Bill (NMI) Jones

Bill (NMI) Jones

Bill (NMI) Jones (1920-1981) was a World War II veteran and a member of The American Legion. Forced to leave school at an early age after his father was murdered in 1930, he grew up working in logging camps in northeast Tennessee. He entered the U.S. Army in December 1942 and served as a combat engineer in the Pacific during World War II. His service carried him from the Aleutian islands of Kiska and Attu to the Marshall Islands and the Philippines. In all, he was involved in five amphibious invasions during the war. He ended the war in Korea and likely would have been involved in an invasion of the Japanese home islands if not for the atomic bomb. His mother died Jan. 1, 1944, while he was serving in the Pacific. After the war, he returned to his native northeast Tennessee, married and raised three sons. A truck driver for much of his adult life, Dad died on Sept. 24, 1981, at 61.