Hello I am Jake, your Site Yeoman!
Hello Shipmates, my name is Ken Jaccard, but I go by Jake, as it was the name my shipmates on the USS Hancock (CVA-19) nicknamed me, since they had a hard time pronouncing my sirname, Jaccard. It's pronounced correctly as Já-card with the emphasis on the first syllable.
It took me sometime to get these guys to learn the proper pronounciation so one of them, of more lazy character, just shortened it to 'Jake' and it stuck with me through my Navy career.
Years later, as I became more and more involved in the Internet and began to construct my Navy Career Website, "Jake's 'Yankee Station'," I took the name and resurrected it. I have since used it anytime I am online. So it has become my name of sorts, and because I liked it back then in 1962, I still like it! After all, a guy could be called worse, right?
I have undertaken this website to honor the USS JACCARD DE-355, sort of on a whim. Ensign Richard Alonzo Jaccard, no doubt would be pleased that they built and commissioned a Naval Warship after him, that I am sure. I do believe he would equally be pleased to see that I have undertaken this task of bringing the ship he was honored by, back to light again, after so long being forgotten on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where it was dispatched on 4 October 1968, as a Naval Weapons Target.
I am not really sure if I am related to Ensign Jaccard but since the name is very rare and unusual, and know that my ancestors originally migrated to the United States from Switzerland in the 1820s, it is more than likely that we could trace our lineage back to a common ancestor, no doubt. No matter whether Ens. Jaccard is a distant or not-so-distant relative, the fact remains, that he is a JACCARD, and so, I felt I owed this Naval Aviator and Hero of WWII an Honor, by bringing him and the Ship back to life on the Internet.
Naval History is a very fascinating thing to me, and the more I am involved in this Site and my Tribute to the ship I served in, I find that many of my generation and earlier generations are coming 'full circle' in the persuit of knowledge and renewal of fond memories.
I have gained so much through the many hours that I have dedicated myself to this 'hobby' and I have been not only blessed by the knowledge I have gained through research, but also in the form of new friendships. I find it exceptionally satisfying to read the Deck Log and find out how much I have done to make these former 'Squids', 'anchor clankers' and 'swab jockies' happy to find a site dedicated to the ship they served in. I have hopes that as more 'surfers' come in and look for the JACCARD, they will help me get more information on this ship.
I don't even know if there is an Association formed for this ship, but if not, I have a desire to initiate one. Those who come here, and read this might help me do this, and hopefully, they will also contribute some of their photographs and oral history of their time on the ship. This is the heartbeat of the ship.. the crew!
I hail from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, moved to southern California with my parents as a young boy, and there in Glendale, grew up, and eventually joined the Naval Reserves as a Senior in High School. I won't get into my own history too much on this page, but anyone who wishes to learn more about my Navy Life (CD-ROM) or on Internet here.
You can click here if you wish to see me after 35 years have passed since the picture above was taken, while in Sasebo, Japan (November 1963).
Thank you for your interest and I hope you have enjoyed your visit aboard the JACCARD again, and thank you for helping me preserve this corner of Naval History. If you are interested in my ship and the website I have constructed to her memory, please click on the icon below.
The CD-ROM SiteAs this site grows, I will be adding a gallery and an Oral History site, as well. If you are intertested in wonderful Oral History by former sailors, please visit my Oral History Page at Jake's 'Yankee Station' or on the CD-ROM here. I know you will enjoy reading what our shipmates have contributed there. You will also find interesting navy related stories there, that are not from former Hancock sailors.. but equally entertaining and enjoyable to read. Some very exciting true life adventures; some not so serious.. some down right funny. Please visit and plan on staying awhile!
May you have Fair Winds and Following Seas!
Jake
