American troops were stationed there. American involvement began winding down in 1973

with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords and the passage of the Case-Church

amendment. The Peace Accords called for the removal of American troops and the Case-

Church amendment prohibited renewed escalations of American involvement. The last

American troops withdrew from Saigon on April 30, 1975, the date recognized by the

government as the end of the War.

Vietnam was a controversial war on the home front, with massive public protests in opposition

of the conflict. The counterculture movement of the 1960s was vocally opposed to the war, but

in the 1972 presidential election, anti-war candidate George McGovern won only 1 state as

President Nixon was reelected by huge majorities. Nixon had previously called upon “the

great silent majority” for support in his campaign. The controversy of the war has fixed itself into

public consciousness, immortalized in films like “Apocalypse Now,” and “Full Metal Jacket.”

American Forces once again served with distinction, though, with 97% being honorably

discharged; the same rate of honorable discharge that occurred in the years before the conflict.

The artifacts on display in the south atrium speak to the controversy, with a “Handbook for

Conscientious Objectors” displayed next to an Army pamphlet entitled, “AWOL and its


consequences” in a case that includes a variety of artifacts from the home front. These items

range from a “Veterans against Vietnam” military style cover to “POW bracelets” sold and worn

in support of those captured by enemy forces. The uniform of Damian Andrus, who served as

an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment is among the artifacts on display.

Mr. Andrus would go on to build full-size and small-scale replicas of American and Russian

weapon systems for museums across the country, including the Atomic Bomb Replicas on

display near the Vietnam War cases.

As in all previous wars, service members from the Volunteer State once again contributed to

the cause. Of the 58,220 American casualties, 1,289 were Tennesseans.

Following the Vietnam War, American Troops continued to be deployed in a variety of

operations across the globe. In 1990, Iraq invaded its much smaller neighbor, Kuwait. In

concert with a coalition of U.N. allies, American Forces were once again called into action.

During a short campaign known as “Operation Desert Storm,” American and allied forces

drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait, liberating the country. The “Chocolate Chip” desert camouflage

uniform on display was worn by American forces during the conflict. Two hundred and ninety

four American troops lost their lives, and the Kuwaiti people remain grateful for their

sacrifice. The photograph of a burning tank displayed on a banner hanging from the ceiling of

the south atrium was donated to Discovery Park by Dr. Adel Al-Yousifi, a Kuwaiti Citizen who

took the photograph during the conflict.

On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked and forced into war against Islamist

extremists. By October 2001, the first American Forces had entered Afghanistan in pursuit of

the Taliban Government. The Taliban had provided support and refuge to Al-Qaeda, the terrorist

group responsible for the September 11th attacks. In 2003, a U.S. led coalition invaded Iraq and

ousted the dictator, Saddam Hussein, from power. He was ultimately brought to trial and

executed for his crimes against the Iraqi people. The last American troops left the country in

December 2011, having turned over the responsibility of security to Iraqi forces under the

control of a democratically elected government. Earlier that year, on May 2, 2011, American

Forces killed Osama Bin-Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda and the man most responsible for the

September 11th attacks. By the fall of 2013, there was hope that American Forces would soon

be withdrawn from Afghanistan as local forces were being trained and equipped to take over the

responsibility of maintaining security within their country. During 2014 and 2015, however, the

situation throughout the Middle East deteriorated as a new threat emerged. The so-called


Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) gained control of territory throughout the region. As of

early 2016, American Forces remain in Afghanistan, the planned withdrawal still uncompleted.

American Forces have also returned to Iraq to advise and assist the Iraqi Army in its fight

against ISIS forces.

From a military science perspective, much of what occurred throughout the 20th century has

been repeated in our modern conflicts, and the influence of past events can easily be discerned.

The use of airplanes began in World War I, with militaries learning how to coordinate air and

ground units. In Iraq, Captain Bart Doyle of Union City served with the United States Air Force

777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron as a combat airlift pilot. The 777th Expeditionary Airlift

Squadron was made up of C-130 Hercules airplanes. These are massive planes designed to

move men and materials on a grand scale. They are capable of carrying a payload of over

70,000 pounds. A C-130 can be seen on a banner hanging from the ceiling of the South Atrium,

and Captain Doyle’s flight suit is on display. The Chemical Weapons developed and used

during World War I also remain a threat today, and a modern gas mask is displayed near

Captain Doyle’s uniform. In the weapons progression cases, students can see the evolution of

weaponry from Korea until today. If your class walks through the entire gallery, your students

can trace the progression from as far back as the Civil War to see that the basic tool of the

infantryman has remained a rifle. The technology of the weapons and the tactics employed have

evolved over time, though, and where massive casualties were seen in previous wars, over 2.5

million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, with only around 6700 losing their lives.

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Military Gallery - Discovery Parkdiscoveryparkofamerica.com/.../2017/09/The-Military-Gallery.pdf · Seeking ways to break the stalemate of trench warfare, bombs and grenades were