"My grandmother [Mabel], who lived to be 84-years old, never really could get a handle on her son being identified as MIA and presumed dead," Brad McDonald [nephew] said.
"It was really hard on her. ...The day, Dec. 7, and the name Bert were kind of lost to her forever. It was a double whammy for her. The final irony is we are burying Bert on September 13, which was my grandmother's birthday."
Brad McDonald's mother, Norma, was very close to her brother Bert. In fact, it was Bert who introduced Norma to her husband and Brad's father, Orville "Mac" McDonald, also a member of the U.S. Navy. The two sailors had met while training together at Naval Station Great Lakes, and Bert brought Orville home for a visit.
"Without Bert, I wouldn't be here, Brad McDonald said. "He played Cupid."
Bert Jacobson arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at the age of 21, only 57 days after finishing his training at Great Lakes. He was on duty the night before the attack and believed to be sleeping aboard the ship when the attack took place.
"He may have died before he even knew there was a war going on," McDonald said. "Of course, there's no way to know that."
Continued in my Down Da Road I Go blog.
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