Posted November 9, 2018 9:30 am by Comments

By Chris Eger

Capt. Harry S. Truman’s ID card from World War I, while he was commander of Battery D, 129th Field Artillery. (Photo: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum)
With the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I looming, it is only fitting that we take a look at the gun carried by the only President to see combat in the conflict.
While the former Spanish-American War veteran President Teddy Roosevelt volunteered to return to service to fight the Kaiser in 1917, his offer was not accepted by political rival President Woodrow Wilson. Further, although a career Army officer at the time, future President Dwight D. Eisenhower was stuck in training duties stateside and never made it to the front line in France. One man who did go was Missouri-native Harry S Truman, whose past jobs had included farmer and clerk.
After service in a Missouri National Guard artillery unit from 1905 to 1911, Truman, then 33, re-enlisted after the U.S. entered the War and was soon elected lieutenant. With his unit federalized as the 129th Field Artillery Regiment of the Army’s 35th Infantry Division, he was promoted to captain in July 1918 and was soon on his way “Over There” in

Source: Guns.com

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