May have mistakes Benton County Guide Friday, Feb. 8, 1946 L. F. JACOBS DECLARED DEAD Mrs. Claus Steffens of Cole Camp received word from her daughter last week of the death of her son, Lee Francis Jacobs, only son of Mrs. Katherine Jacobs of Canton, Illinois. Seaman first class Jacobs had been reported as missing in action since March, 1944 when the USS Grayback, a submarine on which he was serving, failed to return from patrol operations in the Pacific area. The following item in part was taken from a newspaper published at Peoria, Illinois: "On February 3, 1944, the Grayback left from Midway Island to patrol waters in the Western Pacific where she was likely to encounter the enemy. On February 25, 1944 the submarine reported having had an engagement with the enemy in which hits had been obtained on two enemy vessels, but did not indicate that she herself had been damaged. Thereafter, the Grayback was unreported and messages to her attempting to establish her location were unanswered. "In view of the length of time that has now elapsed since your son was determined to be missing and because there have been no reports that any personnel of the vessel survived or were taken prisoners of war, I am reluctanlty forced to the conclusion that your son is deceased." Lee Francis is survived by his mother and a sister. He is a grandson of Mrs. Claus Steffens of Cole Camp. His father passed away several years ago. Typed as found. Denise Brauer Hoehns rwbrauer@iland.net