This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Sgt David A. Stutesman
to remember
Marine LtCol Donald Ross Jones.
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Contact Info
Home Town Milwaukee
Last Address Springfield, Virginia
Date of Passing Sep 14, 2003
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Colonel Jones was awarded the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for action in Korea, the Bronze Star for combat in the Solomon Islands, and the Purple Donald R. Jones, 81, a decorated Marine Corps veteran who served in three foreign wars and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after 24 years of service, died September 14, 2003, at Manor Care in Arlington, Virginia, of Alzheimer's disease after a month-long coma. Colonel Jones was awarded the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for action in Korea, the Bronze Star for combat in the Solomon Islands, and the Purple Heart for injuries sustained on Okinawa during World War II. He also served in Vietnam. For 25 years after his military service, Colonel Jones was a residential real estate salesman for several large national firms in the Washington area, including Levitt & Sons, Ryland Homes and Centex Homes. He was inducted into the National Association of Home Builders' Institute of Residential Marketing in 1979. He was born in Milwaukee and raised in Oronogo, Missouri. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942. During World War II, he participated in combat operations in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Guam and Okinawa and in the occupation of Japan, and was discharged as a Sergeant in 1946. He reenlisted as a Private in order to go to Officer Candidate School, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and two years later was deployed to Korea as a Rifle Platoon Leader, where he was in the assault landing at Inchon, the battle for Seoul, the First Marine Division break-out in the Chosin area and the Chinese breakthrough in the spring of 1951. Later duty included Parris Island, South Carolina; Butte, Montana; Camp Pendleton, California; Washington; Hawaii; and Vietnam. He served at sea and retired in 1966 as a technical writer at the Marine Corps School at Quantico. After retirement from his real estate career in 1991, he and his wife divided their time between Daytona Beach, Florida, and Springfield. Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Patricia Roderick Jones of Springfield, a son, Roderick Leland Jones of Chantilly; a daughter, Ceilie Jones McLean of Alexandria; and two granddaughters.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Second Lieutenant Donald R. Jones (MCSN: 0-49868), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as Leader of a Rifle Platoon, Company A, First Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces near Koto-ri Pass, Korea, on 8 December 1950. Although the approaches to the enemy positions were practically inaccessible and exposed to direct hostile small-arms and machine-gun fire, Second Lieutenant Jones bravely led his platoon up the steep snow-covered precipice to attack and seize a mountain peak defended by well-entrenched, numerically superior hostile forces. Moving fearlessly among the squads, he skillfully maneuvered his men into strategic positions from which they could deliver accurate rifle fire and employ hand grenades more effectively. Spearheading his well-planned assault, he directed his group in hand-to-hand fighting which resulted in the destruction of over seventy-five of the enemy and numerous machine-gun bunkers. When the hostile troops launched an aggressive counterattack while he was reorganizing his platoon immediately following the seizure of the objective, he conducted a successful defense of the newly-won positions, thereby contributing materially to the success of the Battalion in securing enemy-held terrain from which to cover the advance of the Division. His tactical ability, indomitable fighting spirit and courageous devotion to duty in the face of intense hostile opposition reflect the highest credit upon Second Lieutenant Jones and the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Authority: Board of Awards: Serial 765 (July 23, 1951)
The 4th Marine Regiment was first activated in April 1914 as part of the Marine Corps' Advances Base Force. The regiment was deployed to the Dominican Republic the following year for a peacekeeping duty that lasted ten years. The 4th Marines were reassigned to San Diego in 1924. Two years later, the regiment was assigned to mail guard duty in the western United States. In early 1927, it sailed for Shanghai. Their principal mission: to protect American lives and property. Despite periodic outbreaks of internal disorder, most of the 4th Marines' 14-year tour in China was a relatively peaceful garrison duty. In late 1941, war loomed in the Far East. On November 28, the era of the China Marines ended, as the last of the regiment set sail for the Philippines.
They arrived on December 1 and were assigned to protect the naval station at Olongapo and nearby Mariveles. Seven days later, Japanese troops landed in Luzon and the 4th Marines were placed under U.S. Army control and subsequently assigned to defend the island fortress of Corregidor, which guards the entrance to Manila Bay. Over the next four months, the 4th Marines grew from a two-battalion regiment to one of five battalions, in the process becoming one of the oldest units in Marine Corps history. As defensive positions fell and units disintegrated, stragglers from the U.S. Army and Navy, as well as small Filipino units were assigned to it. Resistance on the Bataan Peninsula ended on April 9. This permitted Japanese artillery to concentrate on Corregidor. Landing craft began moving toward the island the evening of May 5. At noon the next day, Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, commander of U.S. Forces in the Philippines, surrendered. The 4th Marines burned their colors and -- temporarily -- ceased to exist.
The regiment was reborn in February 1944, when it was reconstituted in Guadalcanal from units of the 1st Marine Raider Regiment. The new 4th Marine Regiment seized Emirau Island in the Central Pacific. Then, as a part the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, it took part in the recapture of Guam. The brigade soon became the 6th Marine Division and with its other regiments, the 4th Marines landed on Okinawa on April 1, 1945. Following the Japanese surrender, the 4th Marines were detached and ordered to occupy the Japanese naval base at Yokusoko. Subsequently, as a part of the post-World War II drawdown, the regiment was inactivated.
In 1951, the 4th Marine Regiment was reactivated at Camp Pendleton, California. It sailed for Japan the following year with the rest of the 3rd Marine Division. When the division was reassigned to Okinawa in 1955, the 4th Marines moved to Kaneohe, Hawaii, where they stayed until the division was committed to Vietnam in 1965. In 1972, the regiment took up residence on Okinawa, its current home base. In 1990-91, the 4th Marines took part in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as part of the III Marine Amphibious Force. Since then, 4th Marine Regiment has been involved in many joint exercises that have taken the regiment all across Asia and the Middle East.
