This studio portrait captures an American soldier in the standard-issue uniform of World War I, identified as Private Willis W. Wagener. The wide campaign hat, wool service coat, and wound puttees were hallmarks of the U.S. Army uniform worn by the millions of citizen-soldiers mobilized between 1917 and 1918. Formal portraits like this one were commonly taken before a soldier departed for training camp or deployment overseas, often sent home to family as a keepsake. Project: 218311