BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Silver Spring -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Forest Glen Annex) -- Exhibit: World War I Chemical Warfare

MD -- Silver Spring -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Forest Glen Annex) -- Exhibit: World War I Chemical Warfare:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. NMHMW1_180702_001.JPG: "... Put on your mask, put on your mask, you damn fool and don't ask questions!" American Military Medicine Responds to Chemical Warfare in World War I America entered The Great War nearly three years after it had begun. When American troops arrived on the Western Front, they found exhausted Allied troops and depleted supplies, and medical resources were in short supply. The American Expeditionary Forces quickly mobilized millions of soldiers, medical units, hospitals of all sizes and specialties, supplies, sanitary measures, and diagnostic laboratories. World War I was the first modern war, using new technologies in weaponry and transportation and more, causing damage on a scale never before imagined. The war posed challenges to military medicine as never seen before. And military medicine responded. Regarded as one of the signature weapons of World War I, poison gas remains to this day one of the war's most terrifying and debilitating weapons.
2. NMHMW1_180702_006.JPG: Myths surrounding gas warfare persist to this day. Battlefield deaths caused by chemical agents were a small percentage of overall casualty figures. No major battle or campaign was won or lost based on the use of poison gas.
3. NMHMW1_180702_014.JPG: What Is Poison Gas? Poison gas, by no means the most deadly weapon used during World War I, may be the weapon most associated with that conflict. Why has poison gas remained at the forefront of our memory of that war? A common plot device in film and literature, a topic of study in history, ethics, national security, and health care, it is the rare review of World War I that does not touch upon poison gas with horror and fascination. It has been immortalized in poetry and art -- the experience captured again and again. Like biological agents and other weapons of mass destruction today, poison gas was an invisible, terrifying force during World War I. Soldiers, surrounded by the visceral sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of life and death in the trenches, were not prepared for the horrors contained in German shells. As a weapon during World War I, poison gas was extremely ineffective. Gas is too indiscriminate a weapon, literally moving where the wind blows and risking the user as well as the target. However, as a demoralizing force, the terror of gas was unparalleled. Officers, commanders, and leadership failed to understand the terror poison gas would inflict upon a hastily trained American force coming to the battlefield in 1918.
4. NMHMW1_180702_018.JPG: A Terrifying Weapon A gas alarm, even at just the threat of a gas attack, could cause widespread panic among troops, devastating unit cohesion and resolve. American forces took the field readily aware of the threat chemical weapons posed to soldiers in the trenches and to supply lines and medical personnel. Yet, one report concluded, "on the eve of American intervention, the Army acted as if it had barely heard of chemical warfare." A majority of World War I "doughboys" found themselves in a chemical combat environment with minimal defensive gas training and with "no idea of what this training really meant." After the war had ended, General John J. Pershing concluded, "Whether or not gas will be employed in future wars is a matter of conjecture, but the effect is so deadly to the unprepared that we can never afford to neglect the question."
5. NMHMW1_180702_025.JPG: Gas Mask Discipline "Gas mask discipline" was intended to enhance the training, self-control, and organization around the use of gas masks by soldiers on the battlefield. It was believed that gas mask discipline was the best way to limit casualties. Senior military leaders often failed to realize that the terror of gas attacks -- verging on hysteria -- made gas mask discipline extremely difficult for troops experiencing battlefield conditions for the first time. "After a while I became aware of a different sound... the dull thud caused by gas shells. A moment later and I could smell the deadly poison. I reached for my trusted gas mask and, much as I dreaded to do so, pulled it on. The mask is safe, but it is the most uncomfortable thing I ever experienced. If [anyone wants to] know how a gas mask feels, let him seize his nose with a pair of fire tongs, bury his face in a hot feather pillow, then seize a gas pipe with his teeth and breathe through it for a few hours while he performs routine duties. It is safe, but, like the deadly poison which forced its invention, it is not sane..." -- Major William E. Boyce, medical officer, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry, near Chateau Theirry, July 1918. Boyce earned two Silver Stars and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.
6. NMHMW1_180702_040.JPG: World War I Gas Mask, US Army Richardson, Flory & Kops (RFK) pattern, size 3 The U.S. RFK gas mask was the most common pattern issued to American soldiers in France. Based on the British standard model, the U.S. pattern included a better filter canister, a rubberized cloth facepiece impermeable to any known German agent, and a slightly more robust hose-to-mouth connection. The interior of the mask has a mouthpiece for the soldier to breath through -- the nose was held tightly closed by passed clamps. The system was very effective but uncomfortable. Because the filtered air brought in did not circulate within the mask, the eye-pieces tended to mist over very quickly. The eyepieces are made of two layers of glass with a flexible layer of celluloid laminated between, so that if cracked, it would not allow gas into the mask.
7. NMHMW1_180702_051.JPG: A nurse is seen demonstrating proper use of a gas mask.
8. NMHMW1_180702_075.JPG: Effects of Poison Gas on the Human Body When the United States entered World War I, the Army Medical Department dispatched a unit of anatomists, photographers, and illustrators from the Army Medical Museum to hospitals in France to document the work of military medicine in the field. Medical illustrations and specimens would allow military medical researchers to begin addressing the devastation of gas injuries in combat. Photography was not yet advanced enough to capture the medical subtleties needed by experts stateside, so researchers relied on the anatomical specimens and artwork.
9. NMHMW1_180702_083.JPG: Trachea Showing Effects of Mustard Gas Inhalation
10. NMHMW1_180702_093.JPG: Gas Effects, Private K.H. Temes, 369th Infantry, was gassed in Champagne, September 25 or 26, 1918 and treated at American Red Cross Hospital No. 6, Paris The 369th Infantry were widely known as the "Harlem Hellfighters," one of several all-black infantry regiments to serve in the AEF. The 369th was awarded a regimental Croix de Guerre by the French army.
11. NMHMW1_180702_097.JPG: Gas Effects, Private Jacob Leifer, Company M, 16th Infantry
12. NMHMW1_180702_102.JPG: Gas Effects, Private Pete Condrit, Co. E, 14th Infantry Gas injuries to hand of Pvt. Pete Condrit, Co. E, 14th Infantry, gassed near Verdun on October 24, 1918. Treated at American Red Cross Hospital No. 6 on October 26, 1918.
13. NMHMW1_180702_114.JPG: Mustard, the King of Battle Gases (1) Mustard gas casualties, especially those exposed to high concentrations or for long periods of time or who were delayed in receiving immediate treatment, were bathed with hot water and soap to remove the chemical from their skin. If the mustard gas was not scrubbed off within 30 minutes of exposure, blistering occurred. Portable shower units with specially trained medics helped minimize its blistering effect. These consisted of a "bath truck [that was] provided with [a] hot water bnoiler and a number of fold-down shower heads."
14. NMHMW1_180702_120.JPG: A medical officer is seen here assisting a soldier with mustard burns to the back and arms. In addition to care, medical officers also documented burns for research into treatment methods. "When a doughboy left the showers, medics sprayed his eyes, nose, and throat with bicarbonate of soda."
15. NMHMW1_180702_125.JPG: Evacuation Hospital No. 2, Baccarat, France included a hospital for gassed cases, and included a treatment barracks for gas cases and decontamination facilities, such as seen here. After being showered and given new clothes, patients were returned to a stretcher or bed. Complete rest was usually essential for at least two days after serious gas exposure.
16. NMHMW1_180702_134.JPG: Mustard, the King of Battle Gases (2) Mustard gas was the most insidious of the chemical substances employed during the war. Known as a vesicant or blistering agent, it produced painful burns on exposed skin, particularly tender parts of the skin such as the neck, under the arms, and the scrotum. It destroyed tissue as long as it remained on the epidermis, doing damage several hours before other symptoms appeared. Bronchopneumonia was a frequent cause of death in gassed patients.
17. NMHMW1_180702_156.JPG: Gas Warfare in Art
18. NMHMW1_180702_163.JPG: Gassed, 1919, John Singer Sargent
19. NMHMW1_180702_171.JPG: Gas Warfare in Art
20. NMHMW1_180702_207.JPG: Studies for "Gassed," John Singer Sargent
21. NMHMW1_180702_245.JPG: Treating Poison Gas Effects on the Battlefield Immediately after exposure to mustard gas, soldiers would be taken to a nearby aid station, often by horse-drawn or motorized ambulance. Unfortunately, it could take hours for symptoms to develop and soldiers to become aware they had been gassed. Soldiers suspected of being gassed were often segregated and treated as gas patients until their symptoms developed. Chemical casualties were first stripped of uniforms and other garments, showered, and re-clothed, before being assessed by medical personnel. They were sometimes marked by a crayon cross on the forehead because they could appear well but fall victim to the gas effects several hours later.
22. NMHMW1_180702_252.JPG: The Challenge of Effective Triage in Chemical Casualties One Army pamphlet directed that patients "should be kept lying down in the open air, so far as weather permits." Clothing over the chest was to be loosened and water was to be given, sometimes to encourage vomiting which could help expel gas from the patient's system. "Gas cases were the most difficult of all to handle. It is impossible for the surgeon to properly diagnose his cases. One has no means of knowing whether he is dealing with delayed gas poisoning or with a simple case of Gas Fright (but) all palpable cases of poisoning were immediately evacuated, taking precedence over other cases." -- Medical Officer, 3rd Division, at Chateau Thierry, July 1918 Gas casualties were encouraged to "refrain from moving about" and instructed to sleep; lightly gassed patients could quickly be restored to the line after a short time.
23. NMHMW1_180702_267.JPG: Special ambulances were outfitted to transport mustard gas casualties, so as to protect medics and drivers while removing soldiers to the nearest aid station. A single man with mustard gas on his uniform could contaminate an entire ambulance. Ambulances were forbidden to speed; while casualties were to be transported as rapidly as possible, their arrival condition was severely compromised if their transport was hurried or if they did not receive adequate stabilization to prepare them for an ambulance journey. This was particularly true of patients intoxicated by phosgene.
24. NMHMW1_180702_273.JPG: Oxygen Inhalator Oxygen therapy was the only truly beneficial treatment for phosgene poisoning. Medical personnel administered oxygen to cyanotic (bluish skin due to oxygen deprivation) phosgene casualties from the ambulance to the nearest gas hospital. One Army pamphlet directed that this type of oxygen treatment should be continued "hour after hour with brief intervals, until the edema [excess fluid] of the lungs clears up."
25. NMHMW1_180702_283.JPG: Legacy of World War I Gas Warfare The terror of gas in combat led to a treaty against the use of "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gasses," known as the Geneva Protocol of 1925. Despite the accords, the Army's Chemical Corps retained its laboratory facilities at the Edgewood Arsenal and developed better detectors, masks, and decontaminants with the expectation that chemical warfare would eventually be employed on the battlefield again. Today, the Department of Defense's Chemical and Biological Defense Program provides a wide range of capabilities, including global biosurveillance and medical intelligence, medical countermeasures and interagency cooperation. While the primary mission is to prepare to respond to a chemical or biological attack and treat injured Warfighters, there are increasingly civilian applications for the DoD's chemical and biological defense programs. Humanitarian response missions, such as the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa in 2014, benefit from the DoD's continued investment in chemical defense programs.
26. NMHMW1_180702_287.JPG: Atropine Autoinjector On World War I battlefields, medics carried glass syrettes of atropine for treatment of suffocating gasses. This usage was more beneficial for pain management than treatment of gas poisoning, but battlefield experience showed a need for quick access to atropine in combat settings. The autoinjector, like the one shown here developed in 1958, is an answer to this problem and remains in use for a variety of drug delivery solutions today.
27. NMHMW1_180702_293.JPG: Atropine Autoinjector
28. NMHMW1_180702_303.JPG: The Challenge of Effective Triage in Chemical Casualties One Army pamphlet directed that patients "should be kept lying down in the open air, so far as weather permits." Clothing over the chest was to be loosened and water was to be given, sometimes to encourage vomiting which could help expel gas from the patient's system. "Gas cases were the most difficult of all to handle. It is impossible for the surgeon to properly diagnose his cases. One has no means of knowing whether he is dealing with delayed gas poisoning or with a simple case of Gas Fright (but) all palpable cases of poisoning were immediately evacuated, taking precedence over other cases." -- Medical Officer, 3rd Division, at Chateau Thierry, July 1918 Gas casualties were encouraged to "refrain from moving about" and instructed to sleep; lightly gassed patients could quickly be restored to the line after a short time.
29. NMHMW1_180702_316.JPG: Gas Mask Discipline "Gas mask discipline" was intended to enhance the training, self-control, and organization around the use of gas masks by soldiers on the battlefield. It was believed that gas mask discipline was the best way to limit casualties. Senior military leaders often failed to realize that the terror of gas attacks -- verging on hysteria -- made gas mask discipline extremely difficult for troops experiencing battlefield conditions for the first time. "After a while I became aware of a different sound... the dull thud caused by gas shells. A moment later and I could smell the deadly poison. I reached for my trusted gas mask and, much as I dreaded to do so, pulled it on. The mask is safe, but it is the most uncomfortable thing I ever experienced. If [anyone wants to] know how a gas mask feels, let him seize his nose with a pair of fire tongs, bury his face in a hot feather pillow, then seize a gas pipe with his teeth and breathe through it for a few hours while he performs routine duties. It is safe, but, like the deadly poison which forced its invention, it is not sane..." -- Major William E. Boyce, medical officer, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry, near Chateau Theirry, July 1918. Boyce earned two Silver Stars and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.
30. NMHMW1_180702_319.JPG: Sanitary Detachment, 121st Machine Gun Battalion soldiers wear box respirators while playing baseball at Altenach, Alsace, Germany, June 2, 1918.
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2018 photos: Overnight trips this year: (February) Greenville, NC for a Civil War Trust conference,, (May/June) Newport News, VA for another CWT conference, (July) my 13th consecutive trip to San Diego Comic-Con (including sites in Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles), (August twice, October) three trips to New York City (including New York Comic-Con), and (September) Chicago, IL for my CWT swansong event. Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: about 535,000.
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