William Jackson was born in April 1923 in El Paso, Texas. He lived there until he was 16 years old. He moved to Washington, D.C. when his father went to work for the government. He considers New Orleans, Louisiana his hometown. He attended high school in Washington. Jackson has a younger brother who served as a foot soldier. While in El Paso, his father owned an ice house. Jackson's father was employed by the government after moving to Washington. Jackson enjoyed living in El Paso with its close proximity to the mountains and Mexico. He was working as an apprentice at Newport News Shipyard [Annotator's Note: in Newport News, Virginia] when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] after his graduation from high school. He worked there for about two years prior to his entry into the Air Force. He volunteered for the Army Air Corps while in Washington after graduation from high school in 1941. He, like all his buddies, wanted to fly airplanes. They were all accepted except for one who went into the Navy. They all ended up as pilots. When he entered flight school, he only had a high school education. There was minimal testing required before his acceptance. He was inducted in 1943.

William Jackson was first sent to Miami Beach [Annotator's Note: Miami Beach, Florida] following his induction. He waited there to join the Cadets Program [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Training Program] to learn to be a pilot. He had his basic training in Indianapolis [Annotator's Note: Indianapolis, Indiana] at Butler University. He was given physicals and classified at San Antonio [Annotator's Note: San Antonio, Texas]. He was then called up for Cadet Training at Coleman, Texas. Next, he received basic training [Annotator's Note: basic flight training] at San Angelo [Annotator's Note: San Angelo Army Airfield in San Angelo, Texas] prior to graduating in April 1944 in Lubbock [Annotator's Note: Lubbock, Texas]. The classification process was not too difficult for Jackson after he found out from the older guys how to provide the inquirer with proper answers to the questions posed to him. Jackson enjoyed all of his training. There were classroom training classes at Butler University. The purpose of the classification process was to determine the candidate's aptitude for later assignments. Jackson always wanted to be a pilot. Training was not really a problem for him. He flew PT-13 [Annotator's Note: Boeing-Stearman Model 75 or PT-13 primary trainer aircraft] aircraft at Coleman. From that plane, he moved on to San Angelo and the BT-13 [Annotator's Note: Vultee BT-13 Valiant basic trainer aircraft; also known as the Vultee Vibrator] which was a basic trainer. He went on to advanced training in Lubbock where he flew twin engine aircraft. Jackson had no preference related to the type of aircraft he was assigned to fly. He was just excited to fly. Upon his graduation in April 1944, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and sent to Sedalia, Missouri for training in the DC-3 or C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-3 commercial airliner; Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft]. He loved the C-47 and preferred them to flying the larger C-46 [Annotator's Note: Curtiss C-46 Commando cargo aircraft] which had more equipment issues. The DC-3 was virtually indestructible. If shot down over the water, they would not sink. He picked up a new C-47 off the assembly line in Indianapolis and flew it to Sacramento, California. Extra tanks were installed for the long-legged, non-stop flight to Hawaii. Using those extra fuel tanks, the plane then flew to Biak [Annotator's Note: Biak, Indonesia]. Extra tanks were not needed afterward for short range island to island flights the crew was required to fly.

William Jackson joined the 55th Troop Carrier Squadron, 375th Troop Carrier Group at Biak [Annotator's Note: Biak, Indonesia]. He flew mainly the DC-3 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-3 commercial airliner], C-46 [Annotator’s Note: Curtiss C-46 Commando cargo aircraft] and C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft] while in the Pacific. Those missions had followed deployment from the mainland to Hawaii and then Biak. The base facilities were basic but in Hawaii the facilities were pretty good. A navigator accompanied them on long overseas flights. It was about 2,200 miles from California to Hawaii. While on Biak, he flew all over the Pacific. It was part of MacArthur's [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] strategic program of bypassing enemy islands. Cargo was mainly troops and equipment. Flights sometimes involved landing on strips still not fully secured. Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Peleliu, Palua] was an example of that. Jackson never noticed if the enemy shot at him. Missions involved carrying troops to and from various destinations. Although trained in airborne operations in the United States, he never had to perform that duty overseas. Pulling gliders with a DC-3 with its lack of horsepower was particularly difficult but it got easier with practice. A typical crew for a DC-3 or C-47 was pilot, copilot, radioman and crew chief. A navigator was assigned if the trip was a long one over water. The members of Jackson's crew stayed together most all of his time overseas. He lost touch with them after the war. He did visit his crew chief after returning to the United States. Most flights were short island to island trips. He named his plane for one of his girlfriends. The landing strips were coral because that was easiest to construct for the engineers. Pouring concrete would have been problematic because of the logistics. Coral made construction easier and faster. Jackson got used to flying over water. Navigators over long distances and radios for shorter flights made things easier. Jackson's biggest upset was when the ice cream and Coke machines broke down. Bases were large enough for a mess hall and a place to sleep. Larger bases like those in Hawaii had the best facilities. When he first went to Port Moresby, New Guinea, everyone left the officer's club before nightfall. Jackson did not understand why until he was attacked by mosquitos. He had to sleep with a net covering him and he was still attacked by the insects. He has seen a lot of mosquitos in Galveston [Annotator's Note: Galveston, Texas] but the breeze helped blow them away. He enjoyed the people he met in the service. They became close friends very quickly. He transported wounded through the islands. He performed few supply parachute drops. Most missions involved landing and unloading the cargo off the transport aircraft.

William Jackson was on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] when he heard of the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] being dropped. Jackson knew the war was coming to an end when he heard the news. Jackson flew throughout the Pacific, landing on many different bases as MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] progressed along his island bypassing program. Although he did not care for MacArthur, the man was pretty crafty. MacArthur's pilot was promoted much quicker than Jackson because he flew for the General. Jackson saw the Japanese flying through Okinawa to the surrender in Tokyo Bay [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan]. They flew in a black Japanese Betty [Annotator's Note: Mistubishi G4M medium bomber, known as the Betty] aircraft. The fighting had ended on the island of Okinawa by the time Jackson got there. The island was mountainous and the Japanese used the terrain effectively for defense. The fighting had been intense there. Rumor had it that the hungry enemy troops would occasionally join in the American chow lines. Jackson was happy the war was over. From Okinawa, he flew to an airbase right out of Tokyo, Japan. The Americans took over the airbase but the facilities were more rugged than Jackson was used to. Jackson was happy to be going to Japan. He was worried about the population. He worried that they hated the Americans but they did not. He slept with a .45 [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol] under his pillow when he first arrived there. He was there for a year demobilizing their armed forces. The Japanese military stood down after the surrender. The local population was polite and had to accommodate the victors. Jackson enjoyed Japanese beer. MacArthur got the brewery going. He made Japan into what it became after the war. The General was an intelligent guy but no one liked him much. His pilot advanced from second lieutenant to major to colonel in nothing flat. MacArthur said he would return to the Philippines and he did. He made the Philippines into what they are also.

William Jackson returned to the United States in the latter part of 1946. He lived with his mother and dad and later was married. He started his education with the University of Houston [Annotator's Note: in Houston, Texas]. He had tried to get a job with his wartime flight hours as a pilot, but the market was saturated with college educated pilots. He decided to acquire a college education using his G.I. Bill. The G.I. Bill allowed him to get his degree. He was discharged as a captain in 1946 right after he was married during the summer. He had worked his way through his promotions the hard way instead of by flying MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area]. Rank was the basis of pay raises in the military. Jackson signed up for the Reserves for extra money while going to school. He had no trouble transitioning back to civilian life after the service. His most memorable experience of the war was his service in San Antonio [Annotator's Note: San Antonio, Texas] where his grandfather teased civilian men about them being 4F [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification for individuals physically unfit for military service]. His grandfather told the civilians to wait until his grandson caught up with them. [Annotator's Note: Jackson laughs.] Jackson served in the war because of his desire to fly airplanes. His buddies were serving and he did not want to be left out. Most of his buddies became pilots. Jackson is glad he served but also glad he completed that service. The Museum in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] makes veterans feel like heroes for serving. World War 2 means little to Americans today. He attributes that to the President. The feeling for America is not the same as it once was. Jackson missed seeing the Pacific war when he visited the Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum introduced "The Road to Tokyo" for the Pacific and China-Burma-India Theaters subsequent to Jackson's visit]. It is important to teach the history of the war. Schools should teach more about the conflict.