Proving Grounds

We are approaching the 100th anniversary of World War I, expected to be "the war to end all wars." It was the first completely global war, and even small towns in America were affected. 

Aberdeen, Maryland was settled in the 1800s by immigrants who named their new settlement after their home town in Scotland. In the fall of 1917, just before the US entered WWI, Aberdeen became the site of the US Army's proving ground. 

A proving ground is a place where the military tests tactics and weapons. Aberdeen is the oldest proving ground in the US Army and it is still active today. It was moved from Sandy Hook, New Jersey to the larger site in Aberdeen so that it could be close to industrial and shipping centers like Baltimore and Philadelphia. 

In addition to being a location to test weapons, Aberdeen Proving Ground has been a site for chemical research. Agent Orange, which was widely used during the Vietnam War, was tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground as a defoliant. Three million Vietnamese have been affected medically by the toxins in Agent Orange.