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| Seaman 1/c Carl Jacobson served on the cruiser USS Savannah until it was hit by a German gravity bomb at Salerno. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48148399/carl-helge-jacobson https://www.navsource.org/archives/04/042/0404209.jpg |
Carl Helge Jacobson never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Announcement: In just a few days we will be starting a project that will result in the stories of all 400,000 plus of the World War 2 fallen at one online location. There will be an accompanying smart phone app to allow users visiting any war memorial to scan the fallen serviceman's name and be linked to his story. Watch this blog or join the WW2 Fallen 100 Facebook page to learn of upcoming details.
He was born on February 11, 1920 in Kansas. His parents Nels and Helga (lived to age 101) were born in Sweden and Kansas, respectively. Helga's parents were from Sweden. Nels worked as a garage laborer in 1920, but was not on the 1930's census. Helga worked as a public school teacher and lived with her parents. Carl had one older brother. By 1940 Carl was living with his married older brother. Carl had completed three years of high school and found work as a retail clerk.
He was drafted into the navy in July 1941. He became a seaman first class serving on the light cruiser USS Savannah. Savannah provided naval support for the invasion on North Africa in November 1942. In the spring of 1943 it was on patrol in the South Atlantic. In the summer of 1943 it took part in the invasion of Sicily.
On September 5 Savannah was on hand for the invasion of Salerno. Six days later on September 11, 1943 Savannah was hit by a radio controlled Fritz X PGM gravity bomb. It caused extensive damage, killing 197 men including Seaman Jacobson, but the crew was able to save the ship from sinking.
His grave is at Elmwood Cemetery in Lindsborg, Kansas.
DANIEL JAMES JR.
Daniel "Chappie" James was born on the exact same date as Carl Jacobson. Daniel was born in Pensacola, Florida. He graduated from Tuskegee University in 1942. He learned to fly as a civilian and was an instructor at Tuskegee Army Airfield. He joined the Army Air Forces and in January 1944 he was sent to Europe, but did not see combat.
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_James_Jr. |
Last year on this date I profiled Anthony Damman, 32nd Infantry Division. You can read about Anthony here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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