Capt. William W. Jacobsen Jr.: Captain had a strong belief in democracy

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Capt. William W. Jacobsen Jr., 31

Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.

For Capt. Bill Jacobsen, the long-held military ideals of honoring commitments to country, faith and family were much more than lofty abstractions or empty slogans.

They were his life.

Jacobsen, a Stryker Brigade company commander killed in Tuesday's attack in Mosul, had wanted to be a soldier his whole life, said his father, and was commissioned in the Army directly after graduating from college on an ROTC scholarship.

The 1998 Brigham Young University graduate was also a devout Mormon, according to several recent press accounts from Iraq, one of which noted that he quietly prayed before each meal in the mess hall.

And he was a devoted family man. A father of three sons and a daughter, age 2 to 8, Jacobsen was killed on the day he and his wife, Riikka, marked their ninth wedding anniversary. They spoke last the night before.

"He felt that we are blessed in this country with the freedoms that we have," said his father, retired Lt. Col. William Jacobsen. "This was something he believed in, that we all believe. He felt like he had a responsibility to help people gain freedom and democracy."

According to his father, Jacobsen left for Iraq on Oct. 13, and sounded positive about his mission there in phone conversations with him and other family members.

Jacobsen, who lived in Lacey with his wife, was an Army brat and lived in several different spots while growing up, said his father. He was born in Fayetteville, N.C., near Fort Bragg, where his father was stationed at the time.

Jacobsen commanded 184 soldiers within his Stryker Brigade company. According to news accounts, he had performed admirably in a highly difficult job, which included leading his troops on a Nov. 25 raid into Old Mosul to apprehend two men suspected of conspiring with those who attacked Iraqis working at a nearby military base.

According to those accounts, he had developed a comfortable rapport with his troops and also tried to put the Iraqis he came in contact with at ease.

"The myth was that this was an impregnable fortress of insurgent activity," Jacobsen told The New York Times late last month. "But the mystery is gone. We can operate there."

In addition to his wife, father and four children, Jacobsen is survived by his mother, Vickie Jacobsen of Charlotte, N.C.

-- Sam Skolnik

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