In Memory of U.S. Army Private First Class
Bertus John Jurgens
Chancellor, South Dakota
Turner County
November 20, 1911 – October 31, 1944
Killed in Action in France
Bertus John Jurgens was born November 20, 1911, on a farm near Chancellor, South Dakota, to John W. and Martha Kruse Jurgens. He had a sister, Tillie. His family moved into Chancellor when he was still a small boy. Bertus was educated in the local school and graduated from Chancellor High School in 1929. Bertus first worked for several local businesses, but then he bought a service station and truck line in Chancellor in 1937. Bertus was active in community affairs and the Germantown Presbyterian Church. Respected and well-liked in the community, Bertus, “was a favorite uncle to his nephew, Stuart, and his nieces, Marjo and Jewel,” according to Jewel Ulfers Sweeter. She remembers, “He was always ready to entertain us with games, fishing, or a ride in his gas truck, and was a regular Sunday visitor in our home.”
On December 7, 1942, Bertus was inducted into the service at 31 years of age. First trained at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, for a year, Jurgens was then sent for further training in radio and code and “became proficient as a driver.” From there he was transferred to Camp Howze, Texas, and then the East Coast, from where he shipped out to the European theater in August of 1944. First stationed in Italy for two months, Pfc. Jurgens entered France on October 8, 1944.
Private First Class Bertus Jurgens was killed in action on October 31, 1944, near Epinal, France. In a letter from the War Department memorializing Bertus, General Marshall wrote, “Our brother fought valiantly in the supreme hour of our country’s need and his memory will live in the grateful hearts of our nation.”
Bertus Jurgens was the first serviceman from Chancellor to be lost in the war and thus, the American Legion Post #283 in Chancellor bears his name. Although originally buried in France, Bertus’s remains were returned to the United States after the war and “he is buried next to his parents, his sister and her husband, and his nephew, John Ulfers, whom he never knew, who was killed in the Vietnam Conflict on November 27, 1968.”
Bertus Jurgens was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his service.
Preceded in death by his parents, Bertus was survived by his stepmother, Martha Jurgens, his sister, Tillie Ulfers, a step-sister, Angeline Meyer, and six step-brothers: Menno, Herman, August, Bert, Enno, and Ernie Plucker as well as a host of other family and friends.
This entry was respectfully submitted by Sheila Hansen, Fallen Sons State Coordinator, Spearfish, SD. Information for this entry was provided by Jewel Ulfers Sweeter, Worthing, SD, “in loving memory” of Bertus Jurgens.
