Doughboy MIA For September 2024: Private Burwell Canady Jackson
Published: 10 September 2024
By Alexander Curran
Senior Director–Research and Field Operations
Doughboy M.I.A.
Private Burwell Jackson Tablets of the Missing Aisne-Marne American cemetery
Private Burwell Jackson listed on the Tablets of the Missing, Aisne-Marne American Cemetery.
Private Burwell Canady Jackson was born on October 26, 1896, in Lenoir County, North Carolina. He was raised on his family’s farm, where he eventually took over the family operation after his father’s passing in 1911. On April 24, 1917, Private Jackson enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He sailed to France with Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, arriving in St. Nazaire in June 1917.
Private Burwell Jackson
In November of that year, the 16th Infantry suffered the first U.S. casualties in France following a German raid on their trenches. The regiment later fought in the Battle of Cantigny. In a letter home, Private Jackson shared:
“I have had many exciting experiences since I landed. I wish I could tell you just one, but it’s impossible now. As I was among the first to land, I’ve taken it all in.”
On July 19th, 1918, Jackson’s company was stalled by an enemy machine gun nest during the Aisne-Marne offensive. In a bold move, he single-handedly disabled the nest, earning the Distinguished Service Cross. His citation states:
“For extraordinary heroism in action near Soissons, France, July 19th, 1918. He, alone, captured a machine gun, killed two of the crew, and took the remaining three prisoners. Later in the same day, he was killed while making a similar attempt.”
Shortly after this heroic action, Jackson was killed by enemy fire. Sergeant Karl Elsina witnessed his death and recounted:
“About 1 p.m. on July 19, 1918, as we reached the Paris-Soissons Road, I saw Private Jackson struck in the head by a piece of high explosive shell. He died a few moments later, uttering these words: ‘Well, I have two to my credit. Goodbye, Elsina.’ He was a loyal soldier and well-liked by all members of the company.”
Unfortunately, there is no known information about Private Jackson’s burial. The Graves Registration Service had no exact location to search for his remains, and he could not be identified from any of the “Unknowns.”
On August 16, 1918, a memorial service was held for him at the First Baptist Church in Kinston, North Carolina, with hundreds in attendance. Friends remembered him as “never long on heroics” and “of modest disposition.”
Private Jackson is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France, where his date of death is officially carried as July 20th, 1918. In his honor, a cenotaph was also placed at Jesse Jackson cemetery in Kinston, North Carolina.
Would you like to be involved with solving the case of Private Burwell Canady Jackson, and all the other Americans still in MIA status from World War I? You can! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization today, and help us bring them home! Help us do the best job possible and give today, with our thanks. Remember: A man is only missing if he is forgotten.
