Post 84 Website

The United States of America

To all who shall see these presents, Greeting.

This is to certify that the President of the United States of America

Pursuant to Act of Congress approved 9 July 1918, has awarded to

Seth E. Perry

The Distinguished Service Cross for Extraordinary Heroism In

Military Operations against an Armed Enemy of the United States at

Bellicourt, France, 29 September 1918, where he made the supreme

sacriface while serving as Corp., Co. K, 119th Inf. 30th Div. A,E,F,

Given under my hand at the city of Washington this twelfth day of

November, 1925.

Historian's Page

The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded posthumously to

SETH E. PERRY

(Army serial No. 1316548), Corporal, Company K, 119th Infantry, 30th Div. A.E.F., for extraordinary heroism in action near Bellicourt, France, September 29, 1918. When a portion of his company was threatened with a counter-attack and he had seen one runner killed in an attempt to reach them from company headquarters with orders to fall back, he volunteered for the dangerous mission. While crossing an open field under heavy fire, he was mortally wounded.

(G. O. 87, W. D., 1919.) Next of kin, Mrs. Mary E. Perry, mother, Okisko, N. C.

Distinguished Service Cross

The Distinguished Service Cross was established by order of President Woodrow Wilson and was born as part of the new Pyramid Of Honor that was established during the 1917 review of Medal of Honor awards. Prior to establishment of the D.S.C. by virtue of War Department General Orders Number 6 of January 12, 1918, and by Act of Congress on July 9, 1918 the Medal of Honor was the only American award for valor in combat available to American servicemen.

Awarded to U.S. and Foreign military personnel and civilians who have displayed extraordinary heroism in one of the following situations:

While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States,

While engaged in military operations involving conflict with a foreign force, or

While serving with a friendly nation engaged in armed conflict against a force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

Also with this certificate was the DSC and two other medals which can be viewed at the Pasquotank County Courthouse

30th Division: "Old Hickory"

The 30th Division initially comprised National Guard units from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Its name, "Old Hickory Division," honored President Andrew Jackson, who had connections with all three states. The division garnered several distinctions in the war: it was the first to break the German Hindenburg Line on the Cambrai-St. Quentin front, and its soldiers were awarded more Congressional Medals of Honor than those in any other American division.

Most of the 30th Division soldiers had just returned from the U.S.-Mexican border when the division was called into federal service on July 25, 1917. It was ordered to Camp Sevier, near Greenville, South Carolina, to prepare for war. In October a contingent of draftees arrived to increase the division to full wartime strength of about 27,000 men.

In May 1918 the division traveled to New York and soon left for Europe. After a two-week voyage, the division landed in England, and then departed for France. The 30th Division was assigned to the American 2nd Corps, and attached to the British Army. In June 1918 the division underwent extensive combat training under British supervision, and exchanged American for British equipment and firearms.

"Over There"

On July 2, 1918, the 30th Division was sent to the British 2nd Army in Belgium. On August 16, "Old Hickory" replaced British troops on the front in the trenches near Ypres. While there the division attacked and captured German positions with a loss of 37 dead and 128 wounded.

On September 3, the division withdrew from the front and transferred to the British 4th Army. By September 25, the 30th Division held its position opposite the German Hindenberg Line near Bellicourt, France. On the night of September 27, the 119th and 120th infantry regiments (formerly the 2nd and 3rd North Carolina, respectively), moved into the front lines.

"Old Hickory" Breaks through the Hindenburg Line

At 5:50 A.M. on September 29, the 119th and 120th infantry regiments went "over the top" supported by British tanks against the enemy lines. Despite high casualties, the 30th Division broke through the Hindenburg Line. By that afternoon, Australian troops passed through the 30th Division and carried on the attack. The attack made by the 30th Division was a tremendous success. The division was credited as the first to break the Hindenburg Line. In addition to a large cache of enemy arms and equipment captured, about 47 German officers and 1,432 soldiers were taken prisoner. For these spoils and the 3,000-yard advance made against enemy lines, the division suffered about 3,000 casualties. This was the greatest loss for North Carolina since the Civil War.

The next day the division was pulled out of the battle, but "Old Hickory" returned to the front on October 5. The 30th Division engaged in severe fighting off and on until October 19, when it received orders to withdraw from combat for the last time. From July through October, the division suffered 1,641 killed, 6,774 wounded, 198 missing, and 27 taken prisoner, for a total of 8,415 losses.

For the remainder of October and until the cease-fire ended the fighting on November 11, 1918, the 30th Division was being reorganized. After the war it remained in France and was not part of the Army of Occupation. In April 1919 the 30th Division soldiers were sent home and discharged.

The 30th Division’s insignia consists of a blue ‘O’ for Old and a blue ‘H’ for Hickory on a red background. The Roman numeral XXX is in the ‘H’ to represent the 30th Division. In World War II the insignia was turned to better display the H.

Note: The 30th Division overview was written by R. Jackson Marshall III, North Carolina Museum of History historian. Read more about the soldiers of the "Old Hickory" division in Marshall's book, Memories of World War I: North Carolina Doughboys on the Western Front (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 1998). http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/archives/ww1/OldNorthState/index.htm

Here is a story of a great battle as the doughboy saw it. It is told by Corporal James E. Gregory, of Pasquotank County. Corporal James E. Gregory was a North Carolina boy. He fought in Belgium, and later at Bellicourt where the Hindenburg line was broken. This is his account of the Battle of the Hindenburg Line on September 29, 1918: It's in this battle that Seth Perry died.

"At 5:50 a. m., September 29th, our division attacked the Hindenburg line. For four long hours the artillery fire continued from both sides. It looked as if the destruction of the world had begun. I could not hear the sound of a voice. Shells were falling everywhere. Shrapnel was filling the air with its horrible whistle. Wounded men were moaning and groaning on every side. They were pleading for some one to help them. German prisoners were coming over with their hands up. They were yelling 'Kamerad!' Enemy airplanes were whizzing low to the earth and sending showers of bullets on us. My friends everywhere were falling dead and wounded. I hardly knew what was happening. Suddenly the hardest fighting was over. We had taken the great St. Quentin tunnel and the town of Bellicourt. The Hindenburg line had been broken. We spent that night in a German dugout seventy feet underground. The night before Germans had slept there. They thought they would never have to give it up."

Source Description:

(title page) North Carolina Day. Friday, November 11th, 1921. Armistice Day. North Carolina in the World War North Carolina. Dept. of Public Instruction 72 p.

Raleigh, N. C. Published by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction 1921

Call number Cp 970 N87p (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

A World War 1 soldier's legacy to tomorrow: memories

By Delores Mason, Advance Staff Writer

Charles Carrington's "Soldier from the Wars Returning" begins:

"Soldiering on the whole, is a young man's trade. The first appeal for troops in 1914 called for able-bodied men between ages 19 and 30, that is to say men who in 1964 are between the ages of 69 and 80 years."

Of those men who went to fight in the war, 25 percent never returned and another 25 percent returned handicapped.

So, many of those World War 1 soldiers between 19 and 30 never lived to read Carrington's account of the war. As a matter of fact, some 19-year-olds never reached 20. Others met death before their 30th birthday.

Army Cpl. Seth E. Perry was one of those soldiers. Just 26 years old, he became the first World War 1 soldier from Pasquotank County to die in the war. He was killed in action in 1918, the final year of the war.

Early next year, a display case will be built in the courthouse to spotlight a Distinguished Service Cross awarded Perry.

Three years after his death, his remains were removed from a French grave and brought to Elizabeth City to be buried in the county courtyard in memory of Pasquotank's war efforts. The burial symbolized the county's deep sense of patriotism.

It's been 50 years since the soldier's remains were returned to his native county, 53 years since he went to fight for his country's freedom.

But local folks haven't forgotten young Perry.

Every year, Pasquotank citizens are reminded of Perry's commitment when the Veterans Day ceremony is held near the gravesite. Also in honor of Perry, the local post of the American Legion was named: Seth E. Perry American Legion Post No. 84.

Now the county is preparing for yet another reminder of the hero.

Recently, a group of Perry's great-nieces and great-nephews agreed to give to the county a Distinguished Service Cross awarded to his family for the "extraordinary heroism" he portrayed during his last minutes in battle.

Perry was shot down crossing a field of heavy enemy fire in Bellicourt, France, as he attempted to take a message to a forward company.

The cross was given to Perry's mother because he never married. It had remained in the Perry family since. When Mrs. Perry died, the cross was passed to her children. The last survivor was Mrs. Martha Perry.

At the death of Martha Perry, the cross went to her children Harvey Perry and Miriam Perry Haskett.

But there were other great-nieces and great-nephews.

The family recently decided that the best way for the entire family to share the cross was to place it in the courthouse. In that way, thay could share it among themselves and with the county _ all of those who have heard the Seth Perry story, those who still believe in patriotism.

Pasquotank County commissioners recently agreed to accept the cross and are in the process of preparing a place in the building to put it.

Mrs. Haskett, who lives in Hertford, said the medal will probably not be turned over to the county until the first of next year, after the display case is built.

"We're real proud of it," she said. "Turning it over to the county was the only way it could be shared by all."

Accompanying Staff Photo by Jim Reid.

Undated article cut from a 1964 Daily Advance Newspaper

"Seth E. Perry" AMERICAN LEGION Post 84 Home

Origionally the first story of the Albemarle High School, a private school erected in 1904 at the rear of this lot facing Harney Street, owned and operated by the Albemarle High School Company. In 1907 the property was sold to the Board of the Graded School of Elizabeth City and operated as Harney Street School, a Public Elementary institution until 1930; then, bought by the American Legion Post 84 in 1933. Between 1933 and 1936 the lower story was moved to it's present site at 215 N. Dyer St. and converted into the Seth E. Perry, Post 84, AMERICAN LEGION Hall. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places; Elizabeth City Historic District Boundary Expansion, Pasquotank County, North Carolina.

NC State Archives

Post History

The original Application for a temporary Post Charter was submitted to NC Dept. of the American Legion on Feb 27, 1920.

On Apr 5, 1920; a Charter for Seth E. Perry Post 84; was granted.

Charter Members include, but not limited to:

Ralph Irving Pool Ray S. Toxey Frank T. Bray

Sidney G. Etheridge L. L. Morriselle Joseph Peele

Thomas D. Dryden William E. Griffin Herbert H. Smith

N. P. Parker

Members held meetings at the home of R. I. Pool at #5 Harney Street.

Application for Permanent Charter submitted Jan. 15, 1947, by:

Charter Members include, but not limited to:

Jerry S. Wright, Cmdr Andrew J. Bailey, Vice-Cmdr Howard L. Jordan, Adj

George R. Little Jr., Fin Ofc A. J. McClelland, Rev Lee Smith, Sgt-at-Arms

W. C. Morse Jr., Historian Roland L. Garrett, PSO Richard J. Gonder, PR Ofc

Meetings were held at the Post home on Dyer St. with 481 Members.

Jerry S. Wright '47- '49

J. Edward Weeks '49- '50

B. G. Andrews '50- '52

George R. Little Jr. '52- '53

William F. Thompson '53- '54

Howard Stevens '54- '55

Robert Stanton '55- '56

W. C. Morse Jr. '56- '57

Joe E. Hill '57- '58 '68- '69 '77-'03

Fred P. Markham '58- '60

Robert G. Butler '60- '61

Martin J. Padgett '61- '62 '67- '68

C. F. Joyner '62- '63

C. D. Ferrell '63- '64

E. J Hobbs Jr. '64- '66 '69- '70

Fred M. Harward '66- '67

Homer S. Gray '70- '71 '73- '74

Wilson Owens '71-'73

Willard Newbern '74- '75

Tola Lewis '75- '76

Ronnie Chappell '76- '77

William G. Williams '03- '05

Ahnighito Riddick '05- '09

Curtiss Albany '09- '10

Bruce Simons '10- '12

Disclaimer:

All information contained in this website is true, as of the date of it's posting; with all reference material available. Corrections and Challenges welcomed if supporting documents or archive copies are submitted to the Adjutant.