Lieutenant William Hilair Jutras / US Army

William Hilair Jutras, son of Alfred & Mattie/Martha (Barbeau) Jutras, was born on September 19, 1891, in Peterborough, Hillsborough Co., NH. By 1900, the Jutras family had moved and were living in Manchester, NH, at 377 Carter Street. William’s father was a roofer by trade (as was his own grandfather). William probably attended the local schools.

There is evidence that he joined the NH National Guard as early as 1909, when he was 19, although some sources claim he lied about his age and entered the Guard earlier. His job as a civilian was that of a cobbler, operating a shoe repair business.

By 1916, there was trouble on the US – Mexican border. The Mexican government had become very unstable with a growing revolution. This was bad for the US, with interests in oil and minerals in the troubled country. Tensions ratcheted up when, on March 9, 1916, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa attacked the American border town of Columbus, New Mexico, resulting in 24 American casualties—14 military and 10 civilians, drawing a strong military response from the US Government.

President Woodrow Wilson ordered a punitive attack led by General John Pershing to capture Villa. The expedition involved sending about 10,000 troops into a sovereign country, drawing Mexico’s ire. Despite engaging with Villa’s band, he was not captured or killed. 

As the situation escalated, Wilson mobilized the National Guard units from Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico to secure the border. Other states deployed National Guard units as well, such as New Hampshire, deploying one infantry regiment (1st NH Regiment, Company A) to Laredo, Texas. William H. Jutras was with them. By June 1916, over 110,000 National Guard troops were engaged along the Mexican border. 

Mobilization along the hot, dry, dusty Mexican border was quite a shock for NH Guardsmen, used to much cooler climes and much more rain. Soldiers complained that they “ate dust, drank dust, and slept on dust,” and violent sandstorms frequently disrupted the encampment. Guardsmen trained with regular Army soldiers, learning the nuances of combat. They marched on 10-mile exercises to get used to hard work in the heat and dust. By late 1916, the men of the 1st New Hampshire were no longer merely a local militia; they were soldiers who had been “toughened” by the climate and “honed” by the standards of the Regular Army

This mobilization was the first significant test of the National Defense Act of 1916, which sought to integrate the National Guard more closely with the Regular Army, establishing a mechanism for federal pay and standardized training. The act was passed amidst the “preparedness controversy”, after Pancho Villa’s cross-border raid on Columbus, New Mexico, and prior to U.S. entry into World War I. The “Preparedness Movement” was at first opposed by President Woodrow Wilson, who believed the United States should be in a position of neutrality in order to broker a compromise peace in Europe. Several organizations were formed around the Preparedness Movement and held parades and organized opposition to Wilson’s policies. After the Lusitania was sunk by German U-boats on May 7, 1915, and Pancho Villa launched his raid against Columbus, New Mexico, Wilson’s attitude changed. 

Meanwhile, back in Washington, diplomatic efforts continued to try to avoid a full-scale war. US troops finally withdrew in 1917, failing to achieve their primary mission – to capture Pancho Villa.

On February 20, 1917, the 1st NH Infantry was mustered out of service at the Mexican border, where they had been stationed since 1916. The time spent by the 1st NH Infantry on the Mexican border was said to be, “a transformative crucible that converted a disparate collection of local militias into a battle-hardened, federally-integrated military force just weeks before the United States entered World War I.” William Jutras had served on the Mexican border from September 1916 to February 1917.

The 1st New Hampshire Infantry arrived back in Concord at 12:40 a.m. on February 9, 1917, just as the demobilization orders were being finalized. They were met with a heavy, wet snow, a physical reminder of the transition they were making back to their civilian lives. Despite the blizzard-like conditions, they marched up the hill for a few hours of sleep at the Green Street Armory before parading through the city the next morning to the cheers of thousands. They left NH as “slouchy and inattentive” recruits and returned from the Mexican border a formidable military force.” 

America entered WWI on April 6, 1917, and the 1st NH Infantry finished their Mexican tour just in time. The mobilization order reached New Hampshire on June 19, 1916. The scene in Concord was one of sudden, jarring transition. In the days before the internet, the ringing of the city’s fire bells could signal any number of different things, from a general alarm fire to “no school day.” On June 19, 1916, the bells rang the militia call “3-1-2,” a signal that sent “khaki-clad soldiers hurrying through the streets amid a growing excitement”. Within days, the 12 companies of the 1st New Hampshire Infantry Regiment, along with an attached machine gun company, converged on Camp Spaulding, situated on “the Plains” (the current site of the Concord Municipal Airport).

The composition of the 1st New Hampshire was a microcosm of the state’s industrial and ethnic diversity. Notable among the units were the “Sheridan Guards” of Manchester (Company B), a predominantly Irish-American unit, and the “Lafayette Guards” (Company A), which drew heavily from the city’s French-Canadian population. These men were citizen-soldiers in the truest sense—shoemakers, mill workers, and grocery clerks who were suddenly transformed into soldiers. 

Soon after, the 1st New Hampshire Infantry sailed to France and became the First Army Headquarters Regiment. Most of the rest of the state militia was assigned to the 26th Division and fought in six campaigns in France. Lt. William H. Jutras was assigned to 26th Division, 103d Infantry, Company A, also known as the storied “26th Yankee Division” for its preponderance of the division’s New England origins.

William M. Jutras of Manchester stands as the quintessential representative of the NH Guard’s transformation. A shoemaker/cobbler who had served in the National Guard, Jutras was part of the Company A (Lafayette Guards) deployment to Laredo. After returning in February 1917, he briefly resumed his civilian life before being commissioned as a First Lieutenant for the WWI deployment.

Jutras’s experience in Texas provided the leadership foundation for his actions in France. On September 26, 1918, during the offensive near Riaville, Jutras volunteered for a “suicide mission” to establish liaison with a neighboring company while under heavy machine-gun and minenwerfer bombardment. Although mortally wounded, he delivered his message, saving his platoon from annihilation. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and today, his name is immortalized in “Jutras Post” and “Jutras Square” in Manchester. 

An addendum to the story is that three men–Andreas Nilsen (a Red Cross man from North Dakota), Cyrus Wallace (of Dexter, Maine), and Corporal Herve L’Heureux (of Manchester, NH) volunteered to help recover the badly wounded Jutras from the battlefield, despite the grave dangers. They were successful; however, Jutras died shortly afterward.

Two months prior to his death, Jutras had been promoted from 2nd LT to 1st Lt.  In his last letter home to his parents, dated September 8, 1918, Jutras wrote that he was well and said, “Don’t worry, I am always enjoying the best health and am always on the job. Believe me, I love it. This is the life for a man who wants to work, and you can imagine how proud I am of my commission as First Lieutenant.”

The body of William H. Jutras was brought home for burial and placed in St. Augustin Cemetery, in the Jutras family plot. Governor Albert Q. Brown, unable to attend the funeral due to official duties, sent the following telegram to the Jutras Post Officers: “I shall be unable to stand with you at the bier of Lieutenant Jutras, but his name and fame will remain with me while memory endures. Let us bear in mind that it is not the length of life but the fullness that makes for service and for glory.”

US Service Personnel Profiles
 By Gary Ledoux February 18, 2026