William S. Jackson II
Staff Sergeant, United States Army
January 27, 1977 – November 11, 2006
Age – 29
Saginaw, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Giessen, Germany
Killed when a makeshift bomb exploded near his vehicle during combat operations in Ramadi.
SSG Jackson died of injuries sustained in an IED blast while sweeping the roads for IEDs in Ramadi, Iraq. He first enlisted in the US Marine Corps; after retiring from the USMC, he reenlisted in the US Army. Among his military awards and decorations were the Bronze Star Medal; Purple Heart; Army Achievement Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal; Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Armed Forces Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; and Marine Corps Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
A Saginaw Township father of four who had survived a tour of duty in Afghanistan was killed on Veterans Day by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Army Staff Sergeant William S. Jackson II, known to friends and family as Jack, died along with two of his comrades when their vehicle was blown up Saturday in Ramadi.
Jackson, who grew up in Thomaston, Maine, served in the U.S. Marines for four years — 1998-2002 — before joining the Army. While in the Marines, he served in Afghanistan.
He was in Iraq since the beginning of 2006.
He moved to the Saginaw area after he met his Michigan-born wife, Katie. The couple had met at Northland Baptist Bible College in Dunbar, Wisconsin. He just lived to get home and be back with his family again. He was just a great husband and a great father.
Jackson’s last visit home came after the birth of his only daughter six months ago. His death leaves the children, all younger than six, to be raised by his widow.
Jackson was serving in the Marines when he fought in Afghanistan. He left that branch of the service after returning to the United States. He was out for a time, and then he went into the Army. He comes from a very military family, and this was a goal his whole life. It was a mutual decision, though” between him and his wife “when he went back in.
A letter authored by James O’Connell.
O’Connell wrote about Jackson’s overseas efforts to learn Arabic and musical instruments such as the penny whistle and ukulele. “Our neighbors preferred his ukulele to the penny whistle,” O’Connell’s correspondence continued, getting a laugh from the audience.
The letter went on to paint a picture of a man who loved the coast of Maine and often told tales of the industry associated with the port. “It was expected that every night there was fish on the menu, we would hear another fish story,” the letter continued.
O’Connell described Jackson’s prankster streak, which he exercised by writing “ridiculous” entries in other people’s journals, setting mouse traps on the floors of sleeping bunk mates and convincing one fellow soldier with Irish lineage that his family actually descended from Wales.
Jackson’s brother-in-law, Benjamin E. Layer, delivered the day’s final eulogy.
He compared Jackson’s life to the white gold band that made his wedding ring. “When white gold is mined, it has no value,” Layer said. “It has great potential. First, it has to be heated up, filed, then a jeweler can make it into something very valuable.”
Jackson lived life trying to make the most of it, Layer said: “Jack didn’t die in vain.”