WWII and the Human Experience: Artifacts

G. Kurt Piehler, PhD, Director, Institute on World War II
and the Human Experience:

 

The Human Experience of WWII was comprised of separate
installations brought together from generous lenders such as Dr. Patrick Rowe
(The Design of War and the Bill Mauldin Collection) and the Oliver L. Austin,
Jr., Slide Collection curated by Dr. Annika Culver, as well as selections from
the Ringling Museum’s Coville Collection united with photographic collections
from the Institute by Curator Chris Jones to create Witness to War. With such
fine colleagues, the Institute personnel examined the archetypal methodology
and organization of many traditional museums. We had a number of questions: For
instance, how can we exhibit causes, effects, and concepts by way of objects?
How do we evoke the human experience of World War II through artifacts? Will
the public respond favorably to our choices and interpretation? How do museums
deal with contested historical issues such as repatriation of war trophies, and
personal items belonging to a former enemy, such as Japanese flags embossed
with the names of friends and relatives? What is the contemporary relevance and
future of World War II museums?

 

Underlying the exhibition with its accentuation on the
physical vestiges of World War II are the connections between war and society
and the integration of physical objects into displays as manifestations of
cultural history. Previously, many museums simply acted as repositories for
disparate military hardware such as guns, uniforms, and vehicles. This
exhibition seeks to integrate such materials into a larger narrative that
highlights the power of an object in the context of the human experience during
World War II with the hope of achieving the optimal method of extracting such
power in a museum gallery. The intended goal of twenty-first century museum approaches
is to highlight the personal and human experiences of a wide range of military
personnel and civilians who were thrust into a global conflict of unparalleled
scale and scope. Underlying this exhibition are connections between war and
society and material culture that are exemplified through the integration of
physical objects as manifestations of cultural history. We of the Institute on
World War II and the Museum of Fine Arts at Florida State University hope that
this larger, global narrative will reveal the power of the object in the
context of the human experience of war and that such individual stories will
interest visitors of all ages.

G.K.P.

 

  The artifacts and historic photographs of the Institute on
WWII have been photographed by Jon Nalon, Tallahassee, Florida.

 

The artifacts and historic photographs of Patrick M. Rowe
have been photographed by Christopher White, Pensacola, Florida.

Gas mask made in the United States, probably around 1943, by the Mine Safety Appliances Company (MSA) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the second version of the US M1-1-5 Optical Gas Mask and was made in very limited quantities primarily for service personnel who had to use optical equipment during a gas attack. Snipers and Ships Captains would have carried this type of mask. William Byrd Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. William Byrd was working in Jacksonville, Florida, for Railway Express when he left in 1943 to join the US Marine Corps. He was trained at Parris Island in South Carolina, Camp LeJeune in North Carolina, San Diego, and Camp Catlin in Hawaii. He served as a radar operator primarily in Okinawa. He was discharged from the US Marine Corps in March of 1946.

Nurse cape: the Navy nurse’s cape of June Husband Harrison, made of heavy wool, was distributed by the Naval Uniform Shop at the Navy Clothing Depot in Brooklyn, New York. It has a velvet collar with a dark maroon lining. The “frog” closure differs from the more commonly used double placket with buttons. June Harrison served in the US Navy as a nurse during World War II from 1943 to 1946. She was inducted at Farragut, Idaho, and discharged at McAlester, Oklahoma; Harrison ultimately achieved the rank of Lieutenant (jg). June Husband Harrison Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University.

K-Rations. The K-ration was pre-packaged individual combat food and was supplied for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The first million K-rations were ordered in May 1942, and by 1944, the peak year of production, more than 105 million rations were procured. Although the K rations were to be used for only two or three days, troops often had to rely on them for weeks at a time, and this decreased their initial popularity. P. Gordon Earhart Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Gordon Earhart served as an infantryman and water purification specialist in the Pacific Theater. He participated in the landing at Lingayen Gulf in January of 1945 and served in the Occupation of Japan. He was discharged in February 1946 and later attended college on the GI Bill.

Folding trench shovel with pick. The folding shovel/pick combination, of the type seen here, was designed in 1945 but was not produced on a wide scale before the war ended. Many shovels were retrofitted with the pick assembly so shovels with earlier production dates are often found with a pick. This shovel does not have a production date or place imprinted on it. Lloyd McDuffie Hicks, Jr., Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Lloyd Hicks, of Bradenton, Florida, completed Officer Candidate School in 1942, and training at the Armored Forces School at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he received special instruction in the Gunnery Department in the use and repair of weapons. He became a liaison officer with the famed 2nd Armored Division, 41st Armored Infantry Regiment and took part in the Battle for France in 1944. For meritorious service during that time he was awarded the Bronze Star

Japanese binoculars and case. George Wiszneauckas Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. The binoculars used by the Japanese Imperial Navy were produced by the Japanese Optical Industries Corporation (Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha), which is known today as Nikon. Before the development of radar later in the war, naval commanders attempting to locate the enemy typically had to rely on observations from personnel standing watch on deck or by dispatching search planes. Radio surveillance also served as another tool for trying to track the movement of the enemy fleets. The Japanese fleet heading to Hawaii in December 1941 maintained strict radio silence and this allowed it to deliver a devastating surprise attack on the American fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor. George Wiszneauckas served with the US Army Signal Corps from 1941-1946 and participated in the campaign to liberate the Philippines. He obtained these high-powered binoculars while taking part in the Occupation of Japan

Items used by Loren Fink during his time as a POW in Germany. Loren Fink Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Loren Fink served in the 366th Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force, and participated in several bombing campaigns over Norman- dy, Northern France, and Central Europe. On October 14, 1943, during a campaign over the German city of Schweinfurt, Fink was shot down and taken as a Prisoner of War. Fink would remain a POW for nine- teen months and nine days until being turned over to the American Army in Halle, Germany nine days before the end of the war. Fink would later be discharged on November 15, 1945.

Japanese armband. Brokaw / Richard L. Shively Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Richard L. Shively was trained as a bombardier at the Great Lakes and in San Diego and served at Midway and Guadalcanal in the Pacific. He earned the Purple Heart and Silver Star, awarded for valor after being shot three times by a Japanese floatplane. Shively’s items came to the Institute on World War II as part of the Tom Brokaw Collection. The Japanese armband is a relic Shively retrieved from combat with Japanese forces on the Lunga River on Guadalcanal in 1942. The flag on the left represented the Japanese Navy while the flag on the right was the Japanese National flag. The Japanese calligraphy on the left means “bravery,” while that on the right signifies “loyalty.”

Nazi helmet. Dr. Louis S. Moore Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. The Nazi helmet has a bullet hole at the front and an exit opening at the back that would indicate that the soldier wearing it suffered a deadly head wound. A small stain on the helmet liner appears to be blood. The lack of a unit decal on the helmet indicates that it is probably an M1942 German helmet that never received a factory branch insignia. Such helmets are typically found with a 1943 or 1944 date on the helmet liner band. This one has only the number 58 on the liner band that may be the lot number of its production group. Little is known of Dr. Louis Moore’s experiences during World War II as his collection was delivered to the Institute on World War II by a third party. From the artifacts in his collection, it is apparent that he served in the European Theater.

Nazi belt buckle. Dr. Louis S. Moore Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. The German Nazi belt buckle is of steel construction and has a pebbled surface. It includes two ropes forming the central de- sign filled in with an eagle clutching the emblematic swastika. The words “GOTT MIT UNS” between the circular ropes translates to “God With Us.” Little is known of Dr. Louis Moore’s experiences during World War II as his collection was delivered to the Institute on World War II by a third party. From the artifacts in his collection, it is apparent that he served in the European Theater.

Dog tags with silencer. The dog tag is encircled with a rubber edge called a silencer, an innovation developed later in the war which prevented the dog tags, issued in pairs, from making noises as they rubbed against each other, possibly alerting a nearby enemy during field combat. Robert L. Bounds Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Robert Bounds was inducted into the service in 1942 in Philadelphia. He had anti-aircraft training at Paris Island and was later assigned to the 5th Amphibious Division where he saw action in multiple areas of the South Pacific, most notably in the Marianna Islands from 1943-1945. Dog tag: P on the bottom right corner indicates Protestant. Lawrence Salley Stokes Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Lawrence Stokes served in the 933rd Engineer Aviation Regiment in the US Army after training at Camp Blanding, Florida and Geiger Field, Washington. He was an Aviation Engineer in the Pacific Theater. Dog tags: O for blood type and H is for Hebrew, indicating that a soldier was Jewish. Later in the war, the H was changed to J for Jewish servicemen. Wolfson's dogtag was typical of many servicemen. Wilfred Wolfson Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Wilfred Wolfson trained for the military in the ROTC at the University of Florida and was inducted into the US Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1941. He served with the Army’s Americal Division that reinforced the First Marine Division in combat against the Japanese Imperial Forces at Guadalcanal and for which they received a Navy Presidential Unit Citation in 1943. Wolfson eventually attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

GI helmet with green netting and information tag. Randall Watson Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Netting or mesh was used on the helmets for various reasons. It was attached to the helmet by a rubber band with the edges either tucked into the helmet or hanging loosely. The netting helped reduce the glare reflecting off the surface of the helmet. With the net- ting loosely draped below the rubber band, the shape of the head, face and neck were less obvious to the enemy. The netting was also used to attach foliage to the helmet for camouflage. The instructions that came with the helmet netting warned the soldiers “to avoid wearing too much camouflage foliage at a time on helmet.” Randall Watson, whose father was a ball turret gunner during World War II, grew up listening to his father’s stories about the war. As an adult, he became a collector of World War II memorabilia some of which he has donated to the Institute on World War II. His collection, including this camouflage M-1940 steel helmet with mesh covering, contains items from various military services.

GI helmet with green netting and information tag. Randall Watson Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. Netting or mesh was used on the helmets for various reasons. It was attached to the helmet by a rubber band with the edges either tucked into the helmet or hanging loosely. The netting helped reduce the glare reflecting off the surface of the helmet. With the net- ting loosely draped below the rubber band, the shape of the head, face and neck were less obvious to the enemy. The netting was also used to attach foliage to the helmet for camouflage. The instructions that came with the helmet netting warned the soldiers “to avoid wearing too much camouflage foliage at a time on helmet.” Randall Watson, whose father was a ball turret gunner during World War II, grew up listening to his father’s stories about the war. As an adult, he became a collector of World War II memorabilia some of which he has donated to the Institute on World War II. His collection, including this camouflage M-1940 steel helmet with mesh covering, contains items from various military services.

Walkie Talkies. The walkie-talkie, originally called a handy-talkie, was also known as the SCR-536. Developed by the predecessor of the Motorola Company, it was the smallest of Signal Corps radio and transmitter sets in World War II. The unit was battery operated with plug in crystals and coils to control the frequency of the receiver and transmitter. The antenna was a forty-inch telescoping rod that allowed the unit a range of about 1 mile over land and up to 3 miles over water. The rod also served as an on/off switch. Norm Hyne Collection of the Institute on WWII, Florida State University. The nephew of Norm Hyne donated this walkie-talkie to the Institute on World War II after his uncle’s death. Although Hyne participated in World War II, little is known of his specific service during the war.