Charles Jackson graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1919. He resigned his Army commissioned in 1925, and entered the Marine Corps as an enlisted man. He earned a Silver Star in the Philippine Islands in 1942. After the surrender of Corregidor, Charlie was taken north to Cabanatuan. There he managed to escape from the Japanese, and helped a small group of Americans to organize a Filipino guerrilla unit to harass the Japanese, When the Japanese organized a major retaliation against the guerrillas, Charlie started south on Luzon, hoping to work his way to Borneo or to Australia. While traveling south he contracted a severe case of malaria and became unconscious. He had given away most of his supply of quinine. When the Japanese found him, they gave him quinine and recaptured him. He retired as a Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer.
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Awards Received
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Silver Star
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Prisoner of War Medal
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Silver Star
Service:
United States Marine CorpsRank:
Chief Warrant Officer [then Sergeant Major]Regiment:
4th Marine RegimentAction Date:
April 13, 1942
Department of the Army, General Orders No. 23 (1947)The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star (Army Award) to Chief Warrant Officer [then Sergeant Major] Charles Ream Jackson (MCSN: 212786), United States Marine Corps, for gallantry in action as a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Marine Regiment, on 13 April 1942 following a heavy Japanese artillery barrage upon Battery James, Fort Mills, Corregidor, Philippine Islands. When personnel of the battery were trapped as they sought shelter in nearby tunnels, he readily volunteered, although the position was under close enemy observation and steady fire, to rescue his comrades. Disregarding the imminent danger of collapsing walls and roofs, Warrant Officer Jackson heroically entered the tunnels, assisted in extricating trapped soldiers, and gave first aid to the wounded. The gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty demonstrated by Chief Warrant Officer Jackson, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Marine Corps.
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Prisoner of War Medal
Service:
United States Marine CorpsRank:
Sergeant MajorDivision:
Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands & Japan)Action Date:
May 6, 1942 – September 1945
NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 – 1947Sergeant Major Charles Ream Jackson (MCSN: 212786), United States Marine Corps, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until returned to U.S. Military control at the end of the war.