Julian Willis Messerly was born at Washington Township, Webster County, Iowa on January 15, 1924. He was the tenth of eleven children of Walter Lonzo Messerly (4 Aug 1883 – 5 Sep 1956), who was born at Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa; and Anna Maria 'Mayme' (Lang) Messerly (7 May 1888 – 11 Jan 1973), who was born at Mendota, LaSalle County, Illinois. His parents married about 1906. By 1940 the family home was at 1432 Central Avenue, Fort Dodge, Iowa. His father was a farmer; in 1942 his father worked for the Works Progress Administration in Webster County, Iowa.

Julian Messerly completed four years of high school and worked as a shipping and receiving clerk in Webster County, Iowa. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Camp Dodge, Herrold, Iowa, on February 17, 1943.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and flight engineering training, and was assigned as a gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Walter W. McCarty. In December 1943 the McCarty crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. There is a photo of the McCarty crew that was taken in March 1944 at Herington, Kansas, the first stop during the overseas deployment. They flew B-24H 42-52739 overseas via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at U.S. Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Here is Lt McCarty's crew roster on May 30, 1944:

B-24H 42-52739 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• McCarty, Walter W – 2/Lt – Pilot – Safe
• Atkins, Richard S – F/O – Copilot – Safe
• Spoerl, Raymond G – F/O – Navigator – Safe
• George, Willard J – 2/Lt – Bombardier – Safe
• Horton, John W – T/Sgt – Engineer – Safe
• Sweeney, Fred C – Sgt – Radio Operator – Safe
• Messerly, Julian W – Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – MIA
• Coles, Keith E – Sgt – Gunner – Safe
• Williams, Robert L – Sgt – Gunner – Safe
• Blaha, Henry W – S/Sgt – Gunner – Safe

On May 30, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group's primary target was the airfield at Handorf, a suburb of Munster, Germany. Lt McCarty's ship, B-24H 42-52739 'Red Growler', had two engines shot out by flak in the target area. On the return, another engine quit and Lt McCarty ditched the aircraft in the North Sea in the vicinity of some fishing vessels at about 52°20'N, 02°20'E, some 10 miles out from Lowestoft, England. All crew members except Sgt Messerly were able to board life rafts and were rescued. Sgt Messerly was last seen clinging to the tail of the aircraft. He may have been injured and unable to move. Before he could be reached, both he and the aircraft sank. His body was never recovered.

He is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. He also has a cenotaph at North Lawn Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where his parents are buried.

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com