WISCONSIN

World War I exhibit opens at Wisconsin Veterans Museum

Meg Jones
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A new exhibit at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum titled "WWI Beyond the Trenches: Stories from the Front" will be on display for two years.

MADISON - It's impossible to tell the stories of all 122,000 Wisconsinites who served in uniform during World War I.

So the Wisconsin Veterans Museum chose Helen Bulovsky, John Isermann, Arthur Cantwell and Mortimer Lawrence to tell their stories of sacrifice, gung-ho patriotism and heroism in a war that was supposed to end all wars.

Using uniforms, weapons, photos, personal journals, letters and oral histories from its archives, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison this week opened a new exhibit to coincide with the 100th anniversary of America joining the fight in Europe - "WWI Beyond the Trenches: Stories from the Front."

"This will give us the opportunity to tell the stories from our collection, which are many and varied, and tell them in a way we've never done before," Wisconsin Veterans Museum Director Michael Telzrow said Wednesday as employees finished installing the exhibit.

Visitors enter through high walls that give the impression of a trench and see a machine gun and body armor, the familiar images from World War I. And then the personal stories of the Wisconsin veterans are told through their words, photos and memorabilia.

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Bulovsky was an Army nurse from Madison who cared for the wounded while under fire, feeling the ground shake from artillery bombardments. She had a heart condition that she knew would likely mean a short life. But Bulovsky wanted to serve and help in any way she could. She died shortly after returning home from France.

Bulovsky wrote after caring for a steady stream of wounded soldiers: "Yesterday I worked so hard that after the doctors left I cried - I really don't know what for, but I couldn't help it."

Cantwell joined the Wisconsin National Guard shortly after graduating from Shawano High School and served on the front lines with the Red Arrow Division. He was excited to take part and wrote to his parents about the $10,000 life insurance policy for soldiers. "That makes me feel good, to think that I am worth something."

Isermann, of Kenosha, joined the U.S. Coast Guard shortly before America entered World War I in April 1917 and was transferred to the Navy, his ship the USS Tuscarora shifted from Lake Michigan to the Atlantic Ocean. Judging by Isermann's journal, he was not happy about that. A cartoon he scribbled in his log book shows a sailor and the words "Who the hell said sailor. I'm in the Coast Guard."

Isermann joined the Coast Guard for adventure. A French sailor cap he acquired is part of the display as well as a photo of Isermann wearing it. He wrote in his log book about rescuing sunken ship survivors and the constant threat of German U-boats lurking silently beneath the surface.

"We want (visitors) to see the humanity in these individuals," said Telzrow, a Coast Guard veteran.

A large table with an interactive display allows visitors to look up the names of Wisconsin World War I veterans, open digital photo albums of pictures snapped by Wisconsin soldiers and see World War I weapons and listen to the rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns.

Photos were blown up to life-size so visitors can quickly relate to the World War I veterans.

"You're literally walking through a trench line and you see the faces. You see the people and the humanity," said Kevin Hampton, curator of research and public programs.

Using an archival U.S. Air Force photo, curators re-created in detail an Air Operations office with battlefield maps, aerial reconnaissance photos, desk and other gear to tell the story of Mortimer Lawrence of Beaver Dam. Lawrence longed to take part in combat but was too thin for the infantry, so he became an aerial observer.

He relates one trip in a biplane to take photos at a height of 12,000 feet. Some of the photos Lawrence snapped are part of the exhibit.

"I was to take the photos with four planes to protect me. For one reason and another, all four dropped out so my pilot and I went into Germany all alone. We got the photos - mighty good ones - but we had to make four tries, for the Huns chased us back into our lines three times."

Apparently, Lawrence was addicted to nicotine because in his letters home he tells his family to keep sending him Bull Durham tobacco until further notice and complains about European cigarettes. Though he was supposed to only take photos, Lawrence did fire at the enemy and was credited with the last U.S. aerial victory.

"He finally gets his victory on the last day of the war," said Telzrow.

IF YOU GO

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum, 33 W. Mifflin St., Madison, is free and open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. "WWI Beyond the Trenches: Stories from the Front" will be on display until spring 2019.