Alphonse Joseph Letourneau was born in Canada on December 22, 1894, and emmigrated to Massachusetts in 1905. His WW1 draft card shows his birth year as 1895. The 1920 census records show him as a boarder in New Bedford, Mass.; so it is not clear if he came to the US with his parents. The 1930 census shows him living in Rochestor, New Hampshire with his wife, Blanche, and 3 children. The 1940 census shows him living in Sanford, Maine with his wife and 4 children. He died August 14, 1974 in New Bedford, Mass.
Corporal Letourneau was inducted into the service on October 4, 1917 in New Bedford, and was discharged January 25, 1919 in Camp Upton, New York. He was wounded in action October 16, 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. His records indicate he was in the battles of the Argonne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, plus Defensive Sector.
Corporal Letourneau's group consists of his WW1 uniform tunic with corporal stripes, wound stripe, overseas stripe, discharge stripe, 82nd Division patch and USNA and Infantry D disks. Also included is his overseas cap with US 326 disk, named and numbered dogtag with its neck chain. Note that the dogtag is his wartime tag with the unit xxx'd out. Only the name and serial number are on the dogtag. The following medals are included: WW1 officially engraved WIA Purple Heart, edge numbered 16163, 3 bar WW1 Victory medal, and City of New Bedford WW1 Service medal. Also included is his original Massachusetts service record produced in 1985, probably at a collector's request, plus copies of internet research. As of 2015, this group has moved to an avid WW1 collector.
