page_title: William A. Jones III
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: William A. Jones III / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Grave of en:William A. Jones III
context_page_description: William Atkinson Jones III was a United States Air Force officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.
context_section_description: Born in Virginia, he was the grandson of US congressman William Atkinson Jones. Jones joined the Air Force after graduating from West Point with the class of 1945. By September 1, 1968 was serving as a lieutenant colonel in the 602d Special Operations Squadron, operating out of Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. On that day, Jones participated in a mission to rescue a downed pilot near Đồng Hới, North Vietnam.
  William Atkinson Jones, an A-1E Skyraider pilot, risked his life in an attempted rescue mission near Đồng Hới, North Vietnam. He was an Air Commando, assigned to the 602nd Special Operations Squadron.
  On September 1, 1968, Jones led a flight of four A-1H Skyraider aircraft on an escort mission. The flight was accompanying two helicopters sent out to rescue the pilot of an F-4 Phantom downed about 20 miles northwest of Đồng Hới.
  Arriving over the area, he made several low passes across a valley to find the pilot and pinpoint enemy gun positions. On one pass, he felt an explosion beneath his aircraft and his cockpit was filled with smoke. After the smoke cleared, he continued his search and finally spotted the downed pilot near a towering rock formation. Enemy gunners occupying a position near the top of the formation opened fire on the propeller-driven Skyraider.
  Jones realized that the gun position had to be destroyed before a rescue could be made and that strikes against it would endanger the survivor unless his location was known. He attacked with cannon and rocket fire while relaying the pilot's location by radio. While making his second pass, his aircraft was hit and cockpit was set ablaze. He sought to eject but the damaged extraction system only jettisoned the canopy without pulling him from the cockpit. At the same time his transmissions to the rescue force were being blocked by repeated calls from other aircraft that he bail out.
  Before the fire died out, Jones was badly burned and his radio transmitters were disabled.
  He chose to return to base to report the downed pilot's exact location. Despite his severe burns, he landed his damaged aircraft safely, and insisted on passing on the vital information before receiving medical treatment. The downed pilot was rescued later that day. Jones survived his wounds and was promoted to full colonel, but died the next year in an aircraft accident in Virginia. Aged 47 at his death, he was buried in Saint Johns Episcopal Church Cemetery, Warsaw, Virginia. His Medal of Honor was presented to his widow by President Richard Nixon on August 6, 1970, during a ceremony at the White House.
  (Taken from U.S. Air Force Biography)
  Jones also wrote the book "Maxims for Men-at-Arms", which was published only days before his death.
caption: Grave of William A. Jones III
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