Jacob Larry Rawls was born on October 29, 1920. He was married to Evelyn Lucille Harris Rawls.

Jacob served in the 361st Fighter Group as a Second Lieutenant and Pilot on a P-38 fighter plane. On his August 8, 1944, mission, due to an unknown circumstance, Jacob bailed out of his plane. He was one of the 152 allied airmen and soldiers who were helped and hidden in the Freteval Forest camp by the French Resistance to evade German capture.

2Lt Rawls also served in the Korean war. He attained his highest rank in the United States Air Force as a Major. He was a deacon at Union Avenue Baptist Church and a member of the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society.

Rawls died on July 28, 2002, at the age of 81, and is now buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA.