Marine Corps museum displays unseen ‘bloody relic’ from Belleau Wood for 250 exhibit

Brig. Gen. Albertus W. Catlin’s “Bloody Relic from Belleau Wood” display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps’ “Always Faithful… Always Fascinating” exhibit on June 24, 2026. (Emely Miranda-Aguilar/Stars and Stripes)

TRIANGLE, Va. — Rare artifacts from the Battle of Belleau Wood are displayed publicly for the first time at the National Museum of the Marine Corps to commemorate the battle’s 108th anniversary Friday.

The artifacts are part of the museum’s temporary exhibit, “Always Faithful ... Always Fascinating,” which opened last fall in honor of the 250th anniversaries of the Marine Corps and the nation. It will run until September.

“Belleau Wood is one of the most important dates in Marine Corps history,” said Owen Conner, the museum’s chief curator. “As we talk about the birth of a modern Marine Corps, it’s also one of the most horrific battles over a period of weeks, but it really is something that Marines can commemorate each June as they remember that date and sort of celebrate it. I think it grows in significance as the Marine Corps has grown in significance.”

The Marines’ 5th and 6th regiments and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion initially used French M2 gas masks to protect themselves from mustard gas used by the Germans during the battle. They later switched to British Small Box Respirators kept in gas mask carriers.

One such carrier, used by Brig. Gen. Albertus W. Catlin, is on display in the exhibit that features dozens of other stories and artifacts. It was donated to the museum in 1991 by American Legion Post 55, which received it from Catlin’s widow.

“An object’s just an object, but (there’s) a person behind it, a history behind it, the story, who they are,” Conner said. “That’s the kind of history we are so honored to have. It’s … so rare to have a piece that survived; not only is here, but survived.”

The gas mask carrier is featured in the book “Always Faithful: 250 Years of Remarkable Stories from the Collection of the National Museum of the Marine Corps,” in chapter 16, “Bloody Relic of Belleau Wood.” Conner is one of the authors and the lead editor; he also selected the artifacts and stories featured in the book.

Other artifacts on display include the service coat of Col. Jimmy Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin Roosevelt, and the Marine Corps’ 1945 Academy Award for “Best Documentary Short Subject” for the film “With the Marines at Tarawa.”

The Battle of Belleau Wood began on June 1, 1918, and more than 1,000 Marines were killed or wounded, the highest casualty count the Corps had yet experienced, according to “Always Faithful.”

Marines sent to Belleau Wood in northern France to stop the German advance on Paris were largely unprepared for the realities of modern warfare, as they came face to face with Germany’s extensive use of machine guns and gas shells.

The beginning of the National Museum of the Marine Corps’ World War I gallery featuring the Battle of Belleau Wood on June 24, 2026. (Emely Miranda-Aguilar/Stars and Stripes)

Retired Marine Corps Col. Keil Gentry, the museum’s director, said that by that time the character of war had changed, even if the violent nature of it never does.

“That’s where you see they go from smooth muskets that aren’t very accurate … then you get the minié ball and rifle, where they’re much more accurate, then you introduce machine guns and more accurate artillery and tanks, and then aircraft,” Gentry said.

The battle continued for three weeks before U.S. and French troops emerged victorious on June 26, 1918.

“It’s significant to the Marine Corps, because it’s our first major battle overall,” Gentry said. “Prior to that we are really operating in small units, every now and then we would cobble together about a battalion’s worth of Marines for certain operations.”

Catlin commanded the 6th Regiment. After encouraging his Marines to advance in the wheat fields of Belleau Wood, Catlin was shot through the shoulder and his right lung by a German sniper. A bullet pierced the gas mask carrier he wore around his neck, then passed through his lung and exited his back.

Catlin survived, as did his damaged and bloody bag. French Army Capt. Tribot Laspierre rescued Catlin and treated his wounds, then retrieved the bag from the battlefield two hours later. The display label states that Catlin’s gas mask likely saved his life.

He was later awarded the Purple Heart in 1932 for wounds he received at Belleau Wood, which is in the display case alongside the carrier.

Brig. Gen. Albertus W. Catlin’s gas mask carrier and Purple Heart Medal, from the Battle of Belleau during World War I, are on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps’ “Always Faithful … Always Fascinating” exhibit on June 24, 2026. (Emely Miranda-Aguilar/Stars and Stripes)

A gas mask and a small paper tag describing his injuries during action was also donated to the museum. His original identification tags and his Medal of Honor also have been donated, but they are not on display.

The museum recently acquired a collection of the uniforms of Maj. Edward Cole, a Marine killed during the battle.

The French 6th Army’s commanding general renamed the battleground “Wood of the Marine Brigade” in honor of those who served alongside them.

“Even though they’re Marines, they’re not golden gods. They’re human beings that rise to tremendous challenges, not immortal people,” Conner said. “It’s just people that react and do the right things at the right time, or care enough to do it, or give up their life for it.”