World War I Museum Offers New Insight Into Grandfather

John Cyrus Orr from Freeport, Kan., 9 miles east of Anthony, fought and was wounded at the St. Mihiel offensive in France at some point between Sept. 12 and 15, 1918, during the war to end all wars, World War I. Orr had been, like many Kansas men, drafted as a private in the 89th Division, 353rd Infantry Regiment.

Before he knew it, he was in the thick of battle, only to receive a head wound, which sent him to the field hospital. He saw no more action and was sent home on Jan. 20, 1919. Nobody in his family ever really understood what caused the wound, nor did Orr, but when a brain tumor took him in 1940, his family believed, his death had come from that blow to his skull.

The National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial, a Kansas City treasure, gave me a better understanding recently about John Orr, my grandfather, and what he had gone through at the age of 25. Having been dedicated in 1926, this – the only World War I monument and memorial in the United States – was designated a National Historic Landmark and the newly remodeled site was reopened to the public in 2006.

The museum, located below ground level beneath the towering monument, houses artifact both military and personal in memory and exhibit halls or are explained on interactive portrait walls, in art work, in research and education centers, and the state-of-the-art 230 seat J. C. Nichols Auditorium. Howitzers, mortars, airplanes, a torpedo, tank, an ambulance wagon, guns/rifles, uniforms, trinkets, all the necessary items during war time are displayed and easily accessible.

The monument’s tower, open to the public, stands at 217 feet and takes visitors near the top, leaving 45 steps to the viewing deck with a 360-degree view of downtown Kansas City and the surrounding suburban areas.

A first of its kind special exhibit, housed in the Exhibit Hall, called, “Man and Machine: The German Soldier in World War 1” offers a very different perspective from the norm by telling about the war from the perspective of the German soldier. Not only are the expected armaments of war included but personal items like a Christmas cigar box and a stoneware schnapps bottle and glasses.

More telling are the personal messages left by soldiers, such as those left by German soldier Ernst Toller in 1916: “Life is one hell, death is a mere trifle; we are all screws in a machine that wallows forward, nobody knows where to.”

The permanent collection covers the years 1914-1917 and 1917 to 1919. Before getting started with what is an easy self-guided tour, a 12-minute movie explains how this war began. From there, a timeline and section designations guide visitors through this ever-changing war as more and more machinery and technology were developed and used to destroy the enemy.

Three short movies provide time to sit, relax, learn, and reflect. In the glass enclosed Reflection Rooms, real and key voices from the past take the listener back in time. German emperor – Kaiser Wilhelm II; Russian revolutionary – Vladimir Lenin; French General Ferdinand Foch; American educator, lecturer and author – Booker T. Washington; President Woodrow Wilson; actress Mary Pickford; and American flyer Eddie Rickenbacker are among the voices.

The museum makes sure to include the roll of the black soldier, women, civilians, and that of anyone who experienced this war, whether in France or Belgium or elsewhere, while telling the story of every country – 36 in all – that sent soldiers and participated in a global disaster which would be repeated once again in another 20 years.

The intent is to cover the war from first shot in 1914 to first real attempts at peace after 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The loss of this war, particularly hard on German civilians, who had been led to believe propaganda that Germany was doing well with its war efforts. Before leaving the museum, German World War I veteran, Adolf Hitler, reminds us with his words spoken in 1922 about how the German civilian might have felt, when Hitler said, “It cannot be that two million Germans should have fallen in vain…No, we do not pardon, we demand – vengeance!”

Memory Hall looks much as it did when the site was dedicated in 1926 with a listing in bronze of the 441 Kansas City citizens “who died of disease, accident, were killed in action or died later of battle wounds.” Ornate murals, wooden paneling, and gold-star studded ceiling remind visitors how this was once a room designed for “patriotic societies” to meet. Currently on display is a special acquisition display called, “Calendar of the War: Vintage Prints by René Georges Hermann-Paul.” The artist graphically captures the images, events and people during the war.

In the final room of the lower galleries, American humorist Will Rogers in 1929 reminds us, “You can’t say civilization don’t advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way,” while an American soldier returning from the war said, “We went to war to save democracy and got back home only to find we couldn’t get anything to drink.”

Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors (65 and over) and students (18 plus years with identification) and $5 for youth (6-17). Hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tower, Exhibit Hall and Memory Hall close at 4:30 p.m.

The Museum is closed Mondays, except for major holidays. The Museum will be open on these holiday Mondays in 2010: January 18 (Martin Luther King Day), February 15 (Presidents Day), May 31 (Memorial Day), July 5, September 6 (Labor Day), October 11 (Columbus Day).

For more information, email info@theworldwar.org, call the museum at 816-784-1918, or google http://www.theworldwar.org.

John Orr’s whereabouts at the St. Mihiel Offensive may be lost to time, but at least I could better understand what a man – I never met – went through on foreign soil. Unable to know exactly what day he was wounded, I do know his 89th Division wore a “W” in a black circle and were known as the “Middle West Division” because troops were drafted from Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado. During their time in combat, they took back from the Germans the towns of Beney, Essey, Boullionville, Pannes, and Xammes all in the Loraine region of northeastern France and had advanced 13 miles.

From the History of the 353rd Infantry Regiment, published in June, 1919, I also know, John Orr went “over the top” at 1 a.m. on Sept. 11. The history reads, “At exactly one o’clock the preparatory bombardment began. More than a million rounds of ammunition were consumed in the artillery preparation which lasted from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. All along the line the sky was lit up with flashes of heavy-caliber guns, distributed in depth for almost ten kilometers to the rear…”

From the displays at the National World War I Museum, I could better see my grandfather in this truly historic and heroic take back and him climbing up and out of the trenches and going “over the top.”

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Posted by Kevin on Sep 8 2010. Filed under News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry