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Motor Transport Corps Medallion

Note: This item is currently in storage. 

 

At the beginning of World War I, the U.S. Army kept horses as its primary means of transportation of soldiers and movement of supplies and equipment. Even though automobiles had been in use for years before the war began, the U.S. Army maintained that horses were more dependable, less expensive and could travel the same distance in roughly the same amount of time as a motor vehicle. West Point graduate Capt. Alexander E. Williams advocated greater emphasis on motor-powered versus animal-powered transportation of soldiers and movement of supplies and equipment by the U.S. Army.

 

This medallion bears the American Expeditionary Force’s Motor Transport Corps’ emblem of a feather stuck in an infantry helmet, which is in front of a wheel. It is engraved: A.P.O. 772 M.T.C. – AEF.

Donated by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Royal D. Frey.

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