Military - Overview
The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.
The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.
"Military - Overview" showing 279 items.
Page 3 of 28
"Join the Navy - and Free the World" Poster
- Description
- Physical Description
- Four color print on paper.
- Specific History
- The Division of Military History and Diplomacy has been collecting recruiting posters for more than fifty years. Recruiting as an activity of the military is important to the understanding of who serves in uniform, during both war and peace, and the visual materials used to market military service. The collection contains examples of early Civil War broadsides, World War I posters, including the original artwork for Uncle Sam as drawn by Montgomery Flagg, and World War II posters, which show the recruiting of men and women for all services and auxiliary organizations. The collection contains primarily Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II recruiting posters for the army, navy and some marines. More modern-day recruiting materials are also contained in the collection, and cover a broad range of army recruiting slogans.
- General History
- Posters during World War II were designed to instill in people a positive outlook, a sense of patriotism, and confidence. They linked the war in trenches with the war at home. From a practical point, they were used to encourage all Americans to help with the war effort. The posters called on every man, woman, and child to endure the personal sacrifice and domestic adjustments to further the national agenda. They encouraged rationing, conservation, and sacrifice. In addition, the posters were used for recruitment, productivity, and motivation as well as for financing the war effort. The stark, colorful graphic designs elicited strong emotions. The posters played to the fears, frustrations, and faith in freedoms that lingered in people's minds during the war.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1942
- ID Number
- AF*59744-N(16)
- catalog number
- 59744-N(16)
- accession number
- 303735
- 303735
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
"Want Action? Join U.S. Marine Corps!" Poster
- Description
- Physical Description
- Four-color print on paper.
- Specific History
- James Montgomery Flagg, the creator of this poster, was born in New York in 1877. As a child he began to draw and sold his first picture at the age of twelve. Two years later he was contributing to Life magazine and at fifteen was on the staff of the The Judge. Flagg studied at the Art Students League in New York. When he was twenty, he spent a year working in London before moving to France. Flagg was one of America's leading illustrators. His illustrations were in Photoplay, McClure's Magazine, Collier's Weekly, Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Saturday Evening Post, and Harper's Weekly. During the World War I Flagg designed forty-six posters for the government. His most famous work is the Uncle Sam poster with the caption "I Want You for the U.S. Army." An adapted version of this poster was also used during the World War II. Flagg died in 1960.
- General History
- Posters during World War II were designed to instill in people a positive outlook, a sense of patriotism, and confidence. They linked the war in trenches with the war at home. From a practical point, they were used to encourage all Americans to help with the war effort. The posters called on every man, woman, and child to endure the personal sacrifice and domestic adjustments to further the national agenda. They encouraged rationing, conservation, and sacrifice. In addition, the posters were used for recruitment, productivity, and motivation as well as for financing the war effort. The stark, colorful graphic designs elicited strong emotions. The posters played to the fears, frustrations, and faith in freedoms that lingered in people's minds during the war.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1942
- artist
- Flagg, James Montgomery
- ID Number
- AF*59744-N(19)
- catalog number
- 59744-N(19)
- accession number
- 303735
- 303735
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Flamethrower
- Description
- Physical Description
- United States Model 2A1 flamethrower.
- General History
- The original Model 1A1 flamethrower was troubled by ignition problems which were corrected in the M2 version. The simple mechanics of the flamethrower are overshadowed by its destructive nature. Two tanks are mounted side by side in a backpack-type configuration. One tank contains fuel, usually a thickened gasoline. The other contains compressed gas. They are mixed as they pass through a valve. The gas provides the force to propel the gasoline. At this point, the mixture is ignited and a sheet of flame produced.
- ID Number
- AF*65355M
- catalog number
- 65355M
- accession number
- 226768
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
M1 Rocket Launcher
- Description
- Physical Description
- M1 rocket launcher, 60 mm, known as a “Bazooka.”
- General History
- The United States had a growing stockpile of excellent antitank warheads but lacked a suitable delivery system. Colonel Leslie Skinner, a U.S. Army officer at the Ordnance Proving Ground, was an enthusiastic proponent of rockets. He suggested carrying the hollow charge at the tip of a high-speed rocket. He built a rocket to carry a grenade body, then took a modified 60-mm mortar tube and demonstrated the destructive force of his new weapon in front of high-ranking generals. The officers gathered to see the official demonstrations of other weapons were suitably impressed and Skinner's weapon was ordered into production immediately. The new weapon was soon modified for production and a month later, in May 1942, General Electric had built 5,000 ready for combat. The first model was known as the Rocket Launcher M1. The caliber of 60 mm or 2.36 inches was determined by the grenades used as the warhead, which were already in production. The Bazooka got its nickname for its similar shape to the popular 1930s and 1940s radio comedian Bob Burns’s musical instrument, a homemade trombone he called a Bazooka.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1942
- maker
- General Electric Company
- ID Number
- AF*67438M
- catalog number
- 067438M
- accession number
- 243351
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
German Afrika Corps Helmet
- Description
- Physical Description
- Model 1935 steel helmet. Cloth covers made of burlap with the insignia of a silver-white Wehrmacht eagle on a black shield on the crown.
- associated date
- 1935 - 1945
- ID Number
- AF*69723M
- catalog number
- 69723M
- accession number
- 272562
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
"Wings Over America" Poster
- Description
- Physical Description
- Four-color print on paper.
- General History
- Posters during World War II were designed to instill in people a positive outlook, a sense of patriotism, and confidence. They linked the war in trenches with the war at home. From a practical point, they were used to encourage all Americans to help with the war effort. The posters called on every man, woman, and child to endure the personal sacrifice and domestic adjustments to further the national agenda. They encouraged rationing, conservation, and sacrifice. In addition, the posters were used for recruitment, productivity, and motivation as well as for financing the war effort. The stark, colorful graphic designs elicited strong emotions. The posters played to the fears, frustrations, and faith in freedoms that lingered in people's minds during the war.
- date made
- 1939
- associated date
- 1941 - 1945
- ID Number
- AF*70501MA
- catalog number
- 70501MA
- accession number
- 163798
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Identification Tag and Cover
- Description
- Physical Description
- Metal tag imprinted "Mary A. Millian" on a chain. Green yarn crocheted cover.
- General History
- The idea of identifying a soldier in case of injury or death during combat dates back to the Civil War, when soldiers pinned paper notes to their clothing as identification. Metal identification tags, or "dog tags" as they are popularly known, have their origins in World War I. By 1913 the United States Army made ID tags mandatory. During World War II each soldier was given two dog tags, a short chain and a long chain. The purpose of the different lengths of chain was to keep the two tags separate, so as not to make noise in the field. The smaller chain was also used for purposes of body identification in case of death.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- issued
- 1944
- ID Number
- AF*74521M
- accession number
- 292450
- catalog number
- 74521M
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Dagger
- Description
- Physical Description
- Silver metal with orange celluloid handle. Engraved with "Solingen." Swastika under eagle with a silver braid portapee hanger and scabbard.
- General History
- Solingen steel, used in making knives, scissors, razors, and surgical instruments, is world famous for its excellence. Solingen was chartered in 1374 and has been known for its fine blades since the Middle Ages. It belonged to the duchy of Berg until 1600 and passed to Prussia in 1815.
- associated date
- 1941 - 1945
- maker
- Solingen
- ID Number
- AF*77490M
- catalog number
- 77490M
- accession number
- 309977
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
German "Tellermine" Anti-Tank Mine
- Description
- Physical Description
- German Model 43, metal case, small metal carrying handle, marked T.Mi.PH7.43 T. Mi Z42.13A.
- General History
- The standard anti-tank mine used by the Germans in world War II was called the "Tellermine." It was loaded with one pound of TNT. It was a large, flattened, circular, plate-shaped mine with a carrying handle on one side. It featured a pull igniter for special use, but was more commonly ignited with a centrally mounted detonator charge screwed into the base charge. It took 350 pounds to set off this mine, which could rip the tracks off any tank.
- date made
- ca 1943
- ID Number
- AF*78553M
- catalog number
- 78553M
- accession number
- 308845
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Summer WAC Jacket
- Description
- Physical Description
- Khaki-colored tropical worsted material with a rolled collar with lapels, epaulets on the shoulders, two false horizontal breast pockets with small gold-colored metallic buttons, and two side pockets over the hips. The jacket is closed by four gold-colored metallic buttons. Staff sergeant chevrons are on the upper arm of both sleeves above the elbow, the Eighth Army Air Force patch is on the left shoulder, and four overseas bars indicate two years' service overseas. All buttons have the Great Seal of the United States on the front. The collar disk on the right lapel contains the letters "U.S." denoting United States; the collar disk on the left lapel contains the wings and propeller blade of an enlisted member of the Army Air Forces. Both disks are made from gold-colored metal. Ribbons over the left breast pocket represent the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Women's Army Corps Service Medal, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
- Specific History
- This jacket was worn by Staff Sergeant Margaret C. Frank, WAC, who was assigned to the Eighth Air Force in England as a telephone operator from 1943 to 1945.
- General History
- During World War II over 150,000 women served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) or Women's Army Corps (WAC). Special legislation was required before the women could serve in the army. The law authorizing the WAAC was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in May 1942 and the first WAACs began training in July 1942. Initially WAACs were only assigned to duties in the continental United States. However, when General Dwight Eisenhower requested trained secretarial, clerical, and administrative personnel, a WAAC detachment was sent to his headquarters in North Africa in early 1943. A WAAC battalion was sent to England in spring 1943 to provide similar expertise to army and air forces units gathering for the invasion of Europe.
- The status of the WAAC as an auxiliary, serving with but not in the army, was confusing and made many routine activities difficult. In mid-1943, Congress authorized the Women's Army Corps as a full-fledged army organization. All WAACs were either converted to WAC status or discharged. Women served in many jobs in addition to the secretarial, clerical, and administrative fields. They were assigned as drivers, mechanics, cooks, ordnance specialists, and radio operators; they worked in communications, logistics, public affairs, medical, intelligence, and many other specialties. They served in the United States and in all overseas theaters. Because of their exemplary record, women were made a part of the regular military establishment in 1948.
- associated date
- 1941 - 1945
- user
- Frank, Margaret C.
- ID Number
- AF*79105M
- designer number
- PQD 426
- 55-J-569-243
- accession number
- 317886
- catalog number
- 79105M
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center