Mud, Blood, Treaties, and Trenches.

By Eli

It started like any other day. I got up, got dressed, ate and started cranking up the camper jacks, only to realize that my dad was still… ASLEEP? ON DAY LIKE THIS? UNACCEPTABLE! So, naturally I started jumping on the bed before he clobbered me and threw me into his pillow. Ahh, good times. The reason I woke up my dad is because we were going to the National World War 1 Museum and I was ecstatic to get there! The museum is located in Kansas City, MO and offers several exhibits, as well as views of the city from a 217 foot tall tower. It was really hot and outside, so we did the tower first. We didn’t want to get up there later in the day when it was 100 degree heat because the birds would think we were burnt hot dogs and would probably poke our eyes out. Anyway, we got up into the tower and the view was incredible, at least that’s what my dad said. I was clinging to the wall for dear life. After that we went to our first exhibit called 100 Years of Collecting. This exhibit shows you what 100 years of collecting from World War 1 looks like and there was a lot! We saw Mauser pistols which were German fast firing pistols. We also saw a huge Italian machine gun that the Arditi used (an Italian shock troop unit, you should really look them up! Super interesting). We also saw some Russian medic and special event uniforms which were REALLY cool. When we entered the main exhibit there was a glass floor with red poppies on display underneath. The red poppy is the remembrance flower of World War 1. When we got to the main exhibit I was so happy. I knew so much and learned so much more. We got to see the war from different perspectives and we saw the coolest guns. For example, the famous German anti material/anti-tank rifle that could penetrate 20 mm of armor! We also saw the famous trench shot gun and Moisin-Nagant which are two of my favorite weapons of all time! We also saw artillery batteries, the Lewis machine gun and even a French tank! I saw so much at this museum and I am so happy I got to go! The museum also had the Silk and Steel exhibit. I was excited for what I might see but it turned out the entire exhibit is French women clothing from 1900-1920’s. *Cue whomp whomp whomp music* Well at least there was one more exhibit entitled the War remains. This exhibit is an immersive VR experience that brings the war to life and the VR correlates with the surroundings. So, if you bump into a wall in the game you bump into wall in real life. But, you have to be 14 years old to do it. *Cue whomp whomp whomp music* *AGAIN* Anyway, even though I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t do the VR, I had an awesome experience and I loved the museum.