Dates: 1914-1926; 1972-1973.
Original diary and Distinguished Service Cross awards are restricted; typescripts and reference photocopies must be used instead. 

Biography:

Henry Jetton Tudury

Henry Jetton Tudury, son of Peter B. Tudury (1857-1938) and Ida Saucier Tudury (1865-1963), was born in Bay St. Louis, Hancock County, Mississippi, on November 22, 1885. Peter Tudury was born in Louisiana, of parents who were originally from Spain, while Ida Tudury was from Mississippi. Peter Tudury was employed as an accountant in Bay St. Louis in 1900.

Henry Tudury enlisted as a private in the United States Army on April 24, 1917. He was promoted to sergeant of Company C, Twelfth Machine-Gun Battalion, Eighth Infantry Brigade, Fourth Division, which was formed from several companies, including his old Company B, Fifty-ninth Battalion. Tudury left the army without leave during Christmas of 1917. He married Zelma Bermond of St. Louis, Missouri, on Christmas Day, 1917, and when he returned to the army after the holidays, he was demoted to corporal of the Fifty-ninth Infantry mess company. Tudury sailed for Europe on May 7, 1918, and he returned to the United States on August 9, 1919, with numerous medals, including the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Croix de Guerre.

While in the army, Tudury served principally in Germany and France. He was engaged in battles at Aisne-Marne, St. Nihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Vesle, and Toulon. One of his primary tasks was to relay messages to machine-gun posts. Tudury was exposed to mustard gas while carrying messages under enemy fire at Courshamps, France, on July 18, 1918, yet he continued to carry messages until he was again exposed to mustard gas on July 20, 1918, and was hospitalized. General John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, presented Tudury with the Distinguished Service Cross on March 3, 1919. As Tudury and his company also provided covering fire for French troops who were relieving American infantrymen, Tudury was also awarded the Croix de Guerre on July 18, 1919.

During another battle, a shell struck Tudurys helmet, although it apparently did not inflict serious injury. He was demoted to private after illegally firing his gun on New Years Day, 1919. Tudury and two other members of Company C, Twelfth Machine-Gun Battalion formed the "Ukalalee Jazz Band" in March of 1919. After the demobilization of the American Expeditionary Forces, he was honorably discharged on August 9, 1919. Tudury is considered to be Mississippis most highly decorated World War I veteran.

Tudury suffered from health-related problems, due in part to mustard-gas exposure during the war. However, Tudury graduated from a mechanical-drafting course at the Delgado Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 30, 1924. He later returned to Bay St. Louis to become a baker. The Tudurys had at least four daughters, including Elise Tudury Benigno, Marie Tudury Johnson, Mrs. Leroy Nash, and Mrs. Sterling B. Sharp, Jr.

Henry Jetton Tudury died of cancer on May 21, 1952. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Bay St. Louis.

 
Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains the World War I diary (and diary typescript) of Henry Jetton Tudury; a number of original documents and photographs; photocopies of documents, photographs, and newsclippings; and other World War I-related materials. Tudury's diary has been published, and one version is available in volume forty-seven of the Journal of Mississippi History, with an introduction by Charles Sullivan.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Diary (Henry Jetton Tudury). 1917-1919. 2 folders.

Tudury's diary is bound and hand-paginated. It begins on an undated page, describing his enlistment on April 24, 1917, and continuing throughout his years of service in the army during World War I. The first twenty pages or so of the diary were most likely written in March of 1919, and they recapitulate prior war experiences. Subsequent entries were made with varying frequency, usually a few times per week. The narrative of the diary is primarily written in ink. Tudury later penciled notes on the back of each page to clarify or expound upon situations described in the narrative.

The diary provides the dates when Tudury transferred between divisions or traveled between camps in the United States and Europe. Tudury recorded his promotions and demotions in rank, his marriage, and some of his wartime leisure activities, such as playing in the "Ukalalee Jazz Band." He chronicled many of the battles in which he fought, including the names and serial numbers of American soldiers who were killed. Tudury also documented unusual events such as being knocked out of bed by an artillery shell, struck in the helmet by another shell, and exposed to mustard gas. The last diary entry was on August 9, 1919. In the back of the diary are statistics for the Fourth Division, names and hometowns of a number of people, partial lists of casualties and officers, and a bawdy poem entitled "My Poetry of Rivers." The diary typescript places Tudurys notes inside brackets to distinguish them from the earlier text.

Box 1, folder 5: diary typescripts.
Box 3, folder 1: original diary (restricted).

 

Series 2: Photographs. 1917-1919; 1972-1973; n.d. 2 folders.

There are a number of original photographs of Henry J. Tudury, fellow soldiers, family, and friends. Among the inscribed images is one large panoramic photograph of approximately one hundred men in Tudurys Company B, Fifty-ninth Machine-Gun Battalion, taken at Devils Den, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1917. Another inscribed photograph taken in Germany on April 9, 1919, depicts the "Ukalalee Jazz Band." There is one annotated panoramic photograph (damaged) of Tudurys Company C, Twelfth Machine-Gun Battalion, which was taken at Remagen, Germany, on May 23, 1919. There are two pictures of an unidentified woman that are dated summer 1972 and May 1973.

Box 1, folder 1.Box 1, folder 2 (see oversize box 6).

 

Series 3: Documents (Original). 1919-1926. 1 folder.

The original documents include two Distinguished Service Cross awards dated March 3, 1919, and January 22, 1926; one form letter regarding the demobilization of the American Expeditionary Forces dated February 25, 1919; and one employment-objective certificate dated August 30, 1924.

Box 3, folder 2 (restricted).

 

Series 4: Documents (Photocopies). 1914-1926; n.d. 3 folders.

There are also photocopies of World War I-related documents, photographs, and newsclippings. The photocopies of World War I-related documents include a 1917 marriage certificate, the 1919 and 1926 Distinguished Service Cross awards, the 1919 Croix de Guerre award, the 1919 form letter regarding the demobilization of the American Expeditionary Forces, Tudury's honorable discharge, a 1924 employment-objective certificate, and an undated wounded-in-action certificate. There are also three war posters, a pamphlet entitled "The Medal of Honor of the United States Army," a large pictorial booklet with facts about the Twelfth Machine-Gun Battalion, and one 1914 receipt for two dollars. The photocopied images depict Tudury or his company at Devil's Den. The photocopied newsclippings commemorate Tudury's military achievements.

Box 1, folders 3-4.
Box 2, folder 1.