Herbert Paul Lentz memorial, Union Cemetery, Slatington, Pennsylvania; image credit
Herbert Paul Lentz (15 January 1897 - 6 December 1917) died when his destroyer, the USS Jacob Jones (DD-61), was torpedoed and sank in the Irish Sea. He was twenty years old.
Seaman Lentz, who grew up in Slatington, was the first in Lehigh County to die in military service in the First World war. He was living in Allentown when he entered navy service in February 1916. At 420 local time on 6 December 1917, the destroyer, returning from France, was struck amidships by a torpedo. The ship sank in minutes. Forty-three men were eventually saved; two were captured by the U-boat; sixty-eight men died. A survivor said that Lentz fell overboard while trying to save another man. His body was not recovered. He is listed on the family grave in Union Cemetery, Slatington, Pennsylvania, and he is recorded among the missing at Suresnes American Cemetery, Paris, France.
Prewar listed occupation: machinist at the Traylor Engineering Company
Draft registration listed home address: Allentown, Pennsylvania
Family
father Arckless E. Lentz, 1874-1935
mother Lizzie A. Seibert, 1872-1931
sister Lottie L. Lentz, 1894-1970 (Thomas)
Brother Gordon D. Lentz, 1906-1968