Hometown: Riviera Beach, FL
Branch: U.S. Air Force
Unit: 586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing 
Military Honors: Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: September 28, 2005 - KIA in Safwan, Basra Governorate, Iraq
Age: 21
Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011

Born in Orlando, Florida, on March 26, 1984, Elizabeth “Liz” Jacobson was raised in Madera Ranchos, California—a small, unincorporated community just north of Fresno.

Her parents, David and Marianne, divorced when Liz and her sister Jenna were young. Her father told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Liz went through kindergarten twice because of a learning disability. At the time, she told him, “Daddy, I’m just a late bloomer.”

David Jacobson recalled:

She played soccer, sometimes kicking the ball the wrong way or to the wrong team, he said. She had a funky sense of style, wearing knee-high socks that didn’t match and often changing the shape and color of her hair.

In her high school years, Liz moved in with her grandmother, Sondra Millman-Cosimano, in Riviera Beach, Florida. Johnson attended Palm Beach Gardens High School for a few months. Her attendance was spotty, and she transferred to Gold Coast High School in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Johnson moved back to California, to live with her mother, earning her high school diploma through an adult education school there. She also joined the Fresno Playhouse and dabbled with writing poetry.

Seeking direction in her life, Johnson moved back to Riviera Beach, Florida, in hopes of finding work and starting a career in law enforcement.

Motivated by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and at the suggestion of her grandfather, Cos Cosimano, Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on December 9, 2003.

She completed Security Forces technical school and was assigned to the 17th Security Forces Squadron at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. Her duties included security patrols and long shifts at the front gate, checking all arrivals.

At the time, Jacobson lived with and obtained guardianship of her 16-year-old sister, Gabrielle—an arrangement that could have exempted Liz from being deployed. But she was eager to serve in Iraq.

Her request to deploy was granted at last. On June 15, 2005, A1C Jacobson left Goodfellow Air Force Base for pre-deployment training. She was assigned to the 586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, 386th Expeditionary Mission Support Group in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Jacobson was sent to Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, on the Kuwaiti border. Camp Bucca was a detention facility designed to hold some of the most dangerous and important prisoners of war.

After a couple of months, A1C Jacobson was assigned to work convoy security. Her duties included the protection of supply convoys that traveled on Iraq’s dangerous roads, often susceptible to attack.

Three months into her deployment, traveling in the second vehicle of a convoy on September 28, 2005, A1C Jacobson’s Humvee was struck by a roadside improvised explosive device (IED). The blast killed Jacobson and U.S. Army Sgt. Steve Morin Jr., of Arlington, Texas, instantly.

Lost at age 21, Airman First Class Elizabeth N. Jacobson was laid to rest with full military honors in Pompano Beach, Florida. She was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals.

Among the many lasting tributes, the south gate at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, is named “Jacobson Gate” in her honor. The Physical Apprehension and Restraint Training facility at Lackland Air Force Base is also named after her.

The U.S. Air Force has established the Elizabeth N. Jacobson Award for Expeditionary Excellence, given to an Airmen for outstanding performance during a deployment.

Sources
U.S. Air Force—Goodfellow Air Force Base: Remembering: A1C Elizabeth N. Jacobson
The Jewish News of Northern California, Oct. 14, 2005: Elizabeth Jacobson, Air Force member, killed in Iraq
San Angelo Standard-Times, Oct. 1, 2005: Goodfellow airman killed
South Florida Sun Sentinel, Oct. 1, 2005: Woman matured in military
San Angelo Standard-Times, Sep. 29, 2015: Goodfellow honors first to fall
Military Times—Honor the Fallen: Air Force Airman 1st Class Elizabeth N. Jacobson
Military Times—Hall of Valor: Elizabeth N. Jacobson
Fallen Heroes Project: Elizabeth Jacobson
Together We Served: Jacobson, Elizabeth N., A1C
Burial Site: Find a Grave