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Remember...Jackie Paul Hackett
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Jackie Paul Hackett was born April 4, 1931, in Putnam County, West Virginia, the son of Arthur and Reba McClanahan Hackett. Jackie graduated from Poca High School and was employed at the Dunbar Glass Plant before enlisting in the Navy on December 17, 1951. He then received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station after which he was assigned duty aboard the aircraft carrier USS Leyte.
On February 7, 1953, still assigned to the USS Leyte, Jackie married Ann Workman in a ceremony which took place at the home of his parents. On October 16, 1953, the USS Leyte was anchored in Boston Harbor undergoing conversion to an antisubmarine carrier when an explosion occurred in the port catapult machinery room. Navy Airman Jackie Paul Hackett was among the 37 who were killed.
The body of Airman Hackett was returned to Putnam County and on October 22, 1953, his funeral was held at Elizabeth Baptist Church where he had attended Sunday School. Interment was in the Showen Cemetery.
In 2001, a marker was dedicated in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in memory of the men who were killed in the explosion on the USS Leyte.
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
