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Y3c Robert Woods Jackson
On what would have been Robert Woods Jackson’s 20th birthday, his father received a telegram saying he was missing after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
It would be another month before the Navy sent a second telegram confirming Mr. Jackson’s death. He was a yeoman and petty officer third class when he was killed on the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941.
Mr. Jackson was born Dec. 21, 1921 in Glenwood in southwest Iowa to Marion Dean Jackson, a farmer, and Eula Frances Woods Jackson, a homemaker. She died when Robert was two.
He attended nearby Tabor HIgh School for three years before graduating from Glenwood High in 1939. He was a member of the Iowa National Guard for two years and enlisted in the Navy a few days after his 18th birthday.
A memorial service honored him in February 1942 at Glenwood Methodist church. The Daily Nonpareil newspaper in Council Bluffs described the service in detail, including the words of one of the pastors. “The Rev. Mr. (Ralph) Fagan, basing his address on the prophecy ‘By His Stripes are we Healed,’ called on the American people to leave off their sense of false security, their self-esteem, and their worship of ease and luxury and to return to hard work, righteousness and godliness.”
Mr. Jackson’s older brother, Donald, served in the Navy from 1942 to 1946.
Sources: Malvern (Iowa) Leader; the Opinion-Tribune of Glenwood, Iowa; Iowa birth index; application for WWII service compensation; Iowa cemetery record; VA death file; Navy muster roll. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
NOTE: If you are a family member related to this crew member of the U.S.S. Arizona, or have additional information, pictures or documents to share about his life or service to our county please contact us through our FAMILY MEMBER SUBMISSION FORM.