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Thomas Jones - Vietnam War

Tom Jones grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and enlisted in the Navy in 1965. After training as a Navy Corpsman (medic), he was shipped to South Vietnam in June, 1967 and was assigned to a Marine Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol. He spent his tour on extended patrols deep behind enemy lines in central South Vietnam. Following his return to the U.S., he struggled to adjust back to normal life, and eventually counselled other returning G.I.s. He wrote a book based on his experiences entitled "Lost Survivor."

Interview Links

Feature Excerpt

Returned as a different person

Abstract

Interview Session 01 (Audio)

Early years and training as Navy Corpsman

Interview Session 02 (Audio)

Combat in Vietnam with Marine LRRP Team

Interview Session 03 (Audio)

Coming home and reflections on service in Vietnam

Interview Session 04 (Audio)

Adjusting to civilian life & career, and writing on his experiences

Transcript


Photos

Caption
Four year old Tom Jones with his maternal grandmother, Bessie Jones, while he lived with her in Peoria, Illinois, circa 1948.

Where:
Peoria, Illinois

When:
Circa 1948

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Tom is dressed up in his Sunday clothes for this photo when he was approximately six years old, in 1950.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1950

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Tom Jones with his grandmother, Bessie Jones, at age seven. They lived in Peoria at the time, while his mother ran a tavern in Chicago and visited when she could.

Where:
Peoria, Illinois

When:
Age seven

Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
Oakenwald School in Chicago, near South Lakeshore Drive, for his 7th Grade class photo, in February, 1957. Tom is in the third row, on the right.

Where:
Oakenwald School in Chicago

When:
February, 1957

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Tom Jones’ 1958 Grammar School graduation photo from Oakenwald School (Eighth grade). Tom is in the second row, in the center.

Where:
Oakenwald School in Chicago

When:
1958

Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
Katheryn Maybery, Tom Jones’ mother, relaxes in a tavern in a southside Chicago neighborhood sometime in the early 1960s. Katheryn managed a tavern at the time.

Where:
Chicago, Illinois

When:
Early 1960s

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Tom Jones’ official Navy Basic Training photograph, while attending training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, north of Chicago in 1964.

Where:
Great Lakes Naval Training Center

When:
1964

Ownership:
Photo from the class book Keel: United States Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois Recruit Training Command, 1964. This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Seaman Recruit Jones is in line for haircut during basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, north of Chicago.

Where:
Chicago

When:
1964

Ownership:
Photo from the class book Keel: United States Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois Recruit Training Command, 1964. This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Seaman Recruit Jones in fire training while at Basic Training. The training provided one of the many opportunities for the drill instructors to harass the recruits.

Where:
Chicago

When:
1964

Ownership:
Photo from the class book Keel: United States Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois Recruit Training Command, 1964. This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Tom Jones’ graduation photo from Navy Basic Training in June, 1964. Jones is in the first row, to the right of his drill instructor. Jones was Master at Arms for his class.

Where:
Unknown

When:
June, 1964

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Seaman Apprentice Jones’ official navy photograph, circa 1964.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Circa 1964

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Petty Officer, 2nd Class Jones in 1966, while participating in an amphibious landing training exercise on tiny Vega Island, in the Caribbean.

Where:
Vega Island, in the Caribbean

When:
1966

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Petty Officer 1st Class Jones while he ran the radioisotope laboratory at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in 1969.

Where:
Great Lakes Naval Hospital

When:
1969

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
PO 1st Class Jones met several dignitaries at a reception for Dr. Benjamin Mays, President Emeritus for Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga. L-R, UTCM Jesse Sherrod, Rear Admiral Draper Kauffman, Dr. Mays, PN1 Joe Spalding, Jones and Rear Admiral Alban Weber.

Where:
From the Bulletin of the Great Lakes

When:
April 9, 1971

Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
Tom Jones, Peoria regional Trauma Center coordinator, consults the Trauma Registry at the Chicago Medical Center through a computer in his office at center headquarters, St Francis Hospital in December, 1971.

Where:
St Francis Hospital

When:
December, 1971

Ownership:
Peoria Journal-Star, December 30, 1971. May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
While Trauma Coordinator in Peoria, Jones met in Kewanee to discuss the organization of a Kewanee area Health Planning Council. Also pictured are from left to right, Dr. William Stearns, Dan Baily, Jerry Wolff and Jones.

Where:
Kewanee, Illinois

When:
August 2, 1972

Ownership:
Photo from the Kewanee Sun-Courier, August 2, 1972. May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.


Caption
Tom Jones with House Minority Leader Bob Michal, who Jones knew well, prior to the 1984 national Republican Party convention in Dallas, Texas. Jones attended as a Ronald Reagan delegate.

Where:
Dallas, Texas

When:
Circa 1984

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
A jubilant Tom Jones and others on the podium behind Bob Michal at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas in 1984.

Where:
Dallas, Texas

When:
1984

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Tom Jones, then President of the Board for Hope School in Springfield, received a grant from Governor Edgar for the purchase of a van. Karen Hasara, Governor Edgar, Tom, and James Friel a board member and development committee chairman.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1991

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain

Caption
Tom Jones met with congressional candidate Ray LaHood in Peoria while Jones worked on LaHood’s first campaign for congress in 1994.

Where:
Peoria, Illinois

When:
1994

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Sue Suter, Director of Child and Family Services met with Hope School Board Members Gary Hammond and Thomas Jones, and Secretary Marcia Franklin, at the opening of “Cottage Five,” a residential setting which offered diagnosis and evaluation services.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Tom Jones, his wife Carol, and Secretary of State Jesse White in White’s office following his reelection in 2006.

Where:
Secretary of State Jesse White’s office

When:
2006

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.

Caption
Author Thomas Jones at a book signing at Barnes & Noble in Springfield August 16, 2007, when the book Lost Survivor was first launched.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois

When:
August 16, 2007

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Author Tom Jones, speaking at Due Gatti Coffee House in Jacksonville, Illinois about his book Lost Survivor. The novel is closely modeled about Jones’ own experiences on a Marine Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) team in Vietnam.

Where:
Jacksonville, Illinois

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo



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