Truman was a war hero who saw action in battle

Truman desired to attend West Point, but his vision problems prevented him from enrolling. During World War I, he served as an artillery commander while enlisting in the National Guard which is one of the interesting facts about Harry S. Truman.

During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I, Harry S. Truman served as a new artillery captain and his battery was called upon to fire artillery on advancing American soldiers. He would be threatened with a court-martial after one of his unit's barrages, but the troops who were saved by the barrage hailed him as a hero.

With over a million troops participating, the Meuse-Argonne Attack in September and November of 1918 was the biggest American offensive ever. Capt. Truman and the majority of the artillery units in the engagement had the duty of eliminating German gun units and clearing enemy positions with artillery in order to defend American forces.

However, there were stringent guidelines for artillery during these battles. Each division had a distinct area of operation, and these areas were frequently further divided by artillery regiment and battery. Truman, therefore, had specified objectives to hit and was free to engage pretty much anything in the 35th Division's sector.

The offensive's launch was legendary. As the armor rolled forward, Truman's battery in the 60th Field Artillery Brigade, which fired 40,000 rounds during the opening barrage, was expressly firing in support of Lt. Col. George S. Patton's tank brigade.