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Sustainment Times
SEPTEMBER 2007
Cantigny
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2 Arturo Lincoln, the Support Opera- Arturo Lincoln, the Support Opera-tions Plans Chief and organizer of tions Plans Chief and organizer of the trip; “Everyone enjoyed the tripthe trip; “Everyone enjoyed the tripexcept for the 12 hour bus ride toexcept for the 12 hour bus ride toand from (about 650 miles eachand from (about 650 miles eachway) Chicago.”way) Chicago.” With movies likeWith movies like
The Real His-The Real His-tory of the Big Red Onetory of the Big Red One
,,
300 300
andandthethe
Big Red One Big Red One
staring Leestaring LeeMarvin, what’s not to like? I willMarvin, what’s not to like? I willadmit I was pleased when we ar-admit I was pleased when we ar-rived at our hotel.rived at our hotel. The next day we took a shortThe next day we took a shortride from our hotel to Cantigny.ride from our hotel to Cantigny.Tucked away on five hundred acresTucked away on five hundred acresof manicured grounds is, formerof manicured grounds is, formerFirst Infantry Division officer,First Infantry Division officer,Colonel Robert McCormick’s gift toColonel Robert McCormick’s gift tothe State of Illinois and the Firstthe State of Illinois and the FirstInfantry Division, Cantigny, A trueInfantry Division, Cantigny, A trueplace of beauty.place of beauty.Robert McCormick was the heirRobert McCormick was the heirto the Chicago Tribune newspaperto the Chicago Tribune newspaperand had successfully developed theand had successfully developed thenewspaper into one of the largestnewspaper into one of the largestin the nation. His vast holdingsin the nation. His vast holdingsincluded the paper, a radio station,included the paper, a radio station,television station and the estate hetelevision station and the estate herenamed Cantigny after the 1918renamed Cantigny after the 1918battle in France. Once home tobattle in France. Once home toRobert and his wife, the propertyRobert and his wife, the propertygrounds included their main house,grounds included their main house,a 36 room mansion complete with aa 36 room mansion complete with amovie theater, servants quartersmovie theater, servants quartersand his great room filled withbooks, guns, swords and a hiddenaway bar and later a world classmuseum, dedicated to the historyof the 1st Division, a large wel-come center and golf course.“I was pleasantly surprised,and humbled, at the sheer magni-tude of the grounds and the mu-seum…the quality and quantity of the archives (written/verbal/physical artifacts) was impres-sive”, said Maj. Dexter.The main reason to visit Can-tigny is the museum. One half of the museum is home to a life likereenactment of several major con-flicts involving the 1st ID startingwith WWI and ending with DesertStorm. The other half is dedicatedto exhibits and a state of the artresearch center. “I enjoyed thetour of the Research Center wherethey have thousands of volumes of historical documents dating backto the Civil War and beyond. Ialso enjoyed the Artifacts Collec-tion room in the Research Centerwhere the museum receives andprepares artifacts for display” saidMaj. Lincoln. “This museum doesa great job of sharing Soldiers'individual sacrifices with peoplethat take the tour,” Dexter said.That night, over a nice meal,discussion on the history of trans-portation by Historian Richard Kill-blane.“Mr. Killblane spoke approxi-mately 30-40 minutes on convoys,convoy logistics patrols, gun trucks,and the Soldiers who conductedground operations over the road…of how the Army has had to learn thelessons of convoys back in Vietnamand even now in our current war,”said Maj. Ira Baldwin, one of theattendees. “In addition to the dis-cussion he provided, Mr. Killblaneintends to write our unit historybased on information we provide.”The ride back featured severalgood movies including
Saving Pri-vate Ryan
, which I had failed towatch until that day. By the timewe returned to Fort Riley, I held agreater appreciation for those whoserved, fought, and died in the 1stInfantry Division.If you ever find yourself in theChicago area, I recommend youmake the short drive to Wheatonand visit Cantigny and its First Di-vision Museum. You will be gladyou did.
For more information on the 1stInfantry Division Museum and Can-tigny, go towww.cantigny.org
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