Woodruff Perkins was Nevada born and reared. His parents were pioneers of Clark County, where Woodruff was born (at St. Thomas), December 19, 1894. He was raised in the farming community of Overton, spending most of his life on the farm and becoming, eventually, especially successful as a cantaloupe grower. He grew to be a young man of more than ordinary ability, and some of his few public talks and actions are well remembered in the community. On September 9, 1917, when the first contingent from Clark County entrained for Camp Lewis, Woodruff Perkins was among them. He had been one of the first to waive his number and offer himself for America’s citizen army. After his arrival at American Lake, he was first assigned to Company M, 362d Infantry, of the 91st Division, but later was transferred to Company G, 164th Infantry, 41st Division, and with this unit left for Camp Mills, Long Island, on November 12th, 1917.

These troops sailed on the “Leviathan” on December 15th and on the 24th were landed at Liverpool, England. Private Perkins remained in the Islands until the 18th of January (1918), when he was sent to France, having been again transferred, this time to Company D, 26th Infantry, 1st Division. From January 30th until the 2d of April the 1st Division held a sector to the eastward of St. Mihiel. There he joined them on March 6th. By the 5th of April the 26th Division had replaced the 1st, and the latter had been withdrawn for further training. In the same month the division was sent north to the Montdidier region fully drilled and equipped for combat operations. They relieved two French divisions on the 25th and immediately afterward prepared to assault the important observation stations on the heights of Cantigny.

On the 16th of May (1918), Private Perkins was fatally wounded during the preliminary fighting, and passed away the same day. His division was the first in the American army to take part in an assault operation, and so well did they meet the trust imposed in them that the Armies of the Allies were electrified at our success and the Germans were dismayed. Less than two weeks after the death of our Nevada lad, the First carried the heights above Cantigny “with splendid dash,” as General Pershing has said, (May 28, 1918), and the Germans were fighting furiously to regain their lost advantages. From the day they entered the sector until they had crushed the enemy, the men of the First Division showed a determined courage altogether worthy of the term “American.” It cost us many of our best young man, among them were many Nevadans, but it sounded the knell of Prussian tyranny and the future success of our cause. The young hero’s father survives him. He is William A. Perkins of Overton, Clark County, Nevada. On August 11, 1918, Memorial Services were held in Las Vegas in honor of the memory of Woodruff Perkins and Frank S. Fuller, the first two young men of the County to give their lives for their Country.