First Division Museum Launches Summer Exhibit

The First Division Museum at Cantigny invites the public to its 2011 summer exhibit, Operation Enduring Freedom: The 1st Division in Afghanistan. The free exhibit, in the museum gallery, features images and artifacts from the 2008-09 and current deployments of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division.

The Summer Exhibit’s official opening is 7:30 p.m. today, June 8. The museum will host a Date with History lecture, with Dr. Andrew Wiest speaking on the history of counterinsurgency. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. The lecture and parking are free.

“Our goal is to show the public, from a soldier’s viewpoint, the full range of roles that 1st Division soldiers played and continue to play in Afghanistan,” said Teri Bianchi, First Division Museum exhibits manager. “I think visitors will get a good sense of what our troops are experiencing and how they go about their dangerous jobs on a daily basis.”

The 1st Division’s initial deployment to Afghanistan was geared toward performing counterinsurgency operations, protecting the population and training the Afghan National Security forces. The present-day mission includes counterinsurgency but this time as partners with the Afghan security forces in an effort to transition to Afghan sovereignty.

The summer exhibit, scheduled through Labor Day, includes 28 images by Jason Dorsey, a photographer and soldier with the 1-178th Infantry Regiment of the Illinois Army National Guard. His unit was attached to the 1st Division during its 2008-09 deployment. Dorsey’s work is notable for its realistic depiction of soldiers on and off duty, as well as the Afghan people and culture. Several images of the local children are especially powerful.

Many excellent photographs contributed by the U.S. Army are also displayed, along with uniforms worn by 1st Division and Illinois National Guard soldiers.

In addition, visitors can see and touch an armored door designed for a Humvee, to protect soldiers inside the vehicle from roadside bombs. The door is on a hinge so that its extraordinary strength and weight can be appreciated.

More information about the summer exhibit and Date with History is online at FirstDivisionMuseum.org.