Following his return to Independence from his military service in France during the First World War, Harry S. Truman was never pictured without a small circular pin on the lapel of his suit coat. Even in his retirement years, the former Commander in Chief never forgot to place the little brass pin on his left lapel.
The item Truman wore was his World War I Victory Button. Truman was rightfully proud of his distinguished service as an artillery officer with a Missouri National Guard unit that was mobilized for action in France, and Truman never forgot how his military service had changed his life and the lives of the men with whom he fought.
Harry Truman remained in the Army Reserves for more than 25 years following the end of World War I. Every summer, until he became a U.S. Senator in 1935, he attended camps in Kansas at Fort Leavenworth or Fort Riley. He even volunteered to return to active duty in 1941 when the United States entered the Second World War. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall politely turned down his offer, suggesting that then-Senator Truman could be of greater service to the nation by remaining in Congress.
Truman’ s close friends from his military service, in particular, Jim Pendergast, the nephew of political boss Tom Pendergast, paved the way for Captain Harry’s entrance into politics in Jackson County.
The men of Captain Truman’s Battery D were Kansas City boys, many Irish, Italian and Jewish. As a group, they had a reputation for hard drinking and rowdy behavior. However, they grew to respect their captain and remained his loyal friends all their lives. They were his political base in Jackson County and they supported him in every election, even when they did not always agree with the policies he supported.
Throughout his political career Truman made the support of the nation’s veterans a priority. He enthusiastically backed the GI Bill of Rights as a U.S. senator. As President, Truman’s military service and status as a veteran influenced his strong record on Civil Rights. His decision to integrate the armed services (as well as the federal bureaucracy) was based in large part on his revulsion at the cruel and unfair treatment to which many black veterans of World War II were subjected.
“My forebears were Confederates…” Truman told political allies who questioned his taking a strong stand on Civil Rights in the middle of the 1948 election campaign. “But my very stomach turned over when I learned that Negro soldiers, just back from overseas, were being dumped out of army trucks in Mississippi and beaten.”
On the morning of January 20, 1949, many of the loyal veterans of Battery D assembled in Washington, D.C. for a breakfast with the recently re-elected President prior to the inauguration ceremony scheduled to take place in a few hours. “Captain,” shouted one of the men as the breakfast program concluded, “Any orders for today?
“Yes,” Truman replied, “Stay sober until noon.”
Harry Truman’s military career will be explored in detail in two upcoming programs at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. On Veterans Day – Wednesday, Nov. 11 – U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton will open a book talk with D. M. Giangreco, the award-winning author of "The Soldier from Independence: A Military Biography of Harry Truman." The event is free and open to the public, and includes a pre-event wine reception with Truman’ s grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, and a book signing. Seating is limited, but you can guarantee your place at the event by calling 268-8244.
On Saturday, November 14, our monthly series of “Talkin’ Truman” programs continues when Supervisory Archivist Samuel Rushay presents “Captain Harry: The Military Career of a Missourian.” For details about these and other upcoming events at the Truman Library, please visit TrumanLibrary.org. As always, U.S. service members and veterans receive free Museum admission on Veterans Day.
