Minuteman Minute | Pvt. Thomas Reno Collection

Pvt. Thomas Reno’s daughter donated this complete collection of his World War I items. It represents the service of thousands of Guardsmen in the trenches of France.

Hi, I’m Will Roulett, director of the National Guard Memorial Museum here in D.C., and this is your Minuteman Minute! This is the uniform of Pvt. Thomas Dale Reno, who enlisted into the 28th Infantry Division’s 111th Infantry Regiment in March 1918. The 28th was filling its ranks when Reno enlisted and two months later, he was in France. The division arrived at the front in time for the Battle of Château-Thierry, part of the last German offensive of the war. The 28th so decisively repelled the Germans that General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, coined their nickname, the “Iron Division.” Pvt. Reno was wounded that fall but recovered and returned home to Pittsburgh in April 1919. We are lucky to have his letters, New Testament, postcards and more on display thanks to his daughter Norma Reno Miller, who donated the items. She also compiled her father’s wartime diary entries and letters into this book, which is in our library. Come see this – and a whole lot more – at the National Guard Memorial Museum. I’m Will Roulett, and that’s been your Minuteman Minute, brought to you by the National Guard Educational Foundation.