Edwin W. Jacobsen

World War II

Edwin Jacobsen (known as Woody to his family) was born in Audubon, IA on July 15, 1917, to E. Henry and Elna (Rasmussen) Jacobsen. HIs parents were Danish and Woody accompanied them on a trip to Copenhagen when he was three years old. Woody attended school in Audubon and graduated from Audubon High School with the class of 1935.

Woody registered for the military draft on October 16, 1940, while a resident of Des Moines, IA. His employer is listed as the Social Security Administration in Baltimore, MD. On December 21, 1941, Woody married Joan Schwaller of Templeton at St. Ambrose rectory in Des Moines, IA. Joan had graduated from Sacred Heart High School with the class of 1936.

Woody was inducted into the US Army on September 2, 1942, in Des Moines. He was assigned serial number 17 111 798. The location of his basic training is unknown. By early 1943, Woody had been assigned to the 2nd Signal Service Battalion in Washington, DC. This unit performed intelligence-gathering activities within the United States and around the world. Field personnel operated monitoring stations. On May 25, 1943, Woody was given a medical discharge from the US Army after almost nine months service. He was discharged as a Tec5 (corporal equivalent).

Woody returned to Des Moines and worked for an office machine company. He had been exposed to the very earliest computing equipment with the 2nd Signal Service Battalion. In 1945, he moved to Omaha, NE to work for the War Assets Administration. Woody was active at the dawn of electronic computing and went on to a career in data processing operations until his retirement in 1980. His career included working in data processing for the Strategic Air Command underground command center at Offutt Air Force Base at Bellevue, NE.

Woody died in Elk Horn, IA on March 30, 2001 at age 83. He was buried in Elba Cemetery near Templeton.