‘Mission of love’: Vietnam veteran son honors WWII veteran father with overdue recognition
September 15, 2020 02:33 PM
Vietnam veteran Charles Jacobi Jr. carries the shadowbox with medals he got for his 98-yr. old father who had yet to receive them due to an error in his official Army records that lacked recognition of his final two campaigns in World War II.
Photo contributed to The Daily News/JDNews.com
By Calvin Shomaker, The Daily News
Charles P. Jacobi Sr. is an American hero and a rare breed.
The 98-year-old Army veteran served in nine campaigns during World War II with the First Infantry Division; however, some of his deserved recognition got delayed due to his official records failing to indicate his participation in his final two campaigns, the Central Europe Campaign and the Rhineland Campaign.
When his son Charles Jacobi Jr., known as Buddy, found a letter from the Army in his father’s home dated 1986 confirming he earned four bronze service medals and one silver service medal that went not received, he began a five-year quest to get his father what he deserved.
On Sept. 5, members from American Legion Riders Chapter 265 surprised Jacobi Sr. at his assisted living facility in Swansboro to hold a ceremony outside his window to show appreciation, honor his courage and to fully recognize what he did for his country.
“He has the utmost love and respect for his father,” said Dennis Hoynacki, director of Chapter 265 and a Navy veteran who spoke at the ceremony. “He would do it for another veteran if he knew that it was earned and deserved. That’s the type of man that Buddy is, but to do it for his father - it was a mission of love.”
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Jacobi Jr. was only allowed to visit his father briefly. He presented him with a shadow box that included keepsakes like the medals he was owed, his uniform patches and an old name tag. He also gave his father his framed Army photo, a certificate from the Society of the First Infantry Division and a division hat.
“He’s been a good dad to me and I love him,” Jacobi Jr. said. “That’s why I wanted to do this. It comes from the heart.”
Jacobi’s bond with his father is indelible. He followed in his father’s footsteps when he joined the Army and served in Vietnam. After returning home from the war, he worked with his father as a roofer, and when Jacobi Sr.’s health became an issue, his son took him in.
Over the past few months, Jacobi Sr. has battled pneumonia and faced other health problems, so Jacobi Jr. asked the Legion Riders to join him in showing love to his father and to lift his spirits by awarding him the medals he was long overdue.
“When I was young I was proud that he was a soldier, and when it was my turn to be a soldier, I thought, ‘Well dad did it. I am going to do it, too’,” Jacobi Jr. said. “We had a good bond. We always got along, no problems, and that’s why I wanted to do this for him.”
From his hometown of Brooklyn, New York to the battlefields of World War II and now as a resident of Eastern North Carolina, Jacobi Sr.’s life story and commitment to his country reminds us all of the true patriotism embodied by those who serve in our nation’s military.
“It is because of people like Charles P. Jacobi Sr. that we have the abilities and the freedoms that we have today,” Hoynacki said. “That's why they were called the Greatest Generation. These were kids that went to war.”
Prior to his health problems, Jacobi Sr. resided in Goldsboro after relocating to North Carolina from Long Island, New York in the 1980s.
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