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John H. Thacher PapersDates: 1918-88, bulk dates 1918-19The papers of John H. Thacher consist of correspondence and excerpts from correspondence written by Thacher to his law partners in Kansas City, describing his combat experiences in France and his service as a U.S. Army officer during and after World War I; subsequent correspondence between Thacher, President Truman, and others; and additional items relating to Thacher's life and military career.
Size: Less than one-half of a linear foot (approximately
90 pages).
The papers of John H. Thacher consist mostly of correspondence and other materials relating to his service as an U.S. Army officer during and after World War I. Before the war, Thacher was a prominent Kansas City attorney with the firm of Rozzelle, Vineyard, Thacher, and Boys. For a brief period, he served as assistant city attorney. He joined the Missouri National Guard, and served on active duty with his unit on the Mexican border in 1916, during the U.S. military campaign against the Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa. A year later, Thacher was again called into federal service when the United States entered the World War. His National Guard unit, the 2nd Missouri Field Artillery Regiment, was federalized and became the 129th Field Artillery Regiment of the 35th Division. During training at Camp Doniphan in Oklahoma, Captain Thacher was named commander of Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery. He commanded the so-called "Dizzy D"-a battery comprised in large part of rowdy Irish Catholic boys from Kansas City-during their voyage across the Atlantic and their first month in France. In July, 1918, he was replaced as commander of Battery D by a brother officer and friend, Captain Harry S. Truman. Thacher was then appointed adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the 129th Field Artillery, and held that post for the remainder of the war. He was promoted to Major in February, 1919, and assumed command of the 110th Ammunition Train of the 35th Division. Along with his unit, he returned to the United States shortly thereafter and was honorably discharged. Thacher kept in touch with Truman and other old comrades from the 129th Field Artillery through the decades that followed. He died in California in 1960. For the most part, Thacher's papers consist of his correspondence and typescript excerpts from his correspondence, documenting his service as an officer in France during and after the war. Thacher dispatched a number of letters describing his experiences in the Army to his law partners in Kansas City, who in turn submitted excerpts from this correspondence to his home-town newspaper, the Kansas City Star, and to friends who had contributed to Battery D's mess fund. The correspondence, dating from May 12, 1918 to March 10, 1919, furnishes insight into the experiences of an American artillery unit during World War I. The letters include colorful descriptions of long marches, combat during the Meuse-Argonne campaign, conditions in the trenches, and the months spent waiting to return home after the Armistice was signed in November, 1918. Thacher's letters are frequently enlivened by his sense of humor and his flair for language. In his letter of June 26, 1918, he mentions sitting at the same mess table with a Captain Truman from Grandview-"a bully young chap." Additional items pertaining to World War I in this collection include a field map of France; humorous cartoons depicting Captain Truman and other officers of the 129th Field Artillery (drawn by Private Lyle E. DeTalent of the Headquarters Company of the 129th, who was wounded in action); newspaper clippings; and notes apparently written by Thacher's daughter, Edith, introducing and commenting upon his wartime correspondence. The collection also contains a few letters exchanged between Thacher and President Truman from 1947 to 1958; a stock certificate for the Truman & Jacobson haberdashery, issued to Thacher in 1921; letters to Thacher from the Battery D veterans' association; and letters written by Thacher's children detailing his life, military service, and relationship with Truman. Other materials at the Truman Library relating to John H. Thacher's service in World War I and his connection with Harry S. Truman include the Records of Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery (Record Group 391); the Records of the 35th Division Association; the Harry S. Truman Papers: Papers Pertaining to Family, Business and Personal Affairs; the Edward Meisburger Papers; and the Edward McKim Papers. A rare published history of the 129th Field Artillery is in the Library's collection of printed materials: The Artilleryman: The Experiences and Impressions of an American Artillery Regiment in the World War, by Jay M. Lee (Kansas City, 1920).
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