[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 65 (Monday, May 20, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E863-E864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN RECOGNITION OF DONALD W. JONES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 20, 2002

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Donald 
Wallice Jones, and his brother Jack V. Jones, both veterans of World 
War II. The Jones brothers both left high school early to join the Navy 
and fight for the United States during World War II. After the war, 
Donald Jones continued his education by receiving a GED, taking courses 
at the University of Houston, and completing a 5-year apprenticeship 
program in plumbing, but he never received his high school diploma. 
That will change on June 1st, 2002, as a result of a Texas Senate bill, 
passed in May, 2001, that authorizes certain WWII veterans to apply for 
and receive a high school diploma. Donald W. Jones will participate in 
graduation ceremonies and receive his high school diploma from Davis 
High School in the Houston, Texas Independent School District, along 
with his brother, Jack V. Jones. The two brothers will share their 
proud moment with friends and family who are arriving for the ceremony 
from all over the country. Two of Donald Jones' granddaughters work in 
my office in Washington, DC, and will fly to Texas to see their

[[Page E864]]

grandfather receive his honorary degree. Jean E. and Laura Jones are 
extremely proud of their grandfather and great uncle and their service 
to the United States.
  Donald Wallice Jones enlisted in the U.S. Navy in January, 1942, at 
the age of sixteen. His first mission was aboard the USS Pennsylvania, 
which participated in the Coral Sea-Midway Battle. In July, 1943 he was 
transferred to the newly commissioned Fred C. Davis 136, which 
eventually received high security radio control jamming equipment that 
was used during the Invasion of Sicily. Jones later served as gun 
pointer in Anzio and was responsible for shooting down 13 planes and 
one mini-submarine. He was next transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 
1945 and boarded the DE195-Thornhill. The Thornhill traveled through 
the Panama Canal headed to Pearl Harbor ready to engage again, but 
before the ship reached its destination, President Truman announced his 
decision to bomb Japan. When the second bomb was dropped on August 9, 
1945, Jones had just reached his 20th birthday. He returned to the 
United States on a ``victory ship'' and was honorably discharged on 
October 17, 1945 from the U.S. Navy. Donald W. Jones volunteered almost 
four years of his life in service to his country.
  Jack Jones enlisted in the U.S. Navy in January, 1941, at seventeen 
years of age. He went to Dearborn, Michigan to the Ford Motor Company 
to train as a motor machinist. Jack was then transferred to the USS 
Tennessee where he served over 2 years. He survived the December 7, 
1941 Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor, and had the difficult job of 
burial detail following the attack. He, along with his brother Donald, 
was in the Coral Sea-Midway Battle. He then continued to serve his 
country on a Troop Carrier ship during the European Theater in the 
Mediterranean. He also experienced the Sicily Invasion and Salerno, 
Italy Invasion. Jack was finally transferred to the Viviane in the 
Atlantic, where he served before he was honorably discharged in 
Jacksonville, Florida at the end of 1947. He proudly served his country 
for 7 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Donald and Jack Jones for their 
contributions during World War II, and congratulate them as they 
receive their honorary high school diplomas from Davis High School on 
June 1, 2002.

                          ____________________