John C. Persons

John Cecil Persons (May 9, 1888 – December 22, 1974) was a lawyer, banker, and highly decorated officer in the United States Army and Alabama National Guard, who is most noted as the commanding general of the 31st Infantry Division during World War II.

Persons began his career as a lawyer and later served as an infantry officer during World War I, when he distinguished himself during the Second Battle of the Marne. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest decoration of the United States Army, and remained active in the Alabama National Guard after the war. Following the United States' entry into World War II, Persons commanded the 31st Infantry Division in the Southwest Pacific theatre.

Persons graduated with Bachelor of Laws degree in 1910 and following the admission to the Alabama bar, he began practicing law in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He also served for a year as Treasurer of the University of Alabama and was appointed city attorney of Tuscaloosa in 1915.

Persons died following a stroke on December 22, 1974, aged 86, in St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery there together with his wife, Elonia Dudley Hutchinson. They had together two daughters, Alice Virginia and Elonia.