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| Lt. William Jacobs was an instructor in the 57th Infantry Regiment and died in a Japanese prison camp. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70498121 http://www.oocities.org/afpmuseum/ww2/ww2page.html |
William E. Jacobs never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 21, 1917 in Nebraska. His father was also born in Nebraska and his mother was born in Kansas. All four of his grandparents were born in Germany. His father worked as a produce dealer and later as a fruit peddler. William had two younger sisters. By 1940 William had graduated from the University of Nebraska and was enrolled in law school.
He probably became an officer through ROTC. In April 1940 the army sent him to the Philippines. He became a first lieutenant in Company B, 1st Battalion, 57th Infantry Regiment also known as the Philippine Scouts. The 57th IR was engaged in fighting the enemy from the beginning of WW2 until the American forces in Bataan surrendered on May 10, 1942. They had to fight a better supplied enemy with obsolete weapons, limited ammunition, and inadequate stores of food and medicine.
Lt. Jacobs survived the Bataan Death March, but we was unable to survive the harsh prisoner of war conditions. He died on December 6, 1942.
His grave is at Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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