Major Jesse W. Wooldridge
Thank you to Jeff Clemens for providing information and documentation on Bro. Wooldridge.
Portrait by Albert Herter
Berkeley Lodge No. 363 Berkeley Chapter No. 92 Berkeley Commandery No. 42 Life member of Islam Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
Honorary life member Oakland Commandery Knights Templar
Bro. Wooldrige’s Knight’s Templar photo circa 1909. Courtesy of Jeff Clemens.
Bro. Wooldrige’s Knight’s Templar photo circa 1909. Courtesy of Jeff Clemens.
Born 28 May, 1880, in Hopkinsville, KY.
Camp Green, Charlotte, NC, January, 1918. Photo courtesy of fold3.
29 March, 1918 – Departs from Hoboken, NJ, aboard the U.S.S. Mount Vernon headed for France. It appears that he may actually have departed on 6 April, 1918 aboard the U.S.S. America.
Photo courtesy of fold3
Arrives in France as a Captain, commanding G Company, 38th Infantry.
Photo courtesy of fold3.
The Third Division is sent to defend the Chateau-Thierry area in response to the anticipated German offensive.
After setting up defensive positions on the bank of the Marne River as well as the railway station several hundred yards to the rear, Bro. Wooldridge proudly declared “The 38th was given this “Gateway to Paris”, the Surmelin Valley, to defend.”
Map courtesy of “Rock of the Marne” by Stephen L. Harris, Berkley Caliber, New York, Pg.137.
15 July, 1918 – Second Battle of the Marne: In action against the German 5th and 6th Guard Regiments, G Company was defending a railway embankment. Bro. Wooldridge led his company of 189 men, in an attack against a German force five times their size. Only 51 men returned unhurt. But G Company killed or took prisoner approximately 1,000 German soldiers. During this battle Bro. Wooldridge slew a German Major and a German Captain, taking souvenirs from each. He was also received bullet wounds to the chest and back, as well as a bayonet wound to the neck.
In their first action, G Company defeated an entire German regiment and the 38th Infantry (along with a “badly battered” 30th U.S. Infantry Regiment) defeated two crack German divisions, literally altering world history.
Letter written from Jesse Wooldridge to D. C. Bog on 28 July, 1918:
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
For his actions this day Bro. Wooldridge was awarded The Distinguished Service Cross , The Cross de Guerre and was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor (see letters at bottom of this page).
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
Courtesy of fold3.
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
3 September, 1918 – Distinguished Service Cross presented to Bro. Wooldridge by General Pershing.
Photo courtesy of fold3.
Here is the link to a short video of Major Wooldridge just after having been awarded his D. S. C.
https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/item/87611177-gen-john-j-pershing-decorates-officers-and-men-1918
9 October, 1919 - Meuse-Argonne Offensive – During the battle, while breaching the Hindenburg Line, Bro. Wooldridge is gravely wounded by both bullets to the back and bayonet thrusts. He lay wounded on the battlefield for three days and three nights before he could be rescued and evacuated to Evacuation Hospital No. 4, where he was admitted. He was examined by the doctors and found to be dying. He had a chance only if a delicate operation could be performed immediately. It was decided that the time could not be spent on one man with so many wounded waited to be treated, so he was put to the side to die.
As he lay dying, his hand lay outside the blanket, his Masonic ring showing. The emblem caught the eye of slightly wounded Bro. Captain Arthur Sneed. Bro. Sneed made his way to the tent of the surgeon in command, Major McCoy, who also happened to be a brother. Bro. Sneed pleaded his case to Bro. McCoy, who took personal charge of Bro. Wooldridge and performed the life-saving operation.
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
27 February, 1919 - Bro. Wooldridge arrives back in San Francisco from France wounded. He is a patient at the Letterman Hospital
Courtesy of fold3.
Courtesy of fold3.
18 September, 1919 - Bro. Wooldridge is awarded The Italian War Cross of Honor as he recovered from wounds at Letterman General Hospital.
Courtesy of fold3.
In 1919, Albert Herter painted the portrait of Bro. Wooldridge (top of page). He was carried in on a stretcher for his “sittings”. His pose is forced, he is in pain, and his great coat covers the leg that caught a large piece of German shrapnel.
22 June, 1920 - Bro. Wooldridge is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. He is also chosen to be Grand Marshall of the City of Sacramento Fourth of July parade.
Courtesy of fold3.
Bro. Wooldridge was wounded a total of eight times and gassed once. He would lay flat on his back in a metal brace for two years recovering from his war wounds.
Bro. Wooldridge is one the most decorated line officers in the history of the A.E.F.
Letter written from Jesse Wooldridge to Lt. Ben Prager, D.S.C., National Adjutant, Legion of Valor, 11 May, 1954:
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Army and Navy Legion of Valor of the U.S. of America, Inc. General Orders (1953-1954), Vol. 64, No. 9:
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
Photo courtesy of Jeff Clemens and The Stanford Hoover Institution
He has been recommended to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. This most deserving honor has not yet been awarded to Bro. Wooldrige. We hope this will soon change. (The letters recommending Bro. Wooldridge of the Congressional Medal of Honor are at the bottom of the page.)
Courtesy of Jeff Clemens
Bro. Wooldridge passed to the celestial lodge above on 31 August, 1963.
Courtesy of fold3.
Soft and safe to thee, my brother, be thy resting place. Bright and glorious, be thy rising from it.
Lest we forget…
