This article is a continuation from the previous Antique City Roots of January 2025. We were searching for the burial place of James Fredrick McLoud, because his name is included on the memorial at the Walnut City Park. After extensive research, we discovered that James McLoud is buried in Luxembourg under his alias, Fred O. Long. Interestingly, his grandfather A. Daniel McLoud was listed in the Civil War Pension Index as having an alias of William Lang or Long.
Mrs. V. A. (Vinnie) McLoud had received a telegram on Wednesday morning, January 10, 1945. “The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret that your son, P.F.C. James McLoud was killed in action on twenty-seven December in Luxembourg. Confirming letter follows. Dunlop the acting Adjutant General.” There was no mention of his place of burial in that issue of The Walnut Bureau dated January 11thnor any other issue. A memorial service was held on March 25th in the Walnut School auditorium at 2:30 P.M. under the auspices of the Walnut American Legion Post No. 422. James was survived by his mother and his sister of Walnut and his young wife of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He had two children, who were not mentioned in the Walnut paper.
James McLoud’s parents, Lorenzo D. McLoud and Vinnie Alice Burgdorf were married at Eldora, Iowa on January 2, 1896. Children born to them were Bernice, born on November 27, 1899, and James, born on August 8, 1915. The newspaper from Marshalltown, Iowa of June 23, 1916 stated that Vinnie filed suit for separate maintenance against Lorenzo, claiming desertion in August, 1915. She asked for $100 suit money and $75 a month for the maintenance of herself and their 16-year-old daughter, Bernice. Why wasn’t James listed as his son?
Vinnie McLoud and her two children, Bernice and James moved to Walnut, Iowa in 1918. An article in the Walnut Bureau on February 21, 1918 said Mrs. McLoud of Waterloo, had taken possession of the millinery establishment of Mrs. Jennie Folk.
By 1930, Vinnie was alone and living in Orange County, California and James lived in Walnut with his sister, Bernice, and her husband, Raymond Wolf, and their son, Jack. James McLoud was in the class entering Walnut High School on Aug. 31, 1931. Among his classmates were Bill Donohoe and Geraldine Redman. Jack left school during the Junior year. (Walnut Bureau, May 30, 1935, p. 4) Vinnie McLoud was back in Walnut in 1940, living with her daughter Bernice Wolf when she received notification of the death of James.
James McLoud married Culah Pierce on April 24,1936 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They had two children, Jimmy O. and Jennie. James entered the service October 22, 1942, and received his training at Ft. Knox and Ft. Campbell, Ky. as a mechanic in the heavy tank division. He left for foreign service in September, 1944, served with General Patton’s Third Army, and was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
When we searched on FamilySearch for James Fredrick McLoud, we found he had an alias of Fred O. Long. This was confirmed on the Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, which listed Fred O. Long’s next of kin as his sister, Bernice Wolf. He is buried in the Luxembourg American Cemetery at Hamm, Luxembourg, Plot D, Row 7, Grave 3. His cross gravestone says FRED O. LONG, PFC 328th Infantry, 26th Division, IOWA, DEC 27, 1944. His service number was 37442043 and he was awarded a Purple Heart. The photo on his Findagrave memorial 55963401 was taken by soilsister.
KH