Captain David M. Jones
- First name: | David |
- Middle name: | Mudgett |
- Last name: | Jones |
- Nickname: | Davey |
- Rank Doolittle raid: | Captain |
- Last rank: | Major General |
- Service number: | 0-22482 |
- Date of birth: | 18 December 1913 |
- Place of birth: | Coose Bay, Oregon |
- Date of death: | 24 November 2008 |
- Place of death: | Tucson, Arizona |
- Place of the cemetery: | Arlington, Virginia |
- Name of the cemetery: | Arlington National Cemetery |
Additional info
David Mudgett Jones was born on December 18, 1913, in Marshfield, Oregon, the son of David Arthur (Dade) Jones and Grace Mudgett. His father Dade Jones, the son of Welsh immigrants, homesteaded land in Meadow Lake Township, North Dakota in 1896 before marrying Grace and moving to Oregon.
He married Anita Bernice Jones (Maddox) in 1939. The couple had 3 children. Anita died in 1993. After the death of his wife Anita he remarried Janna-Neen Jones who died in 2022.
When Jones bailed out and touched the ground he writes "When I discovered Suyuan Village, I asked the people of the village if any American crews had fallen. An old man in the village said yes, and it were the American crews who bombed Tokyo. When I heard that, my hair went up my body was erect and I asked how I could find the pilots. After taking off rom the USS Hornet the crew found out they had a leak in one of the the gastanks. The crew bailed out near Chuchow above China an were the first to arrive there.
He was preceded in death by his first wife Anita Maddox Jones, and survived by his wife Janna-Neen Johnson-Dingell-Cunningham-Jones, daughter (Jere Jones Yeager), two sons (David Jones and Jim Jones) and a stepdaughter (Ann-Eve Grace Dingell-Cunningham).
On September 1942, Jones was assigned to the new 319th Bombardment Group, preparing for combat in North Africa. He was assigned to develop low-level bombing tactics and techniques due to his experience with the Doolittle project and his belief in low-level bombing tactics.
On 4 December 1942, he was shot down over Bizerte, North Africa, and spent two and a half years as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III. As a result of his constant agitation and harassment of the enemy, he was selected for the "escape committee" by fellow prisoners. The committee reviewed escape plans and directed escapes Jones led the digging team on tunnel "Harry" used in the Great Escape, chronicled in the Paul Brickhill's autobiographical book, and portrayed in the 1963 movie The great Escape. Jones was commended for leadership among his fellow prisoners (text taken from wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Jones - Location of the tunnel Harry : 51°36'03.3"N 15°18'31.7"E
Jones retired at the rank of major general on 31 May 1973. He was one of five Doolittle Raiders who later became general officers; the others are James H. Doolittle, John A. Hilger, Everett W. Holstrom, and Richard A. Knobloch.
David M. Jones was inducted in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame during 1998.
I have to thank Ann-Eve Grace Dingell
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