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Delong died for freedom
Joe-Delong4WEB
Warren County native Joe Delong is why Americans remember those who died in military on Memorial Day. He was born June 18, 1947. At 19 years old, he was captured in Vietnam and turned 20 in a Cambodia jungle prison camp. On Nov. 8, 1967, he died trying to escape. Delongs remains have never been recovered.

Memorial Day is an American holiday on which those who died in military service are remembered. Sgt. Joe Lynn Delong is one of those.
Delong was born June 18, 1947 in Warren County and was a resident of Irving College. He graduated from Irving College High School in 1966. He was drafted and arrived in South Vietnam on Feb. 22, 1967.
Edwin Lewis is his nephew.
“I was in first grade when Joe was a senior at Irving College,” said Lewis. “I remember running out to the playground and him picking me up, him taking me to my grandmother’s house and dropping me off. Then, I remember him in his uniform with his buzz haircut. My sister was just a baby. She cried every time Joe held her until right at the end. We got a picture of her not crying with him holding her.”
Those memories would be some of the last for his family. Delong was captured less than two months after arriving in South Vietnam.
“Joe was a replacement,” said Lewis. “He was only over there for two months before he was captured. He got there Feb. 22 and was captured May 18. He was 19 when he got captured. He turned 20 years old in a Cambodia jungle prison camp. I’ve talked to two guys that were POWs with him. They had a tough time talking about the experience of being a prisoner of war. There’s only two of those guys still living now. There were nine of them altogether. Six of them came back and there’s only two of them living.”
SP4 Nathan B. Henry was one of those who returned.
“Nathan came here,” said Lewis. “I was a little boy so I didn’t know what was going on at that time. He and Joe made a pact together that if something happens to either of them, the other would go tell their family. Nathan made it back so he came here and told the family what happened. It was rough on him to do that, I’m sure, but they made a pact and Joe didn’t come back.”
Delong was a rifleman serving as a machine gunner on a company-size, search-and-destroy operation just east of the South Vietnamese/Cambodian border. As Delong’s company moved through a forested area laced with groves of bamboo and scattered grass-covered clearings approximately five miles north of the Ia Drang Valley, Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, it came under fire from a communist force.
Delong'’s platoon was cut off and overrun. He was initially reported as missing in action. However, shortly thereafter, captured VC soldiers reported Delong had been captured and his status was immediately upgraded to prisoner of war.
On Nov. 6, 1967, Delong attempted to escape along with four members of his platoon. Delong clubbed a guard and took his rifle way from him. The POWs moved through to jungle in an east to southeasterly direction. Several hours after they escaped, other prisoners heard shots in the distance. Within a short period of time, all but Delong were returned to the prison camp.
On Nov. 8, VC officers showed the prisoners blood-stained clothing that was positively identified as belonging to Delong. The VC told them he was dead and if they tried to escape again, they would end up the same way. That date was Nov. 8, 1967.
Delong’s remains have never been recovered.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community