00:08 - We are standing in our brand new gallery that will be opening June fourteenth.

00:17 - This we'll defend is the army's motto

00:19 - it was adopted by the army during the revolutionary war in 1778

00:23 - but it was formally adopted in 1956

00:25 - as their motto as they standardized

00:28 - their insignia.

00:30 - And their messaging.

00:34 - Purpose of

00:35 - this exhibit is to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth

00:38 - anniversary

00:39 - of the formation of the united states army

00:41 - and its to showcase both

00:44 - the collections here at AHEC and

00:46 - the staff talent that we have here

00:48 - and to.

00:50 - Give people a wider understanding about the history of the army and

00:54 - really how relevant it

00:56 - is to

00:57 - army history to American history and to everyday lives and how important it is.

01:06 - Lot of people don't know the army is older than the united states it was

01:10 - established on June 14th 1775

01:13 - and it was done by the second continental congress in Philadelphia

01:16 - and it came through the merging of all

01:19 - the different militias and they felt the need

01:21 - for to stand up a formal formation

01:25 - and the next day on June fifteenth George Washington was elected commander in chief.

01:32 - So we have

01:35 - It's a staff curated exhibition

01:37 - so we have ninety three different staff members who participated

01:41 - and it's a range from.

01:43 - The.

01:44 - Lovely people that keep the building clean to our

01:47 - wonderful new director and then we also engaged

01:51 - United states army war college leadership as well

01:53 - so all the different staff the historians the curators

01:59 - Our museum staff

02:01 - the conservators our operations staff everybody

02:03 - chose

02:04 - an object or item from

02:06 - the archive from the museum

02:08 - or from the library that really resonated with them.

02:14 - What i selected was a small bag of French soil that was given to a gold star mother

02:21 - and

02:22 - goldstar mothers are those that have lost sons in combat

02:26 - this is World War I and now sons and daughters

02:29 - in combat and

02:31 - they did a pilgrimage in nineteen thirty two post-world war two

02:34 - and her son this is Esther

02:36 - Tennyson and

02:38 - her son corporal Joseph Tennyson was

02:40 - killed in action and he was never recovered

02:42 - so for the mothers that

02:45 - couldn't stand at the grave of their sons

02:48 - they were given this gift of the earth of France

02:50 - and they got a letter from the mothers of France

02:53 - saying that.

02:54 - The earth is sacred to them and now it's sacred to us in america because so many of

02:58 - our brave young sons are buried there

03:01 - and the reason i chose it is it because it really speaks to

03:04 - the service of families and the grief and the

03:06 - burden and the sacrifice that they put into.

03:10 - Soldier service as well

03:12 - and how important that is and then also

03:14 - speaking across countries and alliances so it

03:16 - speaks to a lot of different things and it's very.

03:20 - Very heart wrenching but it but profound in a in a way.

03:29 - Hi my name is Kaleb Dissinger i'm one of the museum

03:31 - curators here at the u s army heritage and education center.

03:35 - Behind me is an original oil painting

03:38 - by the artist Don Troiani

03:40 - depicting the.

03:43 - Capture of fort Detroit from the French in seventeen sixty.

03:48 - By Robert Rogers

03:49 - and particular.

03:51 - One of the

03:52 - most famous for

03:53 - the

03:54 - the American rangers of the

03:55 - French and Indian War

03:57 - Then it was

03:58 - commissioned by the Army War College class of 2010

04:02 - as a class gift to the army war college.

04:06 - My selection

04:07 - for this exhibit.

04:09 - Is an American flag.

04:12 - That

04:13 - when anyone looks at it.

04:15 - Clearly looks like it's in rough shape

04:17 - There are not enough stars.

04:19 - There are not enough

04:20 - stripes

04:21 - and it

04:22 - appears to be tattered

04:24 - and i chose it

04:26 - from the collection here

04:28 - because

04:28 - of

04:29 - how it was.

04:31 - Produced

04:32 - and used.

04:34 - Philippine insurrection

04:36 - Nineteen hundred

04:37 - the American army is.

04:39 - In the Philippines trying to put down

04:41 - an insurrection.

04:44 - And twenty fourth infantry regiment

04:46 - which was

04:46 - mostly comprised of.

04:49 - African Americans.

04:51 - Was a

04:52 - was deployed to.

04:54 - Luzon island

04:55 - were actively campaigning

04:58 - and as part of that

05:01 - there are a number of

05:04 - men who were wounded

05:05 - men who

05:06 - fell down with sickness and as a result there was

05:11 - A detachment of about one hundred men or so

05:14 - that were left behind in

05:16 - an unnamed village

05:18 - on

05:18 - Luzon island.

05:20 - To recuperate from the wounds from their sickness.

05:23 - Young second lieutenant

05:25 - Robert Frith was

05:27 - was placed in charge of the detachment.

05:30 - While they recuperated and over the course of about a month and a half or so.

05:35 - Men

05:36 - were to the point where they could

05:38 - rejoin the the regiment.

05:41 - But they went to

05:42 - lieutenant Frith

05:43 - and

05:43 - basically said we're not going to march back to our regiment

05:46 - without a flag

05:48 - so the enlisted men

05:49 - pooled

05:50 - their own money together

05:52 - to buy as much cloth as they could in the local area and they had a Chinese tailor

05:57 - Kind of put this thing together for them

05:59 - they marched back to the twenty fourth infantry regiment

06:02 - to rejoin their comrades under

06:04 - this flag

06:06 - and

06:07 - after

06:08 - Robert firth had retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel.

06:12 - and went home

06:14 - in nineteen twenty two he was pictured the holding

06:17 - the exact flag

06:18 - outside his residence in California

06:20 - and it just speaks to.

06:23 - What.

06:25 - True patriotism is.

06:28 - When you have men that are left behind to recuperate

06:31 - who

06:32 - Took it upon themselves to do what they could to

06:35 - to march

06:37 - back to their comrades under

06:40 - a symbol of freedom.

06:47 - Another one of our.

06:48 - selections by

06:49 - a

06:50 - staff member here.

06:52 - Is the infamous woobie

06:54 - If you've

06:55 - not been in the military since

06:57 - the

06:58 - Vietnam war to present day

07:00 - probably

07:01 - don't recognize that name

07:03 - but it is a wet weather poncho liner

07:06 - first initiated

07:08 - about the time of the Vietnam war.

07:12 - it became.

07:14 - A piece of

07:15 - the iconic.

07:18 - army

07:19 - Equipage basically and

07:22 - it is basically just

07:23 - polyester batting

07:25 - piece between two.

07:28 - Camouflage

07:29 - nylon sheets

07:31 - sewn together.

07:32 - Couple of ties around the edges

07:35 - and

07:36 - initially it was designed

07:37 - as

07:38 - stated as a poncho liner to help keep

07:41 - a soldier warm

07:43 - but in fact it has

07:44 - become so much more to

07:46 - many veterans

07:48 - since the Vietnam war

07:49 - to present day and

07:50 - and

07:51 - it was selected by.

07:53 - A member here a registrar Michael Mira

07:56 - who deployed with the one hundred and eighty seventh

07:59 - infantry

08:01 - and first airborne division

08:03 - to Iraq.

08:04 - During the operation Iraqi freedom and.

08:08 - When

08:09 - the chief curator

08:10 - Molly Bompane and i

08:12 - Engaged him a little bit on why he chose this item

08:15 - it is

08:16 - from his collection that he donated so

08:19 - not only is it his favorite piece but it was also

08:21 - part of his

08:22 - army issued equipment

08:26 - His one line response was.

08:29 - The woobie is the greatest piece of

08:30 - army equipment ever

08:32 - Devised

08:33 - and i think that states it all.

08:37 - We've given some tours in here.

08:39 - Before the opening

08:41 - and

08:41 - talking with people that

08:43 - have not served.

08:45 - Trying to explain to them

08:47 - what the woobie is and

08:50 - How it

08:51 - is used.

08:53 - We've have often had some people saying you know

08:55 - what I've never heard it called the woobie but

08:59 - I have one.

09:00 - A relative has one

09:02 - and i now know exactly what you're talking about and why

09:05 - they're so wonderful to be

09:07 - the fact that they can be.

09:08 - Rolled up and compacted into a little ball and they were practically nothing

09:14 - and they survive all types of weather it's

09:16 - one of those iconic pieces

09:18 - of army history.

09:26 - Hi i'm Kate Lemay i am the director of the us army

09:33 - heritage and education center we're

09:34 - in a tavern that our team actually

09:36 - built

09:36 - from scratch

09:38 - but they built it to

09:39 - specification

09:41 - Of and 18th century tavern.

09:44 - located in

09:45 - Massachusetts

09:46 - and

09:47 - it is

09:48 - incredibly

09:49 - accurate.

09:51 - It helps people.

09:54 - Imagine what it was like to be in a

09:58 - Colonial American environment.

10:00 - Thinking about revolution

10:06 - This particular tavern

10:08 - was

10:08 - used by the colonies

10:11 - During the moment

10:12 - in the seventy seventies when

10:15 - resistance is building against

10:16 - the British

10:17 - and.

10:19 - What

10:19 - we wanted to do was to recreate the environment

10:23 - in which.

10:24 - People actually were

10:26 - brainstorming

10:27 - and sharing information

10:29 - and talking about

10:30 - how.

10:32 - They should

10:33 - react

10:34 - to the greater impositions

10:37 - on their rights.

10:39 - In the colonies

10:40 - as citizens of

10:42 - the British kingdom.

10:44 - They

10:44 - felt

10:44 - more and more

10:46 - like

10:46 - as colonists they were not being treated well and so when they are comparing notes

10:51 - in places like this

10:53 - they were able to gather

10:55 - and create

10:55 - strategy to gather their thoughts

10:58 - and to create

10:59 - A way forward a roadmap forward

11:02 - and that meant

11:03 - organizing the militia and so the us army

11:06 - is actually older than

11:08 - the us nation

11:09 - because the army started

11:11 - in 1775

11:13 - through conversations like the colonists were having

11:16 - in this environment.

11:20 - So the object that i chose for this exhibition is

11:24 - a bronze statuette of

11:26 - Abraham Lincoln.

11:27 - That was

11:28 - made

11:29 - by Augustus Saint-gaudens and i am an art historian by training.

11:34 - So this bronze statue really appealed to me because it has Lincoln standing up

11:40 - in front of

11:41 - a chair

11:42 - which

11:43 - bears the

11:44 - the chair bears the seal the united states

11:47 - and it's a visual cue

11:49 - to

11:50 - Lincoln's

11:51 - leadership of the united states during the civil war

11:55 - and

11:56 - as he's standing he is kind of holding his jacket and looking down

12:01 - it looks

12:01 - exactly like

12:02 - someone would look

12:04 - if they are preparing in their minds

12:07 - Remarks something that they are about to say is that moment of quiet solitude

12:13 - as he gathers his thoughts

12:15 - and so it's a really important.

12:18 - Nod visually

12:19 - Not only to leadership

12:21 - but to

12:22 - the way in which

12:24 - American leaders during conflict

12:26 - needed to think

12:27 - carefully

12:28 - needed to think through

12:30 - what they were going to say to the American public and.

12:34 - Augustus Saint-gaudens

12:36 - the sculptor

12:37 - he was the premier artist of the late nineteenth century he was probably

12:41 - one of the best in the world

12:43 - certainly the best in the united states

12:46 - as an artist

12:47 - and like i said i'm a trained art historian so when

12:50 - i saw this object within the collections of the

12:52 - united states army

12:54 - i thought to myself oh my gosh this is what i think it is

12:57 - because

12:58 - the Augustus Saint-gaudens

12:59 - estate

13:00 - made.

13:02 - About twenty copies

13:05 - In art history talk they are called replicas

13:07 - if an artist makes his own.

13:10 - Copy it's a replica so there's

13:11 - not that many out there

13:13 - and actually the metropolitan museum of art

13:16 - purchased one.

13:17 - Years ago

13:19 - and the best

13:20 - art collections in the nation are the ones that hold

13:23 - the

13:24 - statuettes.

13:25 - Of Lincoln

13:26 - so to find it

13:28 - here

13:29 - just opened my eyes

13:31 - as to the depth of our collections the stories that we can tell

13:35 - the ways in which

13:36 - the united states army history

13:38 - really reveals

13:41 - Different

13:42 - strands

13:43 - of

13:43 - fabric that

13:45 - create American history

13:51 - so thank you so much for joining us on this brief tour of the exhibition This We'll

13:56 - Defend celebrating 250 years of army history

14:00 - right here at the united states heritage

14:02 - education center

14:04 - and Carlisle barracks

14:06 - in Carlisle Pennsylvania

14:08 - and if you would like to see more information please check out our website