News About Adams County
Men and Women in the Service
Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Long received a letter from their son Jerry who was recently inducted into service telling them that he is located at Camp Wolters, Texas. He said he was getting along fine.
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, April 29, 1943, Page 4
News About Adams County
Men and Women in the Service
Pvt. Jerry Long returned to his camp Friday, July 16, after spending a five-day leave in the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Long and Robert in Corning. Jerry has completed his thirteen weeks training at Camp Wolters, Texas.
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, July 29, 1943, Page 5
News About Adams County
Men and Women in the Service
Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Long of Corning have received a letter from their son, Jerry Long, who is now located in North Africa and he tells them he is O. K.
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, October 28, 1943, Page 4
Jerry Long Is Reported Missing In Action
In Italy Since Jan. 23
WORD RECEIVED HERE MONDAY
No Letters From Him In Eight Weeks
The horrors of war were brought more vividly home to this community Monday morning when a telegram from the War Department, to Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Long of Corning, announced that their son, Pvt. Jerry T. Long was missing in action in Italy. The telegram was of the usual form and read as follows:
“The secretary of war desires me to express his deep regret that your son, Pvt. Jerry T. Long, has been reported missing in action since January 23, 1944 in Italy. If further details of other information are received, you will be promptly notified.”
The family of the young man have been pretty much concerned over his welfare for several weeks. In the past his letters arrived quite regularly but eight weeks ago mail from him ceased to arrive and nothing had been heard from him during that period, until the telegram from the War department came Monday.
Jerry was only 18 years old and has been in the armed forces about a year, having enlisted when he entered service. He had hoped to get into the Navy but after about four months training was sent overseas and was assigned to the 36th Division in Italy.
The report on Pvt. Long brings the Adams County casualty list in World War Two to 13, not including 11 who are prisoners of war. [illegible.]
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, March 16, 1944, Page 1
War Dept. Declares Jerry Long Dead
Still Missing
Some weeks ago Pvt. Jerry Thomas Long, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Long of Corning, was reported missing in action in Italy. Recently Mrs. Long received from the War Department some of the detail of the action in which her son was lost. The letter said:
“An additional report has now been received n the War Department which discloses that on the night of 23 January 1944 Private Long’s regiment attacked the enemy across the Rapido River in the vicinity of Trodice and San Angelo, Italy. As they proceeded to cross the river, they were subjected to heavy mortar, artillery and small-arms fire an by late the next afternoon the regiment was forced to withdraw. Your son did not return from this engagement and was reported missing in action.”
There is still hope that Pvt. Long may have been taken prisoner but the circumstances related in the letter are all the facts known at this time.
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, July 27, 1944, Page 1
War Dept. Declares Jerry Long Dead
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Long, residing south of Corning, have been officially notified by the War Department that their son, Jerry T. Long, has been listed as dead, so far as the records of the department are concerned. Jerry was reported missing in action on January 23, 1944, when his unit undertook a very hazardous crossing of the Rapido river and confronted the enemy.
Since that time relatives and friends have been faithfully hoping that more encouraging information would come but as he weeks and months rolled by without any further word, hopes for his return have gradually dwindled. Now, the War Department has likewise given up hope and has declared Jerry dead, setting the “presumptive date as April 18, 1945, although in all probability actual death occurred in January, 1944.
The following letter, received by Mr. and Mrs. Long, explains the policy of the War Department in such uncertain cases:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Long:
Since your son, Private Jerry T. Long, 37.666.057, Infantry, was reported missing in action 23 January 1944, the War Department has entertained the hope that he survived and that information would be received dispelling the uncertainty surrounding his absence. However, as in many cases, the conditions of warfare deny us such information.
Public Law 490, 77th Congress, as amended, provides for a review and determination of the status of each person who has been missing in action for twelve months. Accordingly, your son’s case was reviewed and he was continued in the status of missing in action as of January 1945. The law further provides that a subsequent review shall be made whenever warranted. Upon such subsequent review the making of a finding of death is authorized.
All available records and reports concerning the absence of your son have been carefully investigated and are deemed to warrant a subsequent review in his case. Information in the hands of the War Department indicates that you son participated in the particularly difficult and hazardous undertaking of crossing the Rapido River in west central Italy, in the face of extremely heavy artillery, machine gun, mortar and small arms fire from the enemy, coupled with the swift current of the river and countless enemy anti-personnel mines on the opposite bank.
Since no information has been received which would support a presumption of his continued survival the War Department must not terminate your son’s absence by a presumptive finding of death. Accordingly, an official finding of death has been recorded. The finding does not establish an actual of probably date of death; however, as required by law, it includes a presumptive date of death for the purposes of termination of pay and allowances, settlement of accounts and payment of death gratuities. In the case of your son, this date has been set as 18 April 1945.
I regret the necessity for this message but trust that the ending of a long period of uncertainty may give at least some small measure of consolation. An appraisal of the sacrifice made by your son in the service of his country compels in us feelings of humility and respect. May Providence grant a measure of relief from the anguish and anxiety you have experienced during these many months.
Sincerely yours,
J. A. Ulto
Major General,
The Adjutant General.
Source: Adams County Free Press, Corning, Iowa, Thursday, May 03, 1945, Page 6
Jerry Thomas Long was born Sept. 28, 1924 to Thomas Wesley and Margaret May Mateer Long. He died Jan. 23, 1944/FOD Apr. 18, 1945 and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.
Pvt. Long served in World War II with the U.S. Army 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Sources: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
