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Obituaries

Sgt. Nelson N. Long Jr. | Iraq veteran, 36

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A memorial service for Sgt. First Class Nelson N. Long Jr. will be at 4 p.m. tomorrow at Grose Funeral Home, 358 W. Washington Ave., Myerstown, in Lebanon County. Friends may call from 2 p.m. Burial will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, Pa.

Sgt. Long, 36, a decorated veteran of the war in Iraq, died Thursday in a single-car accident in Lebanon County.

Last month, Sgt. Long, who served with a Pennsylvania Army National Guard company in Phoenixville, was honored at the Eagles-Bears game.

In October 2006, he had been driving at the front of an ammunition convoy in Iraq when a vehicle behind him was hit. He extinguished the flames and with the help of a medic extracted the injured driver and three passengers. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Liberty USO's Service Member of the Year award.

After graduating from Eastern Lebanon County High School, where he was a lineman on the football team, Sgt. Long joined the Marine Corps and served in Operation Desert Storm and in Somalia. He joined the National Guard after his discharge from the Marines in 1994.

For 14 years, he was a truck driver for Associated Wholesalers Inc. in Robesonia, Pa.

Sgt. Long was a member of the Polar Bear Club, whose members jumped into a quarry in Richland, Pa. every New Year's Day. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and his dogs.

He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Daphne K. Makaila Long; his parents, Nelson and Shirley Long; a son, Neil; stepchildren Mandy Griffe and Lopaka Kimura; and five sisters.