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A report recently discovered in the National Archives in Washington DC shows that Michigan Tech played a small role in World War I.
Military historian Steven Walton learned from the report that troops were trained and lived on campus as part of a military-mining course.
Michigan Tech was known as the Michigan College of Mines at the time and the perfect place for troops to learn the techniques associated with mining.
Photos with the report also show the detachment marching through Calumet, Laurium and Lake Linden during a tour of copper mining and milling operations, including a lunch stop at the Calumet Armory.
The 15-page report was filed in August 1918 with the US Committee on Education and Special Training.
Walton oversaw construction of the replica firing trench on the Michigan Technological University campus—built this fall as part of the World War I & the Copper Country project to mark a century since the end of the Great War.
Events continue through November 11, when a commemoration ceremony on Armistice Day will honor area veterans. View the trench cams and see the list of events, along with the full story, “Marches, Mining and Messages from WWWI,” on Michigan Tech Unscripted.
