US Forever
The United States First Division was the first American unit to land in Europe during WWI, fired the first American artillery, sustained the first American casualties and experienced more days in combat than any other American unit during WWI. This photograph was taken in the cellar of a farm in Cantigny, France. The farm was right on the front lines and was leveled. But the cellar remained and provided shelter to 1st Division troops who fought there in 1918. A century ago, they inscribed their patriotism and love of country on the wall of this stone stairway…emotions that are as meaningful today as during WWI while a fierce battle raged at the top of the stairs.
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American Indians In World War I
Many American Indians volunteered to fight during WWI even though they would not become full-fledged American citizens until six years after the conclusion of the war in 1924. Last year, during the making of a Smithsonian Channel documentary hosted and co-produced by Jeff, he and his team found the only modern-day traces of American Indian WWI soldiers.
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All Quiet On The Western Front…Original World War I Trenches At Night
Photographed a year ago in the middle of the night in the Champagne region of France using a special technique to photograph scenes in complete darkness, these trenches are part of an original battlefield site outside of the small village of Massiges. A century after World War I, body parts of missing soldiers are still being found.
Ninety nine years ago, the famous Harlem Hellfighters of WWI fought near this site for about six weeks in violent front line battles with the Germans.
An 18 foot wide version of this photograph greets visitors to The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s Artist Soldiers exhibition. Now open, the show runs through November 11th, 2018.
On display are Jeff Gusky’s contemporary photographs of The Hidden World of World War I combined with sketches by American Artist Soldiers who were on the front lines during 1918. Jeff is the only living artist in the show.
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The documentary, which premiered in March of this year is called Americans Underground: Secret Cities of World War I . It will be rebroadcast twice during NSA Influence 2017 http://tiny.cc/ma3eky.
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Jeff Gusky is an ER doc, National Geographic photographer, Explorer and TV host who speaks on The Human Emergency: Engaging Your Moral Compass On The New Frontier Of Modern Terrorism. An 18 month exhibition of Jeff’s photographs of The Hidden World of World War I is now on display at the world’s most visited museum, The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
During NSA Influence 2017, an interview of Jeff by NPR’s Susan Stamberg conducted inside his exhibition at the Smithsonian will air on NPR’s Morning Edition. Also, during Influence 2017, The Smithsonian Channel will twice air Jeff’s Americans Underground: Secret Cities of World War I (July 10th & 11th).
ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS’s Newshour, BBC Television, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, National Public Radio, The CBC, USA Today, US News & World Report, Arte Network, The Daily Mail, The Japan Times, The Sydney Herald and The Huffington Post have covered Jeff’s discoveries and photographs.
Jeff’s limited-edition prints sell for many thousands of dollars. Jeff is donating three signed, handmade unlimited-edition metal prints to the Cigar PEG fundraiser. These offer an affordable way to own a signed Gusky print that humanly connects us to The Hidden World of War I.
Jeff Gusky from LensCulture on Vimeo.