Bill Jacobsen and I were friends from BYU ROTC.

He and I were the two tallest cadets in our class (6'5" and 6'6") and since marching order and things like that are by height, we were always right next to each other.

I sat next to him in our sophomore and junior year classes as well.

I remember I was better at land navigation (map and compass stuff) than him, so I'd help him.   He was better at writing operation orders (a report that has to be in a very specific format) than me, so he helped me a lot.

A few years ago, when a suicide bomber walked into a mess hall in Mossul, Iraq, Bill was killed.

There have been quite a few articles written about Bill, because before he passed away, he had made quite an impresssion on several newspaper reporters, and stories and quote from Bill were featured in the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

More recently, a documentary was made about the incident with the suicide bomber, and Bill's story was a big part of it.

Read this moving article about him and his family:

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/articles/050107iraq.html