Marc A. Lagen Collection

The Marc Lagen Collection contains military documents, photographs, correspondence, and ephemera relating to the World War I career of Captain Marc Aloysius Lagen, who served in the Balloon Section of the U.S. Air Service. A substantial number of military orders, memos, and other communications trace Lagen's travels and transitions from the National Guard and a brief stint on the Mexican border to his commission with the Signal Corps and assignment to the front in France. The papers reflect Lagen's simultaneous work with the French and American militaries.

Photographs include many aerial reconnaissance images taken by both French and American airmen, as well as portraits and candid views of soldiers and officers in France, aircraft, and war ruins. Other materials include a number of documents related to post-war issues including the return of supplies and a claim for lost property from a barracks fire, a notebook from Lagen's training, some personal correspondence and miscellany, financial records, and ephemera.

Please note that materials on TMOF: Digital Collections are presented as historical objects and are unaltered and uncensored. Some items in this particular collection contain graphic depictions of wartime casaulties. See our Disclaimers and Policies page for more information.