ANN ARBOR—The current exhibit at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library could be tomorrow’s headlines. But the exhibit actually documents an episode of World War I involving an outfit dubbed The Polar Bears.

During the summer of 1918, the U.S. Army’s 85th Division, made up primarily of men from Michigan and Wisconsin, completed training at Fort Custer outside Battle Creek, Mich., and proceeded to England. The 5,000 troops of the division’s 339th Infantry and support units realized that they were not being sent to France to join the great battles on the Western Front when they were issued Russian weapons and equipment and lectured on life in the Arctic regions.

When they reached their destination in early The day of the Armistice (Nov. 11) when fighting ceased for other American armies, the allied soldiers were fighting the Bolsheviks said to be led by Trotsky himself.

After three days, the allies finally were able to drive off the Bolsheviks. While this fight was a victory for the Americans, the battle led to the realization that the war was not over for these men. As the weeks and months passed and more battles were fought, the men began to wonder if they would ever get home.

The men of the 339th were generally well equipped with winter clothing during the winter of 1918-19 while stationed near the Arctic Circle in deep snow with temperatures down to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit. There was little daylight for months at a time. Knowing that the war was over for other American soldiers, the morale of the troops declined throughout the winter.

Families and friends of the men in Russia began to clamor for their return. Politicians unwilling to support an undeclared war against the Russian government joined in their demand. A petition to Congress was circulated. Several of the British and French units mutinied and refused to continue fighting. Finally in early April the American troops learned that they would be withdrawn as soon as the harbor at Archangel was cleared of ice.

It was not until “Michigan Boys Fighting the Bolsheviks: Archangel, 1918-1919” contains letters, diaries, photos, postcards and maps, some drawn by the men fighting in Russia. Newspaper clippings, and a petition to the Congress is also in the exhibit, curated by Leonard Coombs, an associate archivist with the Library’s Michigan History Collections. The exhibit will continue through May, but the artifacts contained in the exhibit are available after that time to anyone requesting to see them. The Library is open Monday-Friday, 8:30a.m.-5 p.m. Coombs can be reached at (734) 764-3482.