Jones was born in Oregon. When he was 10 years old, 1 of his sisters contracted tuberculosis so his mother elected to move the family to Tucson.After high school in Tuscon, he attended courses at the University of Arizona from 1932 to 1936. In college, he was part of the ROTC program and upon graduating he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Army Reserve in the cavalry.Jones had gone into the Army just to have a job.Congressman Tomlinson from Texas had a bill passed to have 1000 reserve officers taken from all branches and given a comprehensive exam. The top 50 would be placed on active duty for 1 year. Jones was accepted.In the spring of 1936 Jones and another officer went to Beaumont General Hospital for a flight physical.In June 1937 Jones reported to flight training.After basic, primary, and advanced flying at Kelley Field, Jones got his pilots wings.During primary training Jones flew the PT-3, PT-11, and PT-13 [Annotator's Note: trainer aircraft]. In basic training he flew the BT-9 [Annotator's Note: North American Aviation trainer aircraft]. At Kelley Field they flew technical airplanes.In June 1938 Jones graduated in class 38-B.Jones was assigned to the 17th Group. In 1940 or 1941 the group split.In 1940 and 1941 Jones was on maneuvers. They would move as a group, 40 or 50 B-25s. The maneuvers brought them to North Carolina and Augusta, Georgia.The group had moved from Augusta, Georgia to San Diego, California for maneuvers with the navy. They were in San Diego on 7 December [Annotator's Note: 7 December 1941].Prior to the 7 December attack there had been rumors among the pilots. They believed that if the Japanese did attack that they could defeat the Japanese without any trouble.Some pilots left the service and joined the RAF [Annotator's Notes: Royal Air Force] and RCAF [Annotator's Notes: Royal Canadian Air Force] .When the Japanese attacked it was a big shock. Jones' home base was McCord Field in Tacoma, Washington. They were moved to Pendelton, Oregon on 8 December. There were rumors of a Japanese attack through Alaska.

Jones' group would fly patrols up and down he coast out of McCord. He liked that flying because there were no controls in place and they were free to do pretty much what ever they wished.Jones' group split 3 ways. The 17th Group which was the parent group moved to Pendelton Field in Spokane, Washington, the 12th Group stayed at McCord Field, and the 47th moved to Fresno, California. This had been done at the end of 1940.The 17th Group was told that they were going to Columbia, South Carolina to fly B-25s.In late December 1942 [Annotator's Note: Jones means December 1941] they were told to send 20 airplanes to Minneapolis, Minnesota. There were 20 airplanes and crews in Minneapolis. They turned their planes over to a contractor who was going to work on the planes.After about a week in Minneapolis, many of the men in the 17th Group had continued on to Columbia, South Carolina. Jones got a call from "Ski" York [Annotator's Note: Edward Joseph Cichowski, known as "Ski," began using the surname York after the Doolittle raid], the 95th Squadron Operations Officer. York told Jones that Colonel Doolittle was asking for volunteers for an odd type mission. Jones took an airplane and flew from Minneapolis to Dayton. He was informed by York what the mission was to be. The action involved an enemy capitol that hadn't been bombed. They all knew Berlin had been bombed, so that only left Tokyo.Jones returned to Minneapolis and shared what he knew with his men. They all wanted to go.5 crews were picked from each squadron- the 3 bomb squadrons and the wreckage squadron, all within the 17th Bomb Group. The 20 crews selected were sent to Eglin Field in Florida.Jones likes to say that Doolittle selected the 17th Bomb Group for their skill and patriotism. It also happened that the 17th Bomb Group was the only group with B-25s at the time.At Eglin the pilots did alot of training. They trained with 100- pound "blue boys" [Annotator's Notes: 100 pound practice bombs]. They did low level bombing runs and a little gunnery practice.The bottom turrets on the B-25s had been removed leaving only top turrets with 2-.50s [Annotator's Note: Browning .50 caliber machine gun] and a .30 caliber stuck through the nose of each plane.At 1 point Ross Greening came up with the idea to put broom handles in the tail cone to deter any enemy fighters that came up to meet them. The Norden bombsights were removed and substituted with a protractor and aluminum bar sight. The sight had been developed by Greening. The sight worked fairly well.

When Jones arrived at Eglin he knew most of the pilots and many of the airmen. Soon, everyone got to know each other.Jones was in charge of the short takeoff practice. There were 8 or 9 - 5000 foot strips spread out around the base. Jones trained his group on Strip 9.1 morning a Navy Lieutenant came over from Pensacola. His job was to verse the men on Navy tradition and procedures. The Navy lieutenant would join Jones for training.There was always an ambulance and a fire truck at the practice field. Jones and the Navy Lieutenant would take turns in the planes during the takeoffs. The men were taking off from a 400-foot runway so the airmen knew what they were training for.During training some of the men's wives joined them.There were some mixed emotions about Doolittle. When Doolittle showed up the men were sold on him right away. Doolittle was a little guy. He was nice but could be mean at times. He was the kind of man who could inspire confidence in his men.Security was very tight. The men were told that if they had any ideas about where they were going, they not to discuss their mission with anyone.In April the men got orders to move the airplanes to Sacramento. They were told to fly at low level. Jones stopped in Abilene, Texas to see his daughter during his flight.In Sacramento the planes had new propellers put on. They had de-icers installed and had the lower turret replaced with a 40 gallon leak proof tank.

In Sacramento Jones checked Doolittle out. Doolittle had selected as his crew, the crew of one of the pilots who had gotten sick. When they got to Sacramento, Doolittle had to decide if he was going to fly left or right seat. Doolittle and Jones took an airplane flight up to Marysville. There, Doolittle took off, looped around, and landed. Then the 2 men returned to Sacramento.The men did not have any problems with the short takeoffs. Jones, Ross Greening, and "Ski" York went out to the end of the runway. The plane was very light and it jumped right off of the ground. The men listed what they did and taught everyone else how to do it.When Doolittle took off from the ship, he lifted off before he reached the end of the deck. One of the pilots forgot to lower his flaps, but had no problems taking off.Jones talks with the interviewer about the wildlife in his yard from 00:34:15:580 - 00:35:04:143.The aircrews were assigned for the mission. Some of the crews were together through the entire time.After the raid Jones and his crew returned to the United States. His navigator was assigned to an outfit in India where he was killed in a raid 2 or 3 weeks later. Jones's bombardier was assigned to a unit in Europe and was lost in a raid the following year. Jones went to Europe in a Martin B-26 Marauder. His copilot stayed in the 17th and went to Europe in B-17s. Jones' gunner went to OCS [Annotator's Note: Officer Candidate School] and retired from the service as a Colonel.The crews flew from Sacramento to Oakland. During the flight several of the men flew under the Golden Gate Bridge, but Jones was not one of them.The men landed at Oakland Naval Air Station. They took their B4 bags and left the aircraft. A tug pulled the planes down the pier to the carrier. The men went down and watched the 16 planes being loaded onto the ship.They went to the BOQ [Annotator's Note: Bachelor Officers' Quarters] then all went into San Francisco.They went to the Top of the Mark and could clearly see the ship with the planes on deck anchored in the middle of the bay. The men partied it up then reported aboard the ship around 2 or 3 in the morning. At sunrise the crew was called to quarters and the ship was underway.

On the 1 April [Annotator's Note: 1 April 1942] they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. The men were all excited about being on a navy ship. Once aboard they were informed about their mission. Captain Mitscher [Annotator's Note: US Navy Admiral Marc Mitscher] came across the loud speaker and said that this ship was bound for Tokyo. At that point they all knew for sure where they were going.Jones is asked by the interviewer to go back to the story of San Francisco and the Top of the Mark. He recalls that they did alot of drinking. Jones was with York and Greening. They also went to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown where they had their picture taken. He is asked about passing underneath the Golden Gate bridge. Jones was up on deck.When the announcement was made about where they were headed, the Navy and airmen all became friends. When they went aboard the Hornet [Annotator's Note: Aircraft carrier USS Hornet] Jones was assigned to a stateroom with a Navy Lieutenant named Gus Widhelm. Many of the men were billeted on cots in Admiral's country. The day they went aboard the ship 3 of the airmen were promoted to Captain including Jones.Aboard ship a number of Navy pilots tried to bribe the crewmen to get a seat on 1 of the planes.The men played craps aboard ship on a billiard table.The airmen were taught some Japanese words by a former attaché to Japan. The officer also passed on information regarding the targets the airmen were to hit.Jones was in B flight. His target were along the waterfront. They were given target information.While the airmen were still at Eglin, Jones and a navigator were sent to Washington to the War Department. There they were given maps and charts. The maps were from the US, Britain, France, Japan and China. All looked different from 1 another, so they chose the best looking 1.

From looking at the maps the 2 men discovered that the maps showed the same coastline, but the distances and everything else was different.The men picked 1 map which they thought best and went by that. They went to the National War College.They had their maps reproduced but there was no time to reproduce in color. The black and white maps were sent to the West Coast. When they were issued to the airmen, Jones and his friend Tom colored the maps in with crayons. The airmen were issued several sets of maps, which each crew would work on.Doolittle told his men that if they ever got out of this that he would throw them the greatest party ever. In 1945, he did.While aboard ship, the airmen spent alot of time sitting in their planes discussing the mission. They also spent time exercising.Jones says that if it weren't for the Navy, no one would have known about the raid.All of the magnetic compasses in the planes were off. The airmen asked the Navy, but they didn't know what was wrong. They determined that when they took off they would fly alongside the ship and someone would hold up a placard showing the heading of the ship. The plan for the raid was that the old man [Annotator's Notes: Doolittle] would hit Tokyo at dusk with incendiaries. The others would follow up with incendiaries and HEs [Annotator's Note:High Explosive rounds]. After hitting their targets they were to withdraw to the south east. The men were to then make their way to China.No thought was ever given to refueling or anything past the raid itself. The planes would carry enough fuel to fly 650 miles. They were 800 miles out when they were spotted.It took about an hour to launch all of the planes. The men didn't talk much until after they had hit their targets. Doolittle talked about landing near a ship and taking it over.

There was a good 40 knot tail wind that was with them for several hours. When they got to the coast of Kyushu they were flying down on the deck. Jones pulled up to about 5000. He made a couple of 180s. He looked down and could see water. They didn't know where they were. Jones and his crew decided to try to land. When they realized that they couldn't, they bailed out.Jones had the plane on autopilot. It was a dark and stormy night. Jones was the last to leave the plane. He was scared. When he broke loose from the plane he pulled the rip cord and floated down. He landed softly on the side of a hill.Before they took off on the mission the men had been awoken by the naval guns firing at the enemy picket ships. It was at that time that a decision had to be made to either push the planes overboard and leave or to launch. The men got the word to man their planes.Jones was nervous when he heard the orders to man planes. Jones had a little leak in one of his bomb bay tanks. Each of the engineers and gunners brought aboard 6 or 7 5-gallon tins of gas. They topped their fuel tanks off.The men all watched as Doolittle took off. The weather was bad and the waves were breaking over the side of the ship. The flag man timed his launch signals with the waves.

When they left the ground they were going a little under 80 miles per hour. The ship was making about 20 knots and there was a 25 mile per hour wind. Jones's launch was easy.After taking off a couple of the guys circled the fleet. Doolittle circled around but Jones did not.About 2 hours out Jones' gunner called him and told him that they didn't have enough fuel. When Jones replied that he knew that, nothing else was said about it. The gunner had the job of pouring the fuel from the cans into the tank then punching holes in the cans and throwing them out of the plane.During the flight in Jones saw 1 Japanese airplane. He saw none of the other planes in his group.When they got to Tokyo Bay they were able to orient themselves. Jones' targets were a small power plant, a tank farm, a commercial building, and a factory. 3 of his bombs hit good and 1 was a near miss.When they pulled up there were puffs of flak all around. Other than that noone shot at them. Jones saw no other aircraft.Jones headed toward the coast and later bailed out.When the sun came up he heard cowbells. After finding a path on top of a hill, he heard voices. He walked up to the people. They were farmers with cows. Jones had a pack of cigarettes and offered them to the Chinese. He attempted to draw a map but that was useless.Jones took off down the path. He was by himself. None of his crew were around. When he came across a railroad he followed it north until he came across a little 2 story house.At the house there was a man who could print. Jones printed the name of the towns he was trying to get to. The man understood.

While talking with the man, Jones's copilot showed up. The men felt better seeing each other.The young man had a hand car and used it to pump Jones and his copilot 3 or 4 miles up the tracks. At the train there were a number of Chinese Army troops. Jones and his copilot boarded a boxcar and took off.The train stopped in a city about 15 miles away from where Jones had boarded it. There were crowds of people around the train. Jones was a little concerned until a man stepped out of the crowd and introduced himself in English as Danny Yang, the mayor of the city of Chuhsien. Yang also said that the crowd was there to greet Jones and his copilot for striking a blow against their enemy. This was at 5:00 in the afternoon on the 19th [Annotator's Note: 19 April 1942]. Jones was able to wash his pants in the train station. He had a boiled egg and some water. He and Ross were taken to an airfield. There he was joined by the rest of his crew, the other 3 guys.The men were given cots to sleep on. The following morning other members of the group began to arrive beginning with Hilger and his Number 2 crew. At daybreak all of the men walked to a cave where they would spend the day to avoid the Japanese out looking for them. After about 10 days the old man arrived. When Doolittle left for Chunking he left Jones behind to collect any more stragglers. Jones remained for an additional 10 days then he made his way to Chunking.In Chunking, Jones met Madame Chaing Kai-shek. Ted Lawson had been moved to the AVG [1st American Volunteer Group known as the Flying Tigers] airfield at Guilin.Jones rode in a Gooney Bird [annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 twin engine cargo aircraft] to Guilin.About 12 or 15 of the men got orders home. Some of the higher ranking men and men who were seriously wounded were the ones to go.After returning to the US Jones reported to the 319th. He took part in the invasion of North Africa. After returning home the men started talking about what they had done.After the mission all of the men were reassigned to other units. Jones went into a B-26 unit. Jones never served with any of the men he flew the raid with but they did stay in contact with each other.

Jones believes that the raid was important and worth the risk and cost. After the raid the men just kept on going.Jones had a fortunate career. He flew B-26s in North Africa. He spent 2 and a half years in a prison camp.He remained in the service after the war.He worked with NASA and was in the control center for all missions during the 6 years he held that post.He retired with 2 stars. He had a very successful career but people only want to talk to him about the Tokyo raid.Jones was shot down over Bizerte. After going down he and his crew were picked up almost immediately. The men were treated well by the Germans.The day after his capture he was flown to Rome then put on a train to Germany.

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