WHITAKERS, NC U.S.A.
U.S. ARMY
PFC, E CO, 2ND BN, 24TH INF REG, 25TH INFANTRY, FORT STEWART, GA
11/261950, UNSAN, NORTH KOREA
PFC William H. Jones’ remains were returned home after nearly 70 years. Killed in the Korean War in North Korea, PFC Jones’ remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He has been remembered these past decades with a memorial stone at the cemetery of Swift Creek Church, Whitakers, NC.
William Jones left his small town Nash County home in North Carolina at 18 years old and deployed to Korea in the U.S. Army. He has been missing-in-action since 1950.
U.S. Army Private First Class Jones’s remains were returned to his family in a flag draped casket.
President Donald Trump identified the container holding the remains. PFC Jones’ remains were returned by North Korea following President Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
PFC Jones, who was 19 at the time, was killed in 1950 at the Battle of Unsan, North Korea. This was the first battle of the Korean War fought between U.S. troops and the Chinese army. PFC Jones was declared missing on November 26, 1950. His battalion made a fighting withdrawal from the Chinese.
“These HEROES are home, they may Rest In Peace, and hopefully their families can have closure,” President Trump explained.
William H. Jones received the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
PFC Jones was one of the first soldiers to be identified after the North Korean government, at President Trump’s request, sent 55 boxes of remains believed to be those of U.S. service members killed during the Korean War.
“We will pray that the remains that came to Hawaii on August 1st will simply be a vanguard of what’s to come,” said Vice President Mike Pence. “We will continue to work diligently to achieve peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. And we will never relent in our effort to bring our missing fallen home.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who marked the return of the remains of PFC Jones to North Carolina said: “We owe him and his family a debt of gratitude for his service.”
Thousands of U.S. Service members remains are believed to lie in North Korean battlefields and at former POW camps.