Exploring World War II Artifacts
Can you match the image to the item description? Notice that each image has a letter and each description has a number. Match the image letter to the description number.
Artifact Images
Which image matches the description? Decide the IMAGE LETTER that matches each DESCRIPTION NUMBER (below). Click on each image to exand to a larger, full view.
Artifact Descriptions
Which image matches the description? Decide the IMAGE LETTER (above) that matches each DESCRIPTION NUMBER.
1. Bronze Star Citation
The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, after December 6, 1941, while serving in any capacity with the Armed Forces of the United States, distinguishes himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight.
2. Coca Cola Advertisement
This advertisement demonstrates how ads changed during wartime. Once the US entered the war advertisers tied their products directly to the war effort. The Coca-Cola ads suggested that Coke helped soldiers accomplish their mission.
3. Grease Can
During World War II, the U.S. Government created the The American Fat Salvage Committee with the aim to urge housewives to save all the excess fat rendered from cooking and donate it to the army to produce explosives. One pound of fat supposedly contained enough glycerin to make about a pound of explosives.
4. War Ration Books
Once the United States entered war in late 1941, U.S. government, businesses, and farmers had to work together to make the most out of some scarce resources. On the Home Front, all Americans had to make adjustments so that the troops could have what they needed. Rationing meant sacrifices for all. Each family was issued a monthly “War Ration Book” and each stamp allowed the purchase of rationed goods in the quantity and time designated.
5. Telegram
Telegrams were often the fastest ways for soldiers to get messages to their family. Long distance phone calls were only available to military and political leaders not the general public or soldiers. This telegram informs a soldier’s mother that he is leaving Italy and will contact his parents when he arrives in the United States. Such a telegram would have brought great relief to a family.
6. Personal Effects Bag
When a soldier died in combat or at a hospital his personal items would be packed into this bag by a hospital worker or a member of the Graves Registration Unit. The effects would then be delivered to the soldier’s family. Items such as wedding rings, photographs, small journals, watches, letters from home, and cameras would be included in these bags.
7. Dog Tag
Each soldier, sailor, or Marine was issued, soon after entering the service, a pair of identification tags, commonly known as “dog tags.” These were worn around the neck on a chain. If he died in combat, one tag was buried with the body for future identification by the Graves Registration Service. The other tag was collected for the unit commander and for administrative purposes.
8. Gas Ration Cards and Stickers
Gasoline rationing began in 1942 and lasted until World War II ended in August 1945. Gas rationing was meant to reduce driving so the supply of rubber and gas could be used for military needs. The car owner received a ration book with coupons that had to be redeemed when buying the gas. A sticker with the appropriate letter was displayed on the car’s windshield. Most people were issued the “A” sticker and card, which allowed three or four gallons of gas a week. Other people (those working in the war effort, doctors and nurses, farm workers, etc.) were issued different stickers and allowed additional gallons per week.
9. Gas Mask
During World War I, both the Allied and the Central Powers used chemical warfare on the battlefields of Europe. This new type of weapon--artillery shells filled with a variety of poisonous gases and substances--was both terrifying and deadly. Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed or seriously burned, blinded, or otherwise injured from these gas attacks. Both sides quickly adapted this new battlefield threat by carrying and using gas masks.
10. Soybean Fiber License Plate
During WWII there was a metal shortage. The iron used in making license plates was needed to make ships, tanks, helmets, airplanes, and thousands of other items needed to fight and win the war. Some states started making plates out of soybean pulp. These soybean plates are
like press board fiber. They were made by the thousands, but most deteriorated soon after the war. Another problem with these fiberboard soybean plates: goats seem to have liked the taste of them so often they are found with bites taken out of them.
11. First Aid Packet
Every American soldier during the war carried a "First-aid Packet, U.S. Government Carlisle Model" in a pouch on his belt. The packet contained a white linen gauze pad with very long gauze tails so it could be tied around a soldier’s arm or leg, and if necessary the chest, to stop bleeding and establish and clean and sterile covering. Instructions in red ink were stenciled on the bandage. In 1941 a huge leap forward in battlefield medicine took place: sulfanilamide, a sulfa based drug was introduced to prevent wound infections. A small envelope of sulfanilamide powder was enclosed with each first-aid packet (to be sprinkled on the wound).
12. Vials of Beach Sand
The golden colored sand comes from Omaha beach, Normandy, and the black sand comes from Iwo Jima. Omaha Beach was one of five beaches along the Normandy coast chosen as the site of the Allied amphibious invasion of Western Europe. This invasion was code-named Operation Overlord, but is more commonly called D-Day. In the war in the Pacific, the US fought against the Japanese on many islands -- on February 19, 1943, US Marines invaded Iwo Jima and began fighting a 36-day battle.
13. High School Yearbook
This wartime high school yearbook is full of reminders that the students pictured were living in a time of war. But they were also average students going to school, joining clubs and sports teams, and attending dances. The yearbook shows examples of the war intruding on students’ lives as well as activities that seem familiar to students today.
14. U.S. Army Issue Underwear
This artifact demonstrates the fact that war is more than a series of battles. It is a complex endeavor, requiring planning, production, and distribution of thousands of different types of equipment and supplies, from the largest battleship to a soldier’s underwear. Once in the military, soldiers left their civilian lives behind— everything from their freedom to travel where they pleased to the food they ate and the clothes they wore. It was important for these men to make that transition as quickly as possible. Switching from civilian clothes to military uniform instantly gave these men an everyday reminder that they were no longer civilians.
15. Cloth Map
The US Army and Navy both produced cloth maps to aid their personnel in escape and evasion should they be shot down, separated from their unit, or captured by the enemy. Although many people identify these maps as being made of silk, they were actually printed on rayon-acetate cloth. The material was chosen for its durability: it can get wet without running and it is not easily torn. Other advantages of cloth maps are that they can be sewn into pilot’s clothing and they do not make noise when handled the way paper maps do.
The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, after December 6, 1941, while serving in any capacity with the Armed Forces of the United States, distinguishes himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight.
2. Coca Cola Advertisement
This advertisement demonstrates how ads changed during wartime. Once the US entered the war advertisers tied their products directly to the war effort. The Coca-Cola ads suggested that Coke helped soldiers accomplish their mission.
3. Grease Can
During World War II, the U.S. Government created the The American Fat Salvage Committee with the aim to urge housewives to save all the excess fat rendered from cooking and donate it to the army to produce explosives. One pound of fat supposedly contained enough glycerin to make about a pound of explosives.
4. War Ration Books
Once the United States entered war in late 1941, U.S. government, businesses, and farmers had to work together to make the most out of some scarce resources. On the Home Front, all Americans had to make adjustments so that the troops could have what they needed. Rationing meant sacrifices for all. Each family was issued a monthly “War Ration Book” and each stamp allowed the purchase of rationed goods in the quantity and time designated.
5. Telegram
Telegrams were often the fastest ways for soldiers to get messages to their family. Long distance phone calls were only available to military and political leaders not the general public or soldiers. This telegram informs a soldier’s mother that he is leaving Italy and will contact his parents when he arrives in the United States. Such a telegram would have brought great relief to a family.
6. Personal Effects Bag
When a soldier died in combat or at a hospital his personal items would be packed into this bag by a hospital worker or a member of the Graves Registration Unit. The effects would then be delivered to the soldier’s family. Items such as wedding rings, photographs, small journals, watches, letters from home, and cameras would be included in these bags.
7. Dog Tag
Each soldier, sailor, or Marine was issued, soon after entering the service, a pair of identification tags, commonly known as “dog tags.” These were worn around the neck on a chain. If he died in combat, one tag was buried with the body for future identification by the Graves Registration Service. The other tag was collected for the unit commander and for administrative purposes.
8. Gas Ration Cards and Stickers
Gasoline rationing began in 1942 and lasted until World War II ended in August 1945. Gas rationing was meant to reduce driving so the supply of rubber and gas could be used for military needs. The car owner received a ration book with coupons that had to be redeemed when buying the gas. A sticker with the appropriate letter was displayed on the car’s windshield. Most people were issued the “A” sticker and card, which allowed three or four gallons of gas a week. Other people (those working in the war effort, doctors and nurses, farm workers, etc.) were issued different stickers and allowed additional gallons per week.
9. Gas Mask
During World War I, both the Allied and the Central Powers used chemical warfare on the battlefields of Europe. This new type of weapon--artillery shells filled with a variety of poisonous gases and substances--was both terrifying and deadly. Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed or seriously burned, blinded, or otherwise injured from these gas attacks. Both sides quickly adapted this new battlefield threat by carrying and using gas masks.
10. Soybean Fiber License Plate
During WWII there was a metal shortage. The iron used in making license plates was needed to make ships, tanks, helmets, airplanes, and thousands of other items needed to fight and win the war. Some states started making plates out of soybean pulp. These soybean plates are
like press board fiber. They were made by the thousands, but most deteriorated soon after the war. Another problem with these fiberboard soybean plates: goats seem to have liked the taste of them so often they are found with bites taken out of them.
11. First Aid Packet
Every American soldier during the war carried a "First-aid Packet, U.S. Government Carlisle Model" in a pouch on his belt. The packet contained a white linen gauze pad with very long gauze tails so it could be tied around a soldier’s arm or leg, and if necessary the chest, to stop bleeding and establish and clean and sterile covering. Instructions in red ink were stenciled on the bandage. In 1941 a huge leap forward in battlefield medicine took place: sulfanilamide, a sulfa based drug was introduced to prevent wound infections. A small envelope of sulfanilamide powder was enclosed with each first-aid packet (to be sprinkled on the wound).
12. Vials of Beach Sand
The golden colored sand comes from Omaha beach, Normandy, and the black sand comes from Iwo Jima. Omaha Beach was one of five beaches along the Normandy coast chosen as the site of the Allied amphibious invasion of Western Europe. This invasion was code-named Operation Overlord, but is more commonly called D-Day. In the war in the Pacific, the US fought against the Japanese on many islands -- on February 19, 1943, US Marines invaded Iwo Jima and began fighting a 36-day battle.
13. High School Yearbook
This wartime high school yearbook is full of reminders that the students pictured were living in a time of war. But they were also average students going to school, joining clubs and sports teams, and attending dances. The yearbook shows examples of the war intruding on students’ lives as well as activities that seem familiar to students today.
14. U.S. Army Issue Underwear
This artifact demonstrates the fact that war is more than a series of battles. It is a complex endeavor, requiring planning, production, and distribution of thousands of different types of equipment and supplies, from the largest battleship to a soldier’s underwear. Once in the military, soldiers left their civilian lives behind— everything from their freedom to travel where they pleased to the food they ate and the clothes they wore. It was important for these men to make that transition as quickly as possible. Switching from civilian clothes to military uniform instantly gave these men an everyday reminder that they were no longer civilians.
15. Cloth Map
The US Army and Navy both produced cloth maps to aid their personnel in escape and evasion should they be shot down, separated from their unit, or captured by the enemy. Although many people identify these maps as being made of silk, they were actually printed on rayon-acetate cloth. The material was chosen for its durability: it can get wet without running and it is not easily torn. Other advantages of cloth maps are that they can be sewn into pilot’s clothing and they do not make noise when handled the way paper maps do.