Memorial

More information

Pvt Jackson Richardson attended the University of Florida in Gainsville, Florida as a Pre-med student in 1942/1943.

He enlisted in Camp Blanding, Florida on 22 August 1944.
According to the World War II Prisoners of War Data File he was taken prisoner on 16 March 1945. At the time of his death the 78th Infantry Division had crossed the Rhine at Remagen and had reached the Ruhr-Frankfurt Autobahn near Aegidienberg, Germany.

His niece and nephew Lynda Gaemes and Jack Richardson provided the following story about what happened to their uncle: "After Uncle Jack's capture, we don't know what happened before the prisoners were put on a German train headed for Berlin. Supposedly the train carried some German troops, German equipment, and prisoners of war. However, the train was not marked POWs for "Prisoners of War" which went against the Geneva Convention. At some point, a British plane spotted the train and strafed it. We are not clear if the train was stopped, about to stop, or traveling slowly, but the men were trying to get off the train, including the prisoners. We are pretty sure the POWs were in a box car. According to Uncle Jack's Jewish buddy, Jack was holding the door open for men to get out. We think his buddy was helping men get out as well. This is when Uncle Jack was hit in the chest by a 50-caliber shell from the air fire and killed. His friend was with him when Jack died.