HomeMy WebLinkAboutDale R. Jackson, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin
Special fo The Eagle
Dale R. Jackson of Bryan is a retired minister who
believes: "If you are a minister, you never retire. You
may not be leading a church but you never quit serving
God."
Now, at age 83, the World War II veteran serves as
chaplain forVFW Post 4692 in Bryan.
Jackson, who still has that booming pulpit voice,
states, "I was born in Greenfield, Indiana, in 1924 as
the oldest of nine children. As a small child on my
mother's knee, she would say, 'This is going to be my
little preacher man.' Both my parents were devout
Christians, and I headed toward the ministry at an
early age, even attending a Methodist youth school and
conducting some services during my teenage years.
"But in April 1943 I received my draft notice. I wasn't
too thrilled, as I had other plans for my life. My Dad, who
was a veteran of World War I, took me aside and said,
`The Army experience will serve you well, even in the
worst of times.' So, like an obedient son, I headed off to
the Army. And he was right.
"I was inducted at Ft. Benjamin Harrison. The things
I remember were all the shots we had to take and guys
passing out, some before they even had the shots. We
were placed on a train and we took a long, long train
ride to Ft. Polk, Louisiana, for our basic training.
"I had an appendicitis attack and had my appendix
removed shortly before I was drafted, so I wasn't in the
best physical condition when we started basic training.
With that and spending a summer in the swamps of Ft.
Polk, basic training was difficult forme.
"Fortunately for me, someone decided after reviewing
my record and test scores to send me to Omaha,
Nebraska, for ordnance repair school. It was a lot better
than the swamps of Ft. Polk. I spent three months there
before going home on leave. After leave, I joined my unit
at Camp Shelby, Alabama, where I became the company
mail clerk, which made me a popular fellow.
"We shipped to New Rochelle, New York, where we
boarded a British ship headed for England. That ship
smelled offish and we were served fish for most every
meal. The meals were served down in the hold of the
Jackson landed at Liverpool and was sent to a camp
near Redding, England, where they continued their
training for what everyone knew would be the invasion
of France. Jackson has a photo keepsake of General
Eisenhower addressing the troops before the D-Day
invasion. It has a caption with the words the general
spoke to the men that day: "You are about to embark.
upon a great crusade. Good luck and let us all beseech
the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble
undertaking."
``We boarded an LST and headed to France. We were
to be in the third wave. As we went over the side to a
barge using a net, one of my best buddies slipped and
fell between the LST and the landing barge, crushing
and killing him. He was the first casualty I would see
that day, but not the last. When we got to what would
be called Omaha Beach, you saw bodies everywhere.
never prayed any harder in my life than I did that day."
Jackson, because of the shelling and noise,
temporarily lost his hearing that day and now wears
hearing aides in both ears. Jackson made it from the
beach at Omaha, through Paris and finally ended the
war at Wiesbaden, Germany. "I learned eventually to not
be feartul. You just had to trust in the Lord."
When the war ended, Jackson found that his brother,
Richard L. Jackson, who was part of General Patton's
tank corps, was a few miles away. He was able to get
a Jeep and go visit him. On the way back to his camp
he was ambushed by three former German soldiers in
civilian clothes who were driving an old Volkswagen.
"With the help of some MPs who quickly arrived, the
three Germans were killed. The MPs took me back to my
unit, where an MP officer ordered my first sergeant to
get my stuff because they were going to ship me home
the next day. And they did, I guess to avoid problems for
me and delaying me going home.
"When I arrived home, my Dad had gotten me
another car. I had given my old one to my siblings when
left. I visited friends and family and thought about what
would do now. I had decided during the war that the
ministry truly was my calling. I attended Olivet Nazarene
College to become a fully ordained minister, graduating
in 1949. It was the right choice forme.
"After all these years of preaching and prayer, the
praying I did at Omaha Beach is still the hardest I've
ever prayed in my life. I was called into the service of
the Lord and I was called into the service of my country.
I'm proud of my service to both."
If you want to have a name added to the Brazos Valley
Veterans Memorial in time to have the name inscribed as
part of the Veterans Day program this November, you must
have the application submitted before August 15th. For