Archival Anecdotes: Veterans Day

I sat down to prepare a selection for this week's Archival Anecdotes with Veteran's Day in mind but found it difficult to select any one item from the Eddy County Museum. This was mostly due to the fact that there are so many military artifacts that extend back hundreds of years.

Rather than choose just one artifact to discuss, this Veteran's Day I offer you readers a timeline of artifacts just to see how far back we go.

But first, a few disclaimers.

Veteran's Day was originally founded as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1918 and was to mark the end of "the war to end all wars."

As we all know, things don't always go as planned. World War II and the Korean War produced many more veterans and on June 1, 1954, Congress amended the commemoration by changing "armistice" to "veterans" so that the day would honor American veterans of all wars.

Because the Eddy County Museum was founded in the 1960s and acquired most of its artifacts during this time, its military-related artifacts often date back 75 years or more. The list of artifacts presented here is not definitive. Instead it is a sampling, so please enjoy as you take the time to appreciate the role veterans have played in history.

In the picture of museum artifacts above, "The Soldiers Pocket Book" rests among various remnants of the past. The book was published in 1861 and distributed to soldiers prior to the Civil War. It included various words of advice, songs, poems and bible verses.

This is nearly contemporaneous to the 33 star flag pictured in the upper right portion of the photo. The badge and ribbon pictured on the left both commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg- the most violent and decisive battle of the Civil War.

In 1913, long before a Veterans Day was established, folks were taking the time to honor and appreciate the veterans that came some 50 years before. The round badge has a design on the front depicting a rural scene and quote from the Gettysburg Address. It was Donated by Elsie Kerr.

A military uniform that was once worn by Louis Oefslendahl of Sheyenne during the Spanish-American War (circa 1899) is also part of the collection. In addition, there are several Spanish-American War era magazine and newspaper clippings.

In addition to dozens of other military uniforms from the 20th century, Eddy County Museum also has possession of two boxes of service ephemera.

One cigar box dated 1910-1945 contains photos and documents related to the military service history of Eddie Haas. This includes enlistment and discharge papers, a collection of 18 French postcards and a poem written by Mary R. Haas, and other items.

Another box, this one with a boat painted on top, contains photos, postcards and official documents related to the naval service of Joseph Ridnt.