Donald Ross Jones – Lieutenant Colonel, United States Marine Corps

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.


JONES, DONALD ROSS, LT. COL. USMC (Ret.)

Of Springfield, Virginia, died on September 14, 2003 at Manor Care in Arlington, Virginia. Husband of Patricia Roderick Jones; father of Roderick Leland Jones and Ceilie Jones McLean; father-in-law of Patricia Virginia Jones. Also survived by two grandchildren, Amanda Jones and Danielle Jones.

A funeral service will be held at Fort Myer Old Post Chapel, with interment at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, November 5, 2003, at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1700, Chicago, IL 60601-7633.


JONES, DONALD ROSS

  • LT COL   US MARINE CORPS
  • WORLD WAR II, KOREA, VIETNAM
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 11/13/1921
  • DATE OF DEATH: 09/14/2003
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 66  SITE 3838-A
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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