The exhibition at the Durham Museum in Omaha shows the First World War from the perspective of a soldier

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Today is the 11th day of the 11th month.

The United States recognized this day as Armistice Day for the first time. This day was intended to commemorate the end of the First World War on November 11, 1918.

Now it’s the national holiday we call Veterans Day.

The Durham Museum is hosting an exhibition that gives us a look through one man’s eyes at some of the things he saw after the First World War.

By chance, Molly Anderson bid on a box at auction without knowing what was actually inside.

What she found were negatives that developed into images, images from the First World War.

“She was fascinated not only by the photos, but also by the man behind the lens, Doc Cook, and she decided she was curious,” said Dawn Myron, communications director for the Durham Museum. “So she and a close friend did a lot of research on him, and that curiosity turned into a passion, a passion to learn more about the history of the people depicted in these photos.”

These images make up Durham’s “Beyond Combat” exhibition, images from the perspective of “Doc” Cook.

Cook was from Minnesota. He enlisted, trained at Camp Dodge in Iowa, and eventually joined the 88th Infantry, Division 313 Engineers. He took his camera with him.

“He was looking for the positive moments of the experience, obviously this was a very hard experience and your life changes completely, your everyday life when you become a soldier, but he was looking for the camaraderie, he was looking for the moments that…” This one “Soldiers would look back and have fond memories of smiling, he looked for the rebuilding, he looked for the work they did that he could be proud of,” Myron said.

Cook didn’t focus on images of battle, but there are images that tell us it is war.

“Gas masks, since we just introduced chemical warfare, bayonet fighting is still common, even if it is not the most commonly used,” said museum curator Chelsea Olmstead.

An exhibition also features a poem by Canadian Lieutenant John McCrae, in which he points out that it wasn’t just poppies that gave these fields this bright red color.

“He wrote the poem called ‘In Flanders Field,'” Olmstead said. “It refers to the poppies that grow in this field where slaughter took place and death occurred.”

So many pictures, so many memories of the war to end all wars, all from this box.

“This type of exhibit can help us honor the actions of these men and understand the significance and impact that the war still had on us today,” Olmstead said.

The red poppy has become the memorial flower for war veterans in the United States.

The exhibit “Beyond Combat: World War I” runs through January 12 at the Durham Museum.