× Expand Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society Soldiers Memorial, Chestnut and 13th, P.R. Papin Photo Company, 1940s. Missouri Historical Society Collections.

For this upcoming Memorial Day, I thought I would check in on the Missouri History Museum’s preparations for the Soldiers’ Memorial renovation and planned opening on Veterans’ Day of this year. The renovation is still on schedule, but that also means that there are all sorts of activities happening behind the scenes that the various museum professionals that work for the Museum and Memorial must complete before the grand opening. For example, there are thousands of objects in the collections of the Museum and Memorial and finite space in what is still a very large building downtown. The task of choosing what items will go on display falls to museum professionals such as Patrick Allie, Military and Arms Curator at the Missouri History Museum.

The Soldiers’ Memorial will occupy a special role inside the greater Missouri History Museum. While there a several employees that will work solely for the Memorial downtown, many employees such as Allie will split their time creating curatorial content between the Museum in Forest Park and the Soldiers’ Memorial. Allie came to the Museum six years ago as a project manager and moved over to the curatorial position after about a year and a half. He has a history degree from the University of Kansas, and a master’s degree in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma.

While the Soldiers’ Memorial’s construction was directly precipitated by the First World War, it has grown to now serve as monument to veterans of all the wars fought by the people of St. Louis. As such, the first major special exhibit will focus on World War I, while a permanent exhibit, St. Louis and Service, will feature all of the wars in the city’s history. However, the larger permanent exhibit will include artifacts from all of the wars fought by and in St. Louis. Allie showed me a selection of fascinating artifacts from four different conflicts that affected the Gateway City.

× Expand Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society Spanish infantry sword of the type used by colonial Spanish troops, 1777.

The first object was a Spanish infantry officer’s sword made of Toledo steel. It was the type used by soldiers who defended St. Louis during the Revolutionary War Battle of San Carlos on May 26, 1780. While many Americans are familiar with famous battles such as Concord or Yorktown, in reality, the American Revolution had turned into a giant proxy war between many different European Great Powers. King Charles III of Spain, for instance, saw the potential to weaken their adversary, Great Britain, by supporting the young republic. Consequently, the Battle of Fort San Carlos at St. Louis, while a critical Revolutionary War battle, did not include a single American soldier. But by repelling the British and their Native American allies, along with the victories of George Rogers Clark, the United States extracted greater territorial concessions from Great Britain after the war. Rather nicely, the sword is emblazoned with “Por El Rey Carlos III” (“For the King Charles III”).

× Expand Photograph by Cary Horton, 2009. Photograph and scan (c) 2009, Missouri History Museum. Sword presented to Lt. Col. John Knapp by Co. A of the St. Louis Grays in 1860 and then broken by Knapp at the surrender of Camp Jackson to Federal forces, St. Louis, May 10, 1861.

Allie then showed me another sword with a dramatically different story. It was used several generations later at the Camp Jackson Affair at the dawn of the Civil War. Missouri governor Claiborne Jackson and his state militia had just been captured by a Union militia led by Nathaniel Lyon and swelled by German Americans. Jackson’s goal of capturing the weapons stored at the Arsenal had been foiled (by the way, I showed in a past article that Adolphus Busch never hid any weapons in his lagering cellars). As is traditional, the surrendering officers could turn in their swords to Captain Lyon, but one officer, Lt. Col. John Knapp, had another idea. Taking his sword crafted by W.H. Horstmann of Philadelphia, he broke the blade over his knee in a final act of defiance before surrendering. The fractured sword with its hilt and scabbard are in the History Museum’s collection; the other half of the blade is lost. Of course, the journey back to the Arsenal with the captured men turned into a disaster as Lyon’s men opened fire on civilians, as future general William Tecumseh Sherman and his son looked on.

× Expand Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society 1st Regiment, Missouri Home Guard flag, ca. 1918

Moving forward to World War I, we examined a Home Guard First Regiment Flag. Textiles might not seem like the most difficult objects to conserve, but in reality, they offer all sorts of problems. For example, they can fade when left exposed to light, even inside buildings if window glass is not treated to block harmful light wavelengths, insects, or even just simply folds in the fabric. Because of all of those conservation issues, the state of the flag is all the more miraculous. The Home Guard presents an interesting story in World War I history; they patrolled industrial neighborhoods of St. Louis with out-of-date weapons, and even staged a “mock invasion” of Clayton for crowds sitting on grandstands. The flag in question, dated 1920, served as part of a reunion.

× 1 of 3 Expand Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society Japanese metal chopsticks and case confiscated by EM3C Carl Glatz during seizure of the Tachibana Maru, August 1945 × 2 of 3 Expand Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society Japanese Prisoners from the Tachibana Maru. × 3 of 3 Expand Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society In November 1942, Carl Glatz left his home in south St. Louis and enlisted in the US Navy. For the next three years, Glatz served in the Pacific aboard the destroyer USS Charette. Prev Next

The final two objects hail from the Pacific Theater of World War II. The first is a captured set of Japanese aluminum chopsticks, complete with a carrying case. While the chopsticks by themselves might elicit some interest by themselves, the story of their capture is much more compelling. Carl Glatz, a South City resident, was serving onboard the USS Charrettewhen his ship intercepted a suspicious Japanese medical ship. Lumbering low in the water, Glatz and his comrades discovered, after boarding the Tachibana Maru, that it was actuallycarrying troops and weapons. The chopsticks, along with several other items, became his souvenirs of that hunch in August, 1945.

× 1 of 2 Expand Courtesy of Soldiers Memorial Military Museum Collections US Army Air Forces summer flight jacket of Lt. Lawrence Helm Jr., ca. 1943 × 2 of 2 Expand Courtesy of Soldiers Memorial Military Museum Collections Helm's labeled arming pins. Prev Next

The other object from World War II that I examined was a bomber jacket worn by Lieutenant Lawrence Helms Jr. of Richmond Heights as he flew 40 missions over Japanese targets as part of the 11th Bombardment Group, 7th Air Force. His bomber was christened the Royal Flush, and its nose art featured a bomb hitting the handle of a toilet which in turn was flushing a Japanese soldier down the bowl; above a hand holds the cards completing a royal flush. That nose art is reproduced on the leather bomber jacket as well. Many readers might be familiar with the fighters painting their “kills” on the side of their aircraft, but warships did this as well, so the Charrette had the interesting distinction of having a hospital ship listed as a captured “enemy” on its list due to the Japanese subterfuge. I was also intrigued to learn that one bombardier actually saved all of his arming pins, carefully labeling where each bomb was dropped. Look to see those on display, along with many other amazing pieces of history, when the Soldiers’ Memorial opens on Veterans’ Day.

Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.