My name is Peter Jakobs. I live in the Netherlands and have adopted the grave of Ronald Howard Jacobs on the American Graveyard in Margraten..

I would like to know more about Ronald. Who can give me more information about Ronald Howard Jacobs. Were did he fight, etc.

In Memory of Sergeant Ronald Howard Jacobs Worthing, South Dakota Lincoln County October 3, 1923-April 17, 1945 Killed in Action, Magdeburg, Germany

Ronald Howard Jacobs was born October 3, 1923 in Lennox, South Dakota to Howard and Blanche E. Jacobs. He had two brothers, Dell and William, and two sisters, Shirley (Jacobs) Kimball and Arlene (Jacobs) Voges. Ronald grew up in Worthing, South Dakota, graduating from high school there. For a time, John Morrell’s meat packing company employed him in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Ronald never had a chance to marry, have children, or receive any further education.

Ronald was inducted into the Army on March 17, 1943, at Fort Crook, Nebraska. He came home on emergency leave in December 1943, when his father was killed in an accident at the Morrell plant. This was the last time his family ever saw him. Ronald was sent overseas on May 1, 1944, holding the rank of Sergeant with the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. The citation reads:

Sergeant (then Private First Class) Ronald H. Jacobs, 37475774, 120th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, is awarded the Bronze Star for heroic achievement in action on 7 August 1944, in France. Sergeant R. Jacobs was a member of a mortar section of an infantry company, which was attacked by an enemy force. Although enemy pressure caused many of the riflemen they were supporting to withdraw, Sergeant Jacobs and four comrades not only remained at their post but aggressively fought back, killing two enemy soldiers and wounding many more so that the hostile troops were forced to flee. The fortitude, courage, and devotion to duty exhibited by this splendid soldier reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces. Entered military service from South Dakota.

Sgt. Jacobs had seen action almost continuously since the fall of 1944, was wounded on October 21, 1944, recovered, and returned to the front. The unit in which he served was cited for the resourcefulness of its men in making their own boots and toboggans from salvaged German materials, which they had found in enemy territory. Sgt. Jacobs is remembered as the soldier who sent home a Nazi flag which was captured in a German fort during combat in Holland.

Sergeant Ronald Howard Jacobs joined the ranks of America’s fallen heroes on April 17, 1945. He was killed in action at Magdeburg, Germany, and was buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten, Netherlands.

Sgt. Jacobs was also awarded the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.

The Silver Star The Bronze Star The Purple Heart Courtesy of http://www2.powercom.net/~rokats/armyhome.html

This biography was researched and composed by Matt Olsen, Chris Bolin, Bob Gard, Justin Tuntland, and John Heinemann of Canton High School, Canton, South Dakota. It was respectfully revised and edited by Mrs. Shirley Swanson, Stanley County Schools, Fort Pierre, South Dakota, using information from the bonus record of Sgt. Ronald Jacobs, the May 3, 1945 Sioux Valley News, and Dell Jacobs, Worthing, brother of Ronald Jacobs.