Lester Henry Jacobs was born September 1, 1898, at Morgan Hill, California. When three years of age he moved with his parents to Henry, South Dakota, where he lived until he was ten, going then to Medford, Oregon. His education was received in the Medford Public Schools and in the high school at Shedd (Oregon) of which he was a graduate. Later he was interested with his father in a grocery concern at Medford, known as the Bungalow Store. In 1916, he moved to Esmeralda County, Nevada, where he worked in the mines with his uncle, Willis P. Lawrence, a mining engineer of Goldfield.

Lester remained in Goldfield until the month of May, 1917, when he returned to Medford on a visit and, while there, enlisted in the Marine Corps, June 19th, 1917. Lester was an ardent patriot and was not to be balked on account of his eighteen years from entering the service. He therefore added the required number of years to his age when he applied at the recruiting station. At it transpired, however, the move was unnecessary as his parents were of the kind who were willing to give their boy when the Nation called, and would have thrown no obstacles in his way. He was first sent to Mare Island, California, training station for eight or ten weeks, and then to the training station at Quantico, Virginia. From there he went to Galveston, Texas, and in May, 1918, sailed for France. He was in the 23d Company, 6th (Marine) Machine Gun Battalion of the 2d Division. On July 18th, 1918, the 2d Division, of which one brigade (the 4th) was Marines, took part in the great allied counter-offensive of that date. It was the day that marked the beginning of the allied advance in earnest against the Germans, which was to end only when the enemy had been beaten and disarmed under the terms of the Armistice. Five American divisions took part in the offensive, each separated from the other by French divisions, and part of them acting directly with the French. These were the 1st, which advanced upon Berzy-le-Sec, farther south the 2d whose movement was toward Tigny, next the 4th, brigaded with the II and VII French Corps, then the 26th, in a line through Belleau and Vaux, and finally the 3d, on the Marne, east of Chateau Thierry. Later the 42d, 32d, 28th, and 77th entered the fight.

The 2d Division occupied its position only two days (July 18-19) and it was on the second day, the 19th, that Lester Jacobs was hit. That morning he had said to a comrade, “We are sure going to be some place today all right, the way these shells are coming over.” A little later, a shell struck in the second platoon, killing its commander, Lieutenant Jones, and five of the boys, among whom was Lester. He was carried back into a wine cave, unconscious, where he soon after passed away, and they buried him in the little cemetery at Vierzy, with the shells still bursting above them. One of his friends in the same Company has said: “Lester was a man if God ever made one. He knew God had called him and abided by it. He was so fine and happy in all his relations with us that we felt his loss more than the others. His fine, clear-cut appearance and neatness, combined with his ability to share and bear all the hardships of campaigning, made him one of the most popular fellows in our battalion.” Besides his parents, Jay W. and Mary E. Jacobs, two brothers, Leland W. and Milan B. Jacobs, all of 409 N. Riverside, Medford, Oregon, survive him.