Jacobson knew little of world outside farming

U.S. Navy Radarman A.J. “James” Jacobson's first experience at sea nearly brought him to his knees.

Aboard an old troop ship bound for Pearl Harbor, the motion of the Pacific Ocean got the best of him.

“I got so sick. I knew I was going to die,” he said.

It was only a matter of days before he got his “sea legs,” but memories of the experience have stuck with over the years.

He ate some honey during the seasickness and, to this day, the thought of the sweet substance is enough to make him ill.

“I can't stand the stuff,” he said.

But the farm boy from Hanley Falls, Minn. — who was given a deferment so he could help his family with that season's harvest — was a quick learner.

Out in the Pacific, a whole new world spread before him.

“Farming that's all I knew,” he said. “I didn't know what was on the outside. All I knew was to get up at 5 a.m., milk the cows, go to school, come home, do chores.”

The radarman would soon be part of history, participating in some of the most important battles in the Pacific during World War II.

Once in Pearl Harbor, he boarded the USS Wasp and set sail for Eniwetok, an atoll in the Marshall Islands.

In the Marshall Islands, Jacobson was assigned to the USS Gatling.

The destroyer was named for Richard Jordan Gatling, the inventor of the Gatling gun — the first successful machine gun.

The ship provided cover fire during the invasion of Guam, Saipan and Tinian.

As radarman, Jacobson was responsible for tracking U.S. and enemy aircraft flying in the skies around the battle area.

Jacobson also performed artillery duties.

He was the “No. 2 loader” for the ship's 40-mm guns — handling the large shells that were loaded into the guns and blasted at the enemy.”

Jacobson came close to being killed after manning one of the machine guns.

“There was a 20-mm gun and nobody was on it, so I got on it,” Jacobson said.

As he was walking away, shrapnel came flying at the gun mount where Jacobson had been positioned.

“I just missed getting hit,” he said.

The fleet made the first carrier landing in Okinawa and bombarded Iwo Jima for 30 days.

“The kamikazes were really heavy at the time — we had to shoot them out of the air” before they hit the ships.

At one point, a message came across the ship's radio that said the Marines were about to plant a U.S. flag on the island.

“I went up on the bridge and got a pair of binoculars I could see the top of the flag.

“It was the first flag that was posted on Iwo Jima.”