Expand exact roster rank codes (class_rank: 1st Lt -> First Lieutenant)
RB Archive: 1942 newspaper gallery confirming Ritchie instructor
 
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|class_display=11
|class_display=11
|arm_or_service=Corps of Engineers
|arm_or_service=Corps of Engineers
|birth_date=11 December 1918
|death_date=3 December 2017
|birth_place=Holmdel, New Jersey
|death_place=Pompano Beach, Florida
|rank_final=Captain
}}
}}


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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
''Add a biography, family details, and sources. Click Edit to change this page; no account is required.''
Kenneth Townsend Ackerson was born on 11 December 1918 on his family's farm in Holmdel, New Jersey. An organist from childhood, he earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Rutgers College in 1941 and joined the U.S. Soil Conservation Service.
 
Ackerson entered the Army before the United States entered World War II and trained as a military-intelligence officer at [[Camp Ritchie]] ([[Class 11]]). Contemporary New Jersey newspapers in late 1942 already described him as a Camp Ritchie instructor. He served with the Army Corps of Engineers at Camp Ritchie and in the Philippines, attaining the rank of captain before his service ended.
 
He resumed his Soil Conservation Service career after the war and became a world-soils specialist, contributing to the World Soil Map Project during assignments in Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa. Ackerson retired in 1985 after forty-four years of government service and died in Pompano Beach, Florida, on 3 December 2017.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
* Pacific (R-60)
* Pacific (R-60)
* PDF-only packet; biography is limited to the obituary and existing roster facts.


== Gallery ==
== Gallery ==
''After you are autoconfirmed, [[Special:Upload|upload a photo]] and add <code><nowiki>[[File:Example.jpg|thumb|caption]]</nowiki></code> here, or set <code>|photo=Example.jpg</code> in the infobox.''
<div class="soldier-gallery">
<gallery mode="packed" heights="140px">
Kenneth_T_Ackerson_0454999_Daily_Register_1942-10-01.jpg|''The Daily Register'' (Red Bank, N.J.), 1 October 1942 — Kenneth T. Ackerson service timeline / Camp Ritchie (RB Archive).
Kenneth_T_Ackerson_0454999_Keyport_Enterprise_1942-12-31.jpg|''Keyport Enterprise'' (Keyport, N.J.), 31 December 1942 — engagement notice describing Ackerson as a Camp Ritchie instructor (RB Archive).
</gallery>
</div>


== Technical record ==
== Technical record ==
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| row_source || both
|}
|}
== Timeline ==
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
* 11 December 1918 — Born in Holmdel, New Jersey.
* 1941 — Earned a B.S. in agriculture from Rutgers College and joined the Soil Conservation Service.
* World War II — Camp Ritchie Class 11; Corps of Engineers intelligence service at Camp Ritchie and in the Philippines; promoted to captain.
* 1946–1985 — Soil Conservation Service career, including work on the World Soil Map Project.
* 3 December 2017 — Died in Pompano Beach, Florida.
</div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* ''Keyport Enterprise'' (Keyport, New Jersey), 31 December 1942 — engagement notice naming Ackerson as a Camp Ritchie instructor
* ''The Daily Register'' (Red Bank, New Jersey), 1 October 1942 — Kenneth T. Ackerson service timeline referencing Camp Ritchie
* Asbury Park Press, 8 December 2017 — obituary for Kenneth Townsend Ackerson (RB Archive ProQuest PDF)
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
* NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
* NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)