Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Jacob Wilson

WWII | Section 22, General Headquarters, South West Pacific Area

Jake Wilson was part of a team that went into South West Pacific airfields as soon as they were established to train radar operators in radar countermeasures. Sometimes, this put him in danger from Japanese bombing and he recalls a couple of incidents here. (This interview made possible with the support of MSG RONALD M. CAREY, U.S.A. (RET).) (4:15)
Radar countermeasures technician Jake Wilson was stationed for a while at an airfield in the Philippines where there were many crashes. Maybe it was the volume of flights, but for some reason, it kept happening and he describes one of the worst here. This was after he lost his team leader in a crash away from the base. (This interview made possible with the support of MSG RONALD M. CAREY, U.S.A. (RET).) (3:38)
Radar jamming was a new technology and Jake Wilson was busy installing jamming equipment on B-24's engaged in bombing runs near the end of the war. He also made patrol flights over the South West Pacific, trying to locate and analyze Japanese radar operations. He finally qualified for a 30 day leave home and while he was there, the war ended. (This interview made possible with the support of MSG RONALD M. CAREY, U.S.A. (RET).) (2:54)
How were the Japanese locating us with their radar from 200 miles away, far past radar range? Radar countermeasures technician Jake Wilson tells how he figured that one out. He also tells why the popular idea that the Japanese were copiers of technology, not innovators, was an erroneous idea. (This interview made possible with the support of MSG RONALD M. CAREY, U.S.A. (RET).) (5:53)
The professors at the University of Sydney helped Radar countermeasures technician Jake Wilson build one of the first Radar jamming transmitters used in the Pacific. They tried different ways of obscuring the signal until they settled on noise modulation. (This interview made possible with the support of MSG RONALD M. CAREY, U.S.A. (RET).) (2:07)
Jake Wilson recalls his time in the special boot camp for radar technicians. Unlike other boot camps, there was a lot of math study. At the next training level, it got even more difficult and 60% of the men were washed out. (This interview made possible with the support of MSG RONALD M. CAREY, U.S.A. (RET).) (1:55)
Jake Wilson was based in Australia for a time and he recalls the taxing train ride between Brisbane and Sydney. When a yeoman in charge of transportation refused them air travel, that didn't sit well with the team members. (This interview made possible with the support of MSG RONALD M. CAREY, U.S.A. (RET).) (3:59)
Jake Jacobson

Korea | 82nd Airborne Division

Born in the Bronx but raised in Rhode Island, Jake Jacobson enlisted in the late forties to get money for college. When he saw some guys from the 82nd Airborne, he knew he had to get into that outfit. He hadn't even been to basic training, yet, so they let him go. When he did get to Fort Dix, he was disgusted. Hang in there, his platoon sergeant told him. It gets better in Airborne. (5:21)
Jake Jacobson was just getting discharged when war broke out in Korea. His paratrooper buddies shamed him into returning to the fold, even though he would have to come back in as a private. When he got to Korea, peace talks had stalled the fighting and he was sent to Japan, where he attended intelligence school. He did get some action quelling a riot at a POW camp. (5:17)
During his second tour in Korea, the goal was to take a prisoner for intelligence gathering. Jake Jacobson recalls that they didn't get a single one. He did encounter a Pathfinder unit and they encouraged him to transfer in. This he did, but, unfortunately, he got in some trouble and General Westmoreland made sure he was left with only one stripe. (4:56)