Jesse was born on the 2nd of December 1877, in St Paul, Minnesota, and while I cannot find the date when, I was able to find that he enlisted in the US Marine Corps and did serve with the 13th Minnesota Infantry during the Spanish-American War. Five years after the war, Jesse received a commission to Second Lieutenant and reported to the Marine Barracks at Annapolis, Maryland. In 1904, he reported to the Philippines as a First Lieutenant and then would be transferred to the USS Cincinnati, Washington DC,  Guantanamo Bay, back to Washington DC, and Panama. When Jesse reported to Camp Elliot in the Panama Canal Zone in 1913, he was a Captain and participated in the Banana Wars. It was his actions one year later when he was a company commander in Vera Cruz, that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

For distinguished conduct in battle, engagements of Vera Cruz, 21-22 April 1914; was in both days' fighting at the head of his company, and was eminent and conspicuous in his conduct, leading his men with skill and courage.

Three years later, Jesse was promoted to Major and was transferred to the Virgin Islands and was the aid to the island’s governor for almost two years. After some expeditionary tours in Haiti and China in the 1920s and early 1930s, he attended the Army War College at Fort McNair and went on to the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Jesse was promoted to Colonel after graduating and was assigned to be the Fleet Marine Officer for the Asiatic Fleet while on board the USS Houston, followed by the USS Augusta. He spent the final three years of his active service in the States and retired in September of 1937.

Jesse was married to Nellie and they had one daughter, Marcia, and he did receive, what was known as, a tombstone promotion to the rank of Brigadier General in February of 1942 while on the retired list. Jesse Farley Dyer died on the 31st of March 1955 at the age of 77 due to a cerebral hemorrhage. He is buried in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California: Section P, Grave 1606.