UP IN ARMS AT FORT BENNINGText and Photography by Bridget Azeez |
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Fort Benning, Georgia: The cannons stand guard outside the National Infantry Museum, strong and silent, gleaming in the bright sunshine. Behind the walls of the 30,000-square-foot museum are galleries filled with thousands of exhibits that were of significant value to the Infantrymen who have defended the nation.
In 1959 the museum was established to honor more than two centuries of history with the finest collection of weapons, army gear, vehicles and memorabilia from the revolutionary war to Desert Storm. This is a golden opportunity to see the signatures of George Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt on documents. History is a spellbinding subject for me, and no words can explain the depth of my emotion as I allow |
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the solitude of the museum and its contents to course through my memory. Names, dates and events have become particularly significant as I stand before the evidence that shows how many young people risked their lives in the name of freedom.
While strolling through the Second World War gallery I stop to view some black and white pictures on the wall. A closer look reveals they are pictures of heaps of emaciated bodies in Nazi concentration camps taken by U.S soldiers near the end of WWII. How could I not be moved? As a young person, it’s hard to relate to the hardships and atrocities of such events because I have never lived in a war-torn country.
The museum features several other wartime vehicles such as the KFZ Kurelwagen, Volkswagen 82 (1940-1945). In 1933 Hitler had asked Dr. Porsche to develop a simple and affordable car. In 1939, as Germany marched into Czechoslovakia, Dr. Porsche was asked to develop a military version of the Volkswagen. To achieve this the body was modified into a simple, box shaped structure, while retaining the same rear engine, chassis pan, wheels and suspension of the Volkswagen car. By 1945 production numbers rose to 52, 018 and the vehicles were designated as light ambulances, ammunition carriers and assault engineer carriers.
Near the end of my tour I linger at a fascinating display of a parachuting officer, complete with a mural painted with other men parachuting through the air and camouflage trucks on the ground waiting. It’s such an extravagant display it amazes me as well as some youngsters who ask their father if the man is really flying.
What an education, what a place! I never knew horses wore gas masks, did you? What I do know is that this museum definitely has a spot in my travel journal marked “re-visit” when time permits.
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Many displays are a great testament to how technology has evolved and given way to modern ways of combat. For example, the development and implementation of the Jeep during World War II was officially designated as “truck, command and reconnaissance 4x4.” It maneuvered two generations through World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. General George C. Marshall, the then wartime Chief of Staff said the Jeep was “ America’s greatest contribution to modern warfare.”
Visitors are exposed to all types of weapons, from the Springfield musket to the M-16 rifle, the French Charleville flintlock musket and the atomic Davy Crockett. One gun in particular, the 1876 Gatling, bears the serial number 236, which is quite intriguing. Modeled after the 1874 “Classic Gatlings” that featured two types, the long musket length and the short-barreled camel gun, the firearm has chambers to fire the standard army caliber .45-70 rifle cartridge. However, Colt records show that this number was assigned to one of 14 of the model 1879 Gatlings purchased by the U.S Army in 1880. To date no one can explain the mix-up. The barrel measures 32 inches and can fire up to 1,000 rounds per minute. I surely would not want to be staring down the barrel of that gun!
I notice that as I walk though the museum there are several service men and women maintaining the museum exhibits, an obvious reminder that even young individuals serving at Fort Benning take pride in the accomplishments of the United States infantry throughout the years.