Photo from the WWII Memorial Registry.
Born: April 4, 1919
Died: March 29, 1993
Campaigns Served: Pearl Harbor (Marine Detachment, USS Tennessee), Iwo Jima (wounded twice)
Highest Rank Attained: Corporal
Decorations: Silver Star, Purple Heart
with Gold Star
Jesse Betts was born on a small farm in Reams, Oklahoma. His parents, Charles Augusts and Della Luella (Rankin) Betts were sharecroppers. "Guss" began working as a truck driver and mechanic to support a growing family, which eventually included three more sons and three daughters.
The family moved from town to town across Oklahoma and Texas, with Jesse attending a few years of grade school in each place. Della Betts died just as her eldest son completed ninth grade. Jesse left school in 1938 to join the Civilian Conservation Corps and spent the next three years building dams and parks in western Oklahoma and breakwaters along the Rio Grande.
Jesse Betts had been contemplating enlisting in the Marine Corps; when a recruiter from Denver visited the camp in 1941, nineteen-year-old Betts joined several other youths from the camp in volunteering. He was sent to San Diego for recruit training, and was impressed by the cleanliness and discipline of life in the Corps - not to mention the three square meals a day. His enthusiastic response was not lost on his family; younger brother Bud followed Jesse into the service.
After graduating from boot camp, Betts was assigned to a coveted post in Sea School and was soon en route to his first duty station. The USS Tennessee was moored on Battleship Row with the pride of America's Pacific Fleet. Private Betts was assigned to the battleship's marine detachment. Dry duties like gangplank watch and deck patrol soon gave way to the excitement of serving on #9 Broadside Gun on maneuvers and gunnery practice drills. When not at sea, liberties in the busy and beautiful Hawaiian port were plentiful. Life was good.
Private Betts had been assigned to mess duty on December 7, 1941. He arose at 0530, sleepily preparing coffee as he contemplated a trip to the Aiea Recreational Center, where he practiced for a spot on a swimming team. Reveille sounded, and Betts brought steaming turreens of food from the galley to the Marine quarters; tables had been set up as the hammocks were lashed up, and the men gathered around for breakfast. They were just finishing their meal when the loudspeaker blared General Quarters.
As the seated Marines jumped up and hurried to the door, Betts - thinking this was just a drill - collected an armload of dishes to drop at the scullery on his way to his battle station. A sharp shock sent the plates flying from his arms. Later, he would realize that the impact had been caused by a torpedo hitting the USS West Virginia, moored alongside. Betts raced for #9 Gun, and within minutes his crew was ready to fire. Then the heartbreaking word came down - they were to secure the gun since they could not train on the attacking planes. The men of #9 Gun were relegated to the role of spectators.
As Betts looked astern, the magazine on the USS Arizona detonated with an almighty roar. The force of the blast flung Betts back against his gun, bruising his back and dazing him momentarily. Through the haze and smoke he could see sailors leaping overboard and screaming in panic. Men in the water were burned by blazing oil, or crushed between the hulls of battleships as they swung back and forth. Horrified, Betts could not imagine how anyone had survived.
The fires spread to Tennessee's electrical circuitry, rendering the ammunition hoists to the guns useless. Japanese planes flew low overhead. Two images of the enemy stuck in Betts' mind - one pilot flew so low that Betts could clearly see the man smiling and chewing gum, and another who had parachuted out of a falling plane was bayonetted by a Marine guard on the beach.
Confusion reigned. As the West Virginia settled to the bottom of the harbor, Betts watched wounded and shocked sailors desperately scrambling aboard the Tennessee. With his gun useless, Betts was sent to bring machine gun ammunition from the magazine; others told him to put it away and fetch Browning and Lewis guns to set up on the fo'c'sle. He couldn't believe how little time it had taken to make such a mess. By the time the guns were arranged, the attack had ended. Smoke and flame were everywhere; wreckage and dead bodies covered the water. That night, Betts watched torpedo boats hunt Japanese submarines in the harbor and saw sailors open up on American planes landing at Ford Island.
The Tennessee was repaired and dispatched to Alaska to fend off a purported Japanese attack. After a time spent patrolling, she put in to Seattle for an extensive refit. It was there that Jesse Betts met Roberta Tuttle; they were married after a whirlwind one-month romance.
Betts was transferred off the Tennessee in 1943. Originally slated to go to Tarawa, he had the good fortune to be assigned to MP duty at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Later that year, Roberta gave birth to a baby girl.
Jesse Betts was sent to Camp Maui in early 1944, where he joined up with the Fourth Marine Division. He was posted to Baker Company, 24th Marines as a corporal. In February 1945, Corporal Betts led a squad onto Iwo Jima. By the end of the battle, he had been wounded twice and awarded the Silver Star medal for bravery.
Betts stayed with the Marines as a Sea School DI after the war; he was discharged in 1947, but signed up for the Reserves. He was called up during the Korean War and spent several years as an instructor at Camp Pendleton. He eventually retired with the rank of sergeant. Betts returned to Seattle, where he joined the fire department. He had attained the rank of Chief by the time of his retirement in 1976.
Jesse Betts died in Seattle in 1993.