Trench Position
Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment hold a trench position in France during World War I. They are wearing French-issued Adrian helmets. Courtesy photo
Railroad Shop Trio
Machine-gun post in railroad shop. Company A, Ninth Machine Gun Battalion, Chateau-Thierry, France. National Archives photo
WWI Stevedores
African-American stevedores in an undated photo during World War I. African-American supply and services units provided a great amount of labor for the arriving American Expeditionary Forces in France in 1917-18. They would be joined by the African-American 369th Infantry Regiment, formerly the National Guard's 15th New York Infantry. The 369th arrived in France in December 1917 and initially served as a labor force to improve the port of St. Nazaire, France, for follow-on forces. The infantry regiment would not move on to prepare for combat operations until March 1918. Courtesy photo
Radio Talk
Navajo Code Talkers Marine Corps Cpl. Henry Bake Jr. and Pfc. George H. Kirk use a portable radio near enemy lines to communicate with fellow Marines in December 1943. The Navajo language proved to be an unbreakable military code that assisted Navy and Marine operations in the Pacific during World War II. National Archives photo
Pantelleria Arrival
U.S. Army Air Forces nurses make their way down the ramp of their landing craft infantry amphibious assault ship on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria, Italy, in 1943. The 34th Station Hospital on the island became the first Army Air Forces hospital truly attached to an Army Air Forces unit. National Archives photo
Waiting for Evacuation
Soldiers of the 16th Infantry Regiment, wounded while storming Omaha Beach, France, wait by the chalk cliffs for evacuation to a field hospital for treatment on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Army photo
Women's Army Corps
Women's Army Corps Maj. Charity Adams, 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion commander, and Army Capt. Mary Kearney, Alpha Company commander, inspect the first soldiers from the unit to arrive in England, Feb. 15, 1945. The only all-African-American Women's Army Corps unit sent to Europe during World War II, the 6888th was responsible for clearing years' worth of backlogged mail in both England and France. National Archives photo
Borinqueneers
Members of the all-Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment, known as “the Borinqueneers,” pose for a photo aboard the USNS Marine Lynx while preparing to leave for the front lines in Korea, September 1950. Although the segregated unit formed almost 50 years earlier, it did not enter combat until the Korean War. National Archives photo
Machine-Gun Crew
A machine-gun crew assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, one of the original Buffalo Soldier units, man a machine gun in Songimbong, South Korea, in February, 1951. U.S. Army Center of Military History photo
Vietnam Veteran
Harvey Pratt in Da Nang, Vietnam. Pratt, the designer whose concept was selected to create the Smithsonian’s National Native American Veterans Memorial for the National Museum of the American Indian, is a Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal member. R.D. Pratt photo courtesy of Harvey Pratt
Guitar Player
Operation "Yellowstone" Vietnam: Following a hard day, a few members of Company A, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division, gather around a guitar player and sing a few songs. National Archives photo
Canal Crossing
During Operation Bang Dong, Army Pfc. Fred L. Greenleaf, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, crosses a deep irrigation canal along with other members of the company who are en route to a Viet Cong-controlled village. National Archives photo
Sabot Round
An ammunition specialist carries a 105 mm armor-piercing, discarding sabot round, to be used in an M1 Abrams tank, during Desert Shield. Army photo by Sgt. Brian Cumper
Imminent Thunder
Marines assigned to the 2nd Marine Division's Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, move out on a mission after disembarking from a CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter during Exercise Imminent Thunder, part of Operation Desert Shield. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. H. H. Deffner
Kuwait City Flightline
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Curney Russell assists former prisoner of war Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson in Kuwait City, April 13, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Johnson endured 22 days in captivity in Iraq. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael Leitenberger
Iraq Mission
Army Sgt. Stephen Edwards secures the end of a team's assault formation before entering a house during a cordon, search and seizure mission in Iraq, Aug. 21, 2004. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Scott Reed
Combat Medic
Army Pfc. Kristina Batty dons a headscarf to meet with female Afghan villagers in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province, May 5, 2012. Batty, a medic for a female engagement team, is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
Emergency Prep
Army First Lt. Suzanne Laux, center, watches as Army Sgt. Sarah Fehlberg, right, prepares a wounded Afghan national policeman for emergency surgery on Forward Operating Base Farah, Afghanistan, Nov. 20, 2012. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Josh Ives
Call for Fire
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Elyse Ping Medvigy conducts a call-for-fire during an artillery shoot south of Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2014. Medvigy, a fire support officer assigned to the 4th Infantry Division's Company D, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, is the first female company fire support officer to serve in an infantry brigade combat team supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Whitney Houston
Medal of Honor
Former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II received the Medal of Honor in an Oct. 1, 2018, White House ceremony for going above and beyond the call of duty April 6, 2008, while assigned to Special Operations Task Force 33 in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Courtesy Ronald J. Shurer II
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