No Man's Land

J. Marcellus Dudley.
US Navy, USS Denver, New York Harbor.
1, January, 1918.
To Mrs. J. Walker Humphrey, Kirksville Normal School, Kirksville, MO.
Photographs enclosed: Sailors on board the Denver; Bird’s eye view of the deck of the Denver from the crow’s nest; One of the 18 ships in their convoy crossing the Atlantic.*

*Photographs missing from collection

Dear Mrs. Humphrey:
It was with genuine pleasure that I recieved your letter of cheer and and best wishes.
Yes, I am the boy no doubt you mean, as my sister Alpha and I were in school together, then I taught two years previous to our entrance into the war, and Alpha continued on in school there. It is with as great, if not greater pride, to see the loyal students of old K.S.N.S., doing their bit, as well as the many faculty members, of which you are one.
The Liberty Bond Campaign, was an excellent example of all parties concerned, of the loyalty that permeaniates in all those attached to the greatest of Normal Schools. Don’t you know I am as proud of the K.S.N.S. and her service flag as any one there, I am sure, and am only too glad, that I volunteered on Apr 14th my services to the U.S. Navy.
I surely do thank you for your very kind interest in writing to me, because it shows farther the spirit of the greatest of rest Normal Schools.
Long may she stand, to expostulate the doctrine of Democracy, and teach young men, and women the truth of a great tomorrow , and their duty in it. I am,
Sincerely,
J. Marcellus Dudley
We land in a few days for parts unknown.

Msv1_D1. Violette Collection of WWI Soldiers’ Letters. Mudsp Collection V1. Truman State University Special Collections.