A Century Past: The 30th Division on the Western Front, 1918.
Open through September 3, 2019
SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum
Columbia, South Carolina
www.crr.sc.gov
To commemorate the end of World War I, the SC Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum features a new exhibition about the 30th Division, known as the “Old Hickory” Division, which fought in the last offensives before the Armistice on November 11, 1918.
The exhibition displays uniforms, weapons and equipment chronicling the Division from its early training at Camp Sevier in Greenville, S.C. to its heroic but bloody battles against the German Army at Ypres and St. Quentin Canal. Made up of soldiers recruited primarily from South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee, the 30th Division had five soldiers awarded Medals of Honor for gallant service.
The exhibition also features the Medal of Honor awarded to Camden native Corporal John C. Villepigue of the 118th Regiment for successfully assaulting two German pill boxes. A diorama depicts the action that earned another SC 118th infantryman the Medal of Honor. James C. Dozier assaulted a German machinegun nest using his .45 Colt Automatic Pistol which is part of the display.
Photo courtesy of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, Columbia, SC
