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Troy Marines, Excerpt from "Troy’s Part in the World War 1918"
New York State Archives, NYSA_A3167-78A_B1_F1_TroyMarines
Document Description
Photographs of United States Marines from Troy, New York. Excerpt from "Troy’s Part in the World War 1918."
Questions
Why was fighting on the western front so difficult?
What were conditions like in these photographs?
What weapons are shown in these photographs?
How would these photographs make the people of Troy feel about their local soldier’s involvement in the war?
Historical Challenges
Use the photographs to create a recruitment poster.
Interdisciplinary Connections
English Language Arts: Write a letter from a parent of one of these soldiers in the photographs in response to seeing their son in the newspaper?
Resources
About this Activity
Lesson Topic:
Historical Context
On June 6th, 1918, American Marines attacked the enemy in the direction of Torcy, France on the western front. This gained more than two miles over a two and a half mile front. On the next day the advance continued over a front of nearly six miles.
From Torcy the Marines took ground on either side of Belleau Wood (near the Marne River in France). They had reached all the objectives and pushed beyond them. The Germans were on the run.
The Capture of Vaux (located 3.5 miles immediately northwest of the town of Chateau-Thierry on the River Marne) took place on July 1-10, 1918. The American Expeditionary Forces and Marines along with the French Army, fought against the German Army. The Capture of Vaux was a well executed tactical operation to close out 2nd Division operations around Chateau-Thierry.
The photographs and excerpt in this document illustrates the involvement of the Troy Marines in these 2 important battles.
Essential Question
How do local communities view their contributions to national events?
Check for Understanding
Describe the scenes in the photographs and discuss the community's perspective of the war.
