In the Columbus State University archive, a hallway is filled with dozens of boxes. According to the school’s archivist and it’s military history chair, those boxes could hold some of the most historically significant military documents from the post-Vietnam War era.

Earlier this summer, CSU acquired 20 pallets worth of documents and materials from the longest serving Secretary of the Army John “Jack” Marsh and military social worker James “Jim” Martin.

“To look into the papers of Jack Marsh or into Jim Martin’s papers is really to see the history of the Army over the past 30-, 40-, 50 years,” said Dr. David Kieran, CSU’s Richard R. Hallock distinguished chair in military history.

Though Kieran had seen a few of Marsh’s documents previously, the morning of Aug. 27 marked the first time he had an opportunity to glimpse the contents of some of the boxes since they arrived at the archive.

“Every box you open, you find something and see that it’s part of a larger story of the history of that institution, the transformation of that institution,” Kieran said.

It will be the job of CSU archivist David Owings, along with team of student helpers and a visiting military archivist, to sort through the multiple decades-worth of memos, photos, memorabilia and more.

Owings estimates it will take more than a year to catalogue, organize and digitize the contents. The team will also need to take time to redact personal information, like soldier social security numbers contained in the documents.

“It’s just an honor to have the privilege to be the stewards and caretakers of it,” Owings said. “To make sure that it’s open and available to the public and that it’s saved for future generations to look at.”

Now that they are at CSU, the documents are in a temperature-controlled environment. The archival team will also use preservation techniques to maintain the documents for future study.

According to Owings, the acquisition may be the biggest CSU’s archives has ever received. He said the undertaking is worth it.

“I think it’s such a huge part of our national history, national memory, national identity,” Owings explained.

A brief first look into the boxes revealed photos from across Marsh’s service, a speech recognizing 100 years since the death of Ulysses Grant and cassette tapes, one of them containing a speech he would have given to Fort Benning soldiers more than 30 years ago.

Martin’s documents are important for studying military culture and mental health, Kieran said. Some contain first-hand accounts of what soldiers experienced, their worries and other issues they may have faced.

“There’s really no parallel—certainly in the southeast, probably in Georgia, maybe not in the nation—to the history we’re able to tell here of the post-Vietnam Army,” Kieran said. “It’s thrilling to think about the possibilities of what we can do.”

The documents add to the growing collection of military history materials in CSU’s archive, including papers from Richard Hallock, the namesake for the school’s military history endowment.