Photo Album of a Soldier's 1937-38 National Guard Service in New York State with Many Photos of Weapons and Training

Photo album with 64 photos of Troop F of the 121st Cavalry, a National Guard unit posted at Pine Camp, N.Y, in 1937-38. Black and white silver gelatin photographs, the majority of which are captioned. Images show a Douglas OBS airplane, soldiers on horseback, soldiers doing target practice with Browning machine guns, on base, camping outside, an American Legion drum corps band, and more. We also see a photo of a Lincoln Sport Plane and a photo of female aviation pioneer, Ruth Nichols, on stage at a speaking event. Nichols' groundbreaking career saw her rack up so many accolades for her flying skills that she she is the only woman yet to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and distance. The men are seen operating, firing, carrying, and loading automatic machine guns in several photos. The troop spent much of their time headquartered at the Culver Road Armory on Culver Road, with training at Pine Camp, the site of this album, which is modern day Fort Drum. This troop would make appearances at the New York State and Monroe County Fairs. The men in the 121st Cavalry were skilled horseback riders, as evidenced by photos in this album of their showmanship on horseback, and their presence at events such as fairs served a valuable patriotic function during peacetime. In very good condition overall.