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Interpreting the Evidence

Troy Marines

Student View

About this Activity

  • Documents in this Activity:
  • Historical Eras:

    Turn of the Century and WWI (1890 - 1930)

  • Thinking Skill:

    Historical Analysis & Interpretation

  • Grade Level:

    Middle School
    High School
    College University

  • Topics:

    Community
    World War I

  • Primary Source Types:

    Photograph

  • Regions:

    Capital District
    New York State
    United States
    Global

  • Creator:

    NYS Archives Partnership Trust Education Team

  1. Load Troy Marines, Excerpt from "Troy's Part in the World War 1918" in Main Image Viewer

Suggested Teaching Instructions

Document Description
Photographs of United States Marines from Troy, New York.  Excerpt from "Troy’s Part in the World War 1918."
Historical Context
On June 6th, 1918, American Marines attacked the enemy in the direction of Torcy, France on the western front. This gained more than two miles over a two and a half mile front. On the next day the advance continued over a front of nearly six miles.

From Torcy the Marines took ground on either side of Belleau Wood (near the Marne River in France). They had reached all the objectives and pushed beyond them. The Germans were on the run.
 The Capture of Vaux (located 3.5 miles immediately northwest of the town of Chateau-Thierry on the River Marne) took place on July 1-10, 1918.  The American Expeditionary Forces and Marines along with the French Army, fought against the German Army.  The Capture of Vaux was a well executed tactical operation to close out 2nd Division operations around Chateau-Thierry.The photographs and excerpt in this document illustrates the involvement of the Troy Marines in these 2 important battles.
Essential Question
How do local communities view their contributions to national events?
Check for Understanding
Describe the scenes in the photographs and discuss the community's perspective of the war.
Historical Challenges
Use the photographs to create a recruitment poster.
Interdisciplinary Connections
English Language Arts: Write a letter from a parent of one of these soldiers in the photographs in response to seeing their son in the newspaper?

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