Jackson Davis was born in March 1918 in Lecompte, Louisiana. His parents were country school teachers in Bayou Latania. His father became a principal and his mother taught. He remembers living in Meridian, Louisiana. His sister was born there in 1921. They then moved to Turkey Creek, Louisiana. They lived close to a cemetery. He would go over to see what was going on and that was an awakening to him. They then moved to LaSalle Parish, Louisiana to another sawmill town. He was there for five years and then they moved to Rochelle, Louisiana. His parents went to summer school at what is now Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. They would put Davis in summer school where teachers were being trained. He skipped the seventh grade and finished high school in Selma, Louisiana in 1932. His parents thought he was too young to go to college as he was only 14, but decided to send him to Louisiana College, Pineville anyway. He attended for one year but was not happy. The next year he went to Northwestern State. His father was working on his master's degree at LSU [Annotator's Note: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana] in 1934 and Davis went with him. Davis stayed there as a graduate student in history. His thesis was on General Richard Taylor, Commander, Confederate forces at Mansfield, Louisiana [Annotator's Note: Taylor commanded the District of West Louisiana; son of Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States]. His thesis was published three years later by the Louisiana Historical Society. He graduated and was offered a fellowship to work on his PhD [Annotator's Note: Doctor of Philosophy], but he wanted to go to law school instead. His fellowship was changed to a working scholarship. He graduated in May 1940. He was on the Louisiana Law Review. In April 1940, he met a young lady, Rosemary Slattery, who he kept in contact with. He went to Baton Rouge, where she was, to practice law.

Jackson Davis went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to practice law. The Draft Act [Annotator's Note: Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, or, Burke-Wadsworth Act, 16 September 1940; first peacetime conscription in United States history] was passed, he was 22, and his number was coming up so his girlfriend, Rosemary Slattery, took him to New Orleans to enlist in the Navy. They went to the 8th Naval District Headquarters. He saw an enlisted sailor who he had known at LSU [Annotator's Note: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana]. Davis wanted to know how to get in as a Yeoman [Annotator's Note: enlisted member who performs administrative and clerical work primarily]. The man told him he should got to Naval Intelligence and took him there. The officer in charge was a lawyer and had been in charge of the Federal Legal Office in San Antonio, Texas. The officer asked him about his background and said he would check him out and would get him deferred from the draft for the time being. Davis decided to visit his hometown where he heard that they had been checking him out. He was very aware of the events in Europe. His family read the newspaper religiously. His draft number did come up while he was at home, but the deferment worked. His commission came through, making him an ensign [Annotator's Note: lowest commissioned officer rank of Navy and Coast Guard]. He was ordered to report to New Orleans, Louisiana. He then was ordered to the Philippines, but was sent to Pearl Harbor instead. He took a physical in Dallas, Texas on his way after leaving on 23 August 1941. His girlfriend was living in Shreveport, Louisiana and he stopped and said goodbye. He then caught a train from Texas to Los Angeles, California then went to the Naval base at San Pedro, California. The Navy did not furnish uniforms then and he had not gotten his uniform pay. They let him have his uniforms and told him to pay for them in Hawaii. He then boarded an oil tanker, the USS Neosho (AO-23), for the trip. He arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 September 1941.

Jackson Davis took the USS Neosho (AO-23) from San Pedro, California and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 September 1941. He was met by an officer who told him the quarters on the base were full. Pearl was very peaceful. The Navy had made arrangements for quarters for them at the Pleasanton Hotel. Davis called it second rate. They had to pay for it themselves out of their stipend from the Navy. He reported into the Alexander Young Hotel that the Navy had taken over some floors of for the Naval Intelligence Units. Davis did not know a thing in the world about the Navy. He was sent to the outfit that was breaking the Japanese Naval Code and he arrived just a day or two before the war started. It was a small outfit. Two officers with enlisted men were doing radio intelligence. Morse Code was being used extensively then. His outfit was in the mountains of Oahu, Hawaii and they were intercepting Japanese channels. They would bring the intercepted codes to his office in the basement of the 14th Naval District Headquarters at Pearl Harbor. He worked 12 hour shifts. Two men analyzed the dispatches. The Japanese maintained radio silence on their way into Pearl Harbor, so they were surprised. Davis was not in on that phase. He had only heard that after the war started. The code had been broken earlier, but it was changed by the Japanese on 1 December 1941. The traffic analysis section had officers who had been in Japan as Naval attaches to the embassy and who could translate Japanese. The code machines were about as big as a television set. The Japanese were still using code books.

Jackson Davis was working in Naval Intelligence at Pearl Harbor. Davis and other officers were quartered at the Pleasanton Hotel. On 7 December 1941, he was awakened by commotion on his floor. He stuck his head out the door and learned the Japanese attack was happening. He hailed a taxi. Japanese fighter planes hit the vehicle in front of him. He got into a truck at the base gate and went down to Dry Dock Number One, where the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) and two destroyers [Annotator's Note: USS Cassin (DD-372) and USS Downes (DD-375)] were. One destroyer was completely destroyed and the other was damaged. The Pennsylvania had been hit, but was not destroyed. This was about a quarter mile from his place of duty at the 14th Naval District headquarters building. The Japanese attacked in two waves. The Japanese were not bombing shore installations, only the ships. All eight battleships were hit. The USS Arizona (BB-39) and USS Oklahoma (BB-37) were completely destroyed. The antiaircraft guns were trying to hit the Japanese aircraft and Davis knew that what goes up, must come down. Quite a few people were killed by the flak and shrapnel. He made it to his duty station in the basement. They did not know more than that they were under attack. After it was over, Davis went to the road leading to the hospital. The dead were laying in rows out there. That shocked him into the knowledge of where he was. They then posted guns all over the harbor. About eight or nine o'clock that night, he went up onto the porch at the building. He saw aircraft coming in with lights on. Someone started shooting at them, but it was the aircraft of the USS Enterprise (CV-6). They had been several hundred miles away on maneuvers. Some were shot down, but others were able to land. Davis went back inside and got under a desk during the firing.

Jackson Davis spent his war duty time at Pearl Harbor working in Naval Intelligence. He was there from start to end. He was discharged in January 1946. He could have gotten out immediately. His girlfriend had graduated from LSU [Annotator's Note: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana] in 1943. They had maintained contact the entire time. She was thinking of going over to Honolulu when the war started. Civilian clerical help was coming over at that time and she came over in November 1943 as a stenographer. She would not marry him at first, but did so on 15 January 1944. She became pregnant and was due in October 1945. The war ended in August, but the Navy let him stay on until the baby was able to travel. They left Pearl in January 1946 for San Francisco, California. Transportation out was hard to get. They caught a train to New Orleans, Louisiana. The family was met by his parents in Alexandria, Louisiana.