Attendees mark Sgt. Jacobs' 93rd birthday on Monday

The July 20, 1944 edition of the Sidney Sun Telegraph reported that Sgt. Alfred P. “Jake” Jacobs of the 2nd Battalion Marine Regiment Unit D26 was killed in action in the Pacific theater of war. Jacobs was stationed in Iceland when the war began, and he was transferred to the Pacific theater where he was stationed on New Zealand before new drives in the mid-Pacific started. He had four and one half years of service in the Marines, and he was noted for fighting in the Guadalcanal battle and Tarawa before he was killed in action at Saipan on June 15, 1944. Jacobs was 23-years-old.

Jerry Wachsmuth, also age 23, was in the same foxhole that Jacobs died in; Wachsmuth survived. Recently, Wachsmuth contacted Doris Jensen at the Sidney Public Library to ask if she could help him find out where Jacobs was buried. Jensen was touched by his story, so she began research.

When Jensen discovered that Jacob’s birthday would have been on April 8, she decided that something special should be done to memorialize him on his birthday.

To mark what would have been Jacob’s 93rd birthday, members of the Sterling, Colorado American Legion Post 20 and the Peetz, Colorado American Legion Post 134, Sidney Public Library staff, Larry Nelson and Les Larson placed flags and flowers on Jacob’s grave at Greenwood Cemetery. Words were spoken by a few of the attendees.

Pictures of the event will be sent to Wachsmuth, who resides in Mount Vernon, Washington. His birthday will be on May 5.

One bouquet of flowers was sent by Wachsmuth and John Oberg. The flowers that the Sterling American Legion members brought were donated by Cattleya Floral in Sterling, Colorado.

Those in attendance were: Les Larson, Larry Nelson, Vickie Morlock, Doris Jensen, Stephanie Mika, Sandy Nelson, Eileen Nightingale, Dewey Dillenburg, Dennis Lambert, Darwin Bierman, Paul Fehringer, Larry Wooldridge and Don Gehrig.