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| PFC Raymond Jones served in the 78th Infantry Division in Germany. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56300285/raymond-william-jones http://ww2awartobewon.com/wwii-archives/78th-infantry-division-ruhr-pocket/ |
Raymond William Jones never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 30, 1919 in Missouri. His parents William and Theresa were also both born in Missouri. His father worked as a construction company laborer and later as an ironworker. Raymond had one older sisters, seventeen years his senior. He married at some point. One source says his wife's name as Bernice and had two children, and another says his wife's name was Ruth with no mention of children.
He enlisted in the army and became a private first class in the 310th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division, (nicknamed "Lightning"). It arrived in France in November 1944.
The 78th ID faced the Germans across the Siegfried Line during the winter of 1944/1945. It crossed the Rhine at Remagen on March 8, 1945. The 78th ID was assigned to clear up the Ruhr Pocket which took from April 2 to April 17. There were over 300,000 German soldiers surrounded. Town after town, the 78th ID GIs were mostly greeted by white sheets hanging from windows. Unfortunately, not all of the enemy were ready to surrender. Pvt. Jones was killed in action on April 13, 1945.
His grave is at Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, Netherlands. One source says his widow remarried and died in 1990.
Last year on this date I profiled Battle of Midway Silver Star hero and B-17 gunner William Takala. You can read about William here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
The cemeteries in Europe are ripe with stories like this...beautifully maintained, by those grateful nations...RIP PFC Jones.
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