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“The American Soldier” comes to Washington State History Museum

Capturing the moments through photographs

A Vietnamese villager clutches her hat, and an American soldier leans a weary hand on his head as they sit together after a battle with the Viet Cong, 290 miles from Saigon, Feb. 5, 1966. Photo credit: Rick Merron/The Associated Press

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The rise in popularity of photography as both an art form and as a means of reporting on and archiving historical events coincided with the American Civil War, the first major war to be extensively photographed.

Photographers such as Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Sullivan brought the gritty reality of war home to the American people. The death and destruction had, until then, been an abstract to all but the soldiers themselves and their families,  and the bravery and sacrifice of the American soldier, was enhanced, perhaps, by the grainy nature of those early photographs. Civil War photographs stripped away much of the Victorian-era romance around warfare.

Now, more than 150 years later, a massive photographic history of American soldiers comes to the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. The exhibition, opening June 20, includes 116 enlarged photographs documenting America at war. It begins with the Civil War and includes photographs from the Spanish American War; Boxer Rebellion; World War I; World War II; Korea; Vietnam; Gulf War; Iraq and Afghanistan.

As described by the museum, the exhibition, "captures the courage, camaraderie, humor, family and sacrifice" of American soldiers.

The curator and producer of the exhibit, called "The American Soldier," is Cyma Rubin, curator and producer of the highly successful exhibition, "Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs." The exhibition is sponsored by EADS North America, Business of Entertainment Inc. and Click! Cable TV.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the Washington State History Museum offers active-duty, Reserve and National Guard military personnel, and up to five members of their family, free admission in cooperation with Blue Star Families.

"It's important to us that the military personnel who live in the Pacific Northwest engage with local history," said Kimberly Ketcham, marketing and communications director of the Washington State Historical Society. "Their presence impacts Washington significantly, and it's our honor to offer this benefit to them."

Throughout the exhibit, the museum will offer public programs related to the exhibition, including a Twitter campaign where followers can see excerpts of letters written back home by a Japanese-American soldier during World War II and follow his journey more than 60 years later.

"The American Soldier" exhibit, June 20 to Sept. 6 at the Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays, with free admission every third Thursday from 2 to 8 p.m. For more information visit www.WashingtonHistory.org.

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