Paul A. Rie Collection, 1914-1990

The Paul A. Rie Collection includes a photograph album, medals, badges, buttons, ribbons, dog tags, a framed photograph, identification documents, certificates and other official documents from his World War I service, as well as post-war correspondence with AFS Director General Stephen Galatti and a short memoir.

The photograph album contains prints with captions, documenting Rie’s experiences in the American Field Service (AFS) and the U.S. Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) from May 1917 to June 1918, and concluding with two Rie family portraits from July 1918.  World War I images in the album include portraits, group and candid shots of men in his units, as well as ambulances, battlefields, ruins, dressing stations, and landscape views.  The collection also includes a loose photographic print of Rie receiving the Croix de Guerre, the same print taped to a General Order from 1918, and the same print in a decorative frame.

In addition to the photographic material, the collection includes Rie’s Croix de Guerre citation, various identification, immigration, license, certification and transport documents from France, England, and AFS, correspondence regarding promotions, citations, and orders, correspondence with AFS Director General Stephen Galatti regarding the post-war AFS exchange programs, , and a reminiscence written by Rie in 1990 of time he spent with clamshell diggers on the Tennessee River while on family business before joining AFS in 1917.

Finally, the collection includes the following items: Rie’s Croix de Guerre, his collar badges and Sergeant sleeve insignia from the USAAS, his U.S. Army medals, ribbon bar and dog tags.