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Army Sgt. Leonard Jones died fighting in France.
A ceremony Sunday at the grave of Sgt. Leonard Jones |
By RUSTY DENNEN
In the weeks after Allied troops landed at Normandy on June 6, 1944, fighting raged in southern France.
A few months after D-Day, Army Sgt. Leonard Jones of Hartwood was killed as American soldiers pushed on toward Germany.
His death notice in The Free Lance-Star gave no details of the battle, or how the Stafford County man was killed on Sept. 24, 1944. As far as his family and friends knew, he was one of many who died doing their duty in a spot that was neither famous nor infamous.
Not until nearly a year later, when he was posthumously awarded a Silver Star, did the full account emerge.
According to an Aug. 27, 1945, story in the newspaper, Jones repeatedly crossed a bridge, under fire, to coax his men to the other side.
A War Department citation said Jones "crossed an open, iron bridge three times, despite enemy machine gun and sniper fire to persuade his company to make this hazardous crossing."
It went on: "His fearless action made the men forget their fear and follow him, bridging the river and establishing themselves on its far side."
Jones then led his unit on a successful attack on a German position until he was killed by machine gun fire.
The story said his mother, Flossie Jones, accepted the medal on behalf of her son, who was buried at Hartwood Presbyterian Church.
Jones' heroism remained largely unknown until a few months ago, when Anita Dodd, chairman of the Stafford County Cemetery Committee, got an unexpected e-mail from Emmanuel Delaville, a World War II historian and writer living near Normandy.
Delaville was helping a colleague gather information for a story about the 3rd Infantry Division's advance in late 1944 for the French magazine Militaria. The article ran in the February issue of the publication, which delves into battles, tactics, uniforms, weapons and other war history.
Delaville wanted to know more about Jones, who, it seems, became something of a local hero in France.
The 3rd Infantry Division, known as the "Rock of the Marne" for its heroic action holding a line along the Marne River in France in World War I, fought numerous battles from Normandy through Germany during World War II.
Delaville had scoured accounts of the fighting and came upon the Stafford man's obituary and the newspaper story.
That led him to the Stafford County Cemetery Committee. He wanted to know more about Jones and to get a photo of his grave. Jones was initially buried in France, but his remains were returned to Stafford in 1948 for reburial in Hartwood.
The committee, which has been gathering information on Stafford cemeteries since the late 1980s, was able to help Delaville.
And Dodd saw an opportunity to honor Jones' sacrifice.
"I just felt that no one in Stafford was aware of this gentleman's heroics and I felt he should be recognized," she said.
The SCCC website, she said, gets a fair amount of traffic.
"This is the first time we've had an international" request for information. "They knew [Jones] was from Stafford, and from our website, that he was buried here."
Dodd wasn't the only area resident contacted by the French researcher. Delaville talked to Fredericksburg resident Wil Bowler, who had posted information about Jones' sister, Hazel, on the ancestry.com website.
Bowler said Jones probably has hundreds of distant relatives living in the area.
Debbi Shelton, an SCCC member, researcher and website manager, also gathered information on Jones.
On Sunday, the cemetery committee is holding a memorial service for Jones
Dodd will speak and lay a wreath at 2 p.m. at Jones' grave; pastor Shawn Smith will say a prayer.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
Committee members, all volunteers, do cemetery surveys, gather information on each marker. Genealogical information and photos are also collected for its website. The committee is preparing a book on its surveys and has an adopt-a-cemetery program to help preserve them.
"Some of the markers are very interesting," Dodd says. For example, one headstone references an individual killed in an 18th-century duel.
"People's treatment and thoughts about death change over time, and that's reflected on these stones."
