Roger W. Jackson was born on April 25, 1922 in the small community of Christina, Fergus County, Montana to John Wesley Harvey Jackson and Martha Jackson, nee Brooks. Roger’s siblings were Walter, Constance, Claudia, and John D. Jackson. The family lived in Fergus County, where John owned a farm. By 1940, the family had moved 14 miles north to the town of Winifred, where John found work shoveling gravel for the Works Progress Administration.

Roger moved to the state of Washington in the early 1940s. He registered for the draft on June 30, 1942. He was 20 years old, 5’11” tall, and weighed 160 pounds. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a light complexion. He lived in Seattle and worked for the Boeing Aircraft company. He was inducted into the United States Army on November 24, 1942 in Tacoma, Washington. He was single, without dependents, and had a high school education. His occupation was airplane mechanic.

Tech Sergeant Roger W. Jackson served with the 742nd Bomber Squadron, 455th Bomber Group. The 455th was stationed at San Giovanni airfield near Cerignola, Italy. They bombed marshalling yards, oil refineries, airfields, and other enemy targets in France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans.

According to Missing Air Crew Report #4387, Jackson was the radio operator/gunner aboard B-24 Liberator #41-28640. On April 21, 1944, the crew of ten took off from San Giovanni airfield for a bombing mission of marshalling yards near Bucharest, Romania. Their aircraft was hit by an enemy fighter which caused the No. 2 engine to catch fire. Eight of the men were able to bail out of the plane. The navigator, 2nd Lt. Richard Bodwell, later reported that he left the plane with Jackson. Jackson’s chute did not open; Bodwell believed that Jackson had passed out due to his injuries and was unable to pull the cord. The plane crashed near the village of Draconesti, Romania. Originally buried in the town’s cemetery, Jackson’s remains were reinterred in the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, Neuville-en-Condroz, Liège, Belgium (Plot B, Row 41, Grave 11). He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart.