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STORIES OF THE MEN
Raymond Jacobs Pfc
He was born on January 24, 1926 in
Bridgeport, Connecticut. He moved to Los Angeles, California in
1933. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 1943 at the age of
17, and needed his mother’s written permission prior to going to
boot camp.
Raymond entered boot camp in July 1943 in San Diego and
graduated in September 1943. He was given a choice of
assignments and he volunteered for Raider training. He was
assigned to Raider Training Battalion Tent Camp 1, in Camp
Pendleton. In the spring of 1944 the Marine Corps disbanded the
Raiders and was sent to Tent Camp 3 as a founding member of the
then forming ‘F’ Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th
Marine Division, and joined the ‘F’ Company’s 60mm Mortar
Section.
In the fall of 1944 the 5th Division was shipped to Hilo, Hawaii
and trucked to Camp Tarawa to begin training for the Iwo Jima
operation. While at Camp Tarawa he was assigned to be trained as
the company radioman. He participated in the battle for Iwo Jima
landing in the third wave on February 19, 1945.
Raymond was a member of the patrol which raised the first
American flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. He was wounded and
evacuated on March 10, 1945. He returned to the states and was
discharged, but remained in the inactive reserve.
He married Joanne Le Brinson, started a family and began a
career in broadcasting. They have four children (Michael, Nancy,
John, and Robert) and three grand children. His first job in
radio was at a small radio station KGAK, in Gallup, New Mexico,
and later with KOB radio in Albuquerque. In 1948 the owners
started a television station KOB TV, which started his career in
Television. He originated the first local news program in New
Mexico. He received a recall notice ordering him to Camp
Pendleton during the Korean War and was assigned to the Infantry
Training Regiment. He trained Korean bound draftees in winter
and guerrilla warfare. Raymond was discharged in August 1951,
and returned to Albuquerque, and back to his job with KOB TV.
The family moved to Fresno, California in 1953. Raymond began
working for KJEO TV, and again, the first prime time local news
program.
In 1958 the family moved to Walnut Creek, California and he
started working at KTVU in Oakland. He held many jobs as a
reporter, anchor, news director, news operation director and
editorial director. He retired from KTVU on July 1, 1992 after
34 years. Since 2002 he now resides in South Lake Tahoe.
Raymond Jacobs
dies January 29,2008
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In Memoriam
Edited by R.R. Keene
“In Memoriam” is run on a space-available basis.
Those wishing to submit items should include full
name, age, location at time of death (city and
state), last grade held, units served in, dates of
service and, if possible, a local or national
obituary. Allow at least four months for the notice
to appear.
www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck
Sergeant Raymond Jacobs - the last known surviving
member of a group of leathernecks photographed
during the first U.S. flag raising atop Mount
Surbachi on Iwo Jima during World War II - died of
natural causes Jan. 29, 2008 in Redding, Calif. He
was 82.
On Feb. 23, 1945, then-Private First Class Jacobs, a
radioman with Company F, 2d Battalion, 28th marine
Regiment, accompanied 3d Platoon, “Easy” Co, 2/28 as
it worked its way to the summit of Mt. Suribachi. At
the summit, the patrol raised the American flag and
was photographed by Leatherneck magazine
photographer Sgt. Louis R. Lowery. Jacobs on the
left is barely visible. His radio is more
identifiable than he is. For years, that was the
cause of disputes (See “Unraveling the Mysteries of
the First Flag Raising, “October 2006 Leatherneck.)
The Feb.3 Associated Press obituary stated,
“Newspaper accounts from the time show he was on the
mountain during the initial raising of the smaller
American flag, though he had returned to his unit by
the time the more famous AP photograph was taken of
a second flag-raising later the same day.”
A forensic scientist, Dr. James I. Ebert, Certified
Photogrammetrist and Fellow, American Academy of
Forensic Sciences, examined the photos in 2004 and
said the similarities between the “known” Ray Jacobs
and the photos of the radioman in Lowery’s photos
are “striking.” He went on to say, “more germane:
whether, given the physical evidence that is
available - i.e., the photographs - there is any
reason to believe that the radioman is not Ray
Jacobs.”
Jacobs was honorably discharged in 1946 and was
recalled during the Korean War. He retired in 1992
from KTVU in Oakland, where he worked for 34 years
as a reporter and news director.
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