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Page from a letter of Henry McNutt to Myrtle Barton [detail]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Service Unit/Ship: USS Illinois (BB 7)
  • Location of Service: Norfolk, Virginia; Portsmouth, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Atlantic Ocean; Europe; France; Canada
  • Highest Rank: Fireman Second Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/90141

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"I didn't know how to appreciate the good old USA or know I loved her until I got away." (Letter to Myrtle, 5/30/1918)

Joining the Navy because of the desperate need for American sailors, Henry McNutt went on to serve as a Fireman Second Class aboard the USS Illinois. He spent much time working in the fire rooms, where the temperature would often reach 150 degrees; as he noted, "It is no place for a weakling." Judging by his correspondence, thoughts of his girlfriend, Myrtle Barton, were a welcome distraction, and his collection chronicles their burgeoning relationship. Tragically, though he arrived safely back in the United States after service in the Atlantic, he died of "broncho-pneumonia" on September 29, 1918, only eight days after mentioning in a letter to Myrtle that he had fallen ill.

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[ Officer and Enlisted men of the United States Navy who lost their lives in the World War. ]
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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Knoxville. Tenn [April 1, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Knoxville. Tenn [April7, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Knoxville. Tenn [April 9, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Knoxville. Tenn [April 27, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Knoxville. Tenn [May 13, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Sunday Evening [May 24, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Knoxville. Tenn [June 4, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Ceres, VA. [June 18, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Ceres, Va. [July 7, 1915] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Astoria, L.L. NY. [Oct. 1, 1916] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Astoria, L.L. NY. [Oct. 15, 1916] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Astoria, L.L. NY. [Dec. 30, 1916] ]

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[ Post Card to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Norfolk, VA. [July 14, 1917] ]
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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Norfolk, VA. [July 14, 1917] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, U.S.S. Illinois [Sept. 2, 1917] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Brooklyn, NY. [Oct. 7, 1917] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, U.S.S. George Washington [Oct. 28, 1917] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, U.S.S. George Washington [Nov. 6, 1917] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [Feb 3, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [Feb 22, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Halifax, N.S. [March 12, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, U.S.S. Lake Placid Somewhere in France [April 14, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, At Sea May 30, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Somewhere in U.S.A. [June 8, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Army and Navy YMCA [June 16, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [June 25, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 4, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 7, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 11, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 14, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 16, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 17, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 19, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, [July 23, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Somewhere in Scotland [Aug. 20, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Norfolk, VA. [Sept. 18, 1918] ]

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[ Letter to Myrtle from Henry McNutt, Norfolk, VA. [Sept. 21, 1918] ]

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[ Post Card to Myrtle from Henry McNutt ]
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[ Post Card to Myrtle from Henry McNutt ]
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[ Post Card to Myrtle from Henry McNutt ]
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[ Post Card to Myrtle from Henry McNutt ]
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[ "Kiss From France" Post Card ]

About this Item

Title

  • Henry Trollinger McNutt Collection

Names

  • American Red Cross, North Texas Region
  • McNutt, Henry Trollinger
  • Barton, David

Home State

  • Virginia

Headings

  • -  McNutt, Henry Trollinger
  • -  World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1914-1918

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Service Unit/Ship: USS Illinois (BB 7)
    • Location of Service: Norfolk, Virginia; Portsmouth, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Atlantic Ocean; Europe; France; Canada
    • Highest Rank: Fireman Second Class
    • Dates of Service: 1917-1918
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served aboard Navy freighters transporting coal and armaments to Europe and France during World War I.

Materials

  • Photograph: Digital print [2 items] -- Photographs (collected 1915-1918)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [36 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1915-1918)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [36 items] -- Transcription of document (collected 1915-1918)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [2 items] -- (collected 1917-1918)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected 2013-04-14; 2013-04-14)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/90141

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

American Red Cross, North Texas Region, Henry Trollinger McNutt, and David Barton. Henry Trollinger McNutt Collection. 1917. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.90141/.

APA citation style:

American Red Cross, N. T. R., McNutt, H. T. & Barton, D. (1917) Henry Trollinger McNutt Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.90141/.

MLA citation style:

American Red Cross, North Texas Region, Henry Trollinger McNutt, and David Barton. Henry Trollinger McNutt Collection. 1917. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.90141/>.