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Jack Jones [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Location of Service: New Britain; Palau
  • Highest Rank: Private First Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/52526

View full service history

"It all comes back to the idea that you love your country, you love your government, you love your people. For that purpose, I'm here." (Video interview, 29:39)

Jack Jones was born in 1919 at his family home near Montezuma Creek, Utah, within the Navajo reservation. From his time at boarding school, he recalls how students were punished for speaking Navajo, while also having to go through military-style training . After completing his individual training, Jones joined up with the 1st Marine Division for the latter stages of the New Britain Campaign. He remembers how the Code Talkers worked together between operations to constantly improve the Navajo Code and ensure that they were all using the same techniques and procedures. At the Battle of Peleliu in September 1944, Jones landed with the third wave. The Marines met heavy resistance on the beaches, where Jones remembers using the Navajo Code to coordinate the use of air support and naval gunfire support that paved the way for Marine advances. Wounded when a Japanese artillery round exploded close to him, he was eventually evacuated to the United States, and recalls the elation of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge on arrival in San Francisco.

Video interview of Jack Jones

About this Item

Title

  • Jack Jones Collection

Names

  • Chalmers Ford, Don
  • Salomon, Warren C.
  • Fleming, Carol Ellison
  • Navajo Code Talker's Project
  • Jones, Jack

Home State

  • New Mexico

Headings

  • -  Jones, Jack
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Form

  • DVD

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • American Indian and Alaskan Native

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Location of Service: New Britain; Palau
    • Highest Rank: Private First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a Navajo Code Talker.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-06-02; 2004-06-16)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/52526

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Chalmers Ford, Don, Warren C Salomon, Carol Ellison Fleming, Navajo Code Talker'S Project, and Jack Jones. Jack Jones Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52526/.

APA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, D., Salomon, W. C., Fleming, C. E., Navajo Code Talker'S Project & Jones, J. (1943) Jack Jones Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52526/.

MLA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, Don, et al. Jack Jones Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52526/>.