Lester D. Jones
Biography: Lester Dale Jones, “Buster” as he was known, was born on February 10, 1920, in Veale Township, Indiana. He was the son of Otto M. Jones and Janie D. Allison and attended Washington High School through the 9th grade. He later worked as a power shear operator as indicated by his discharge paperwork but he also worked on the family farm in Cumback IN.
Lester entered the service on April 29, 1942, at Evansville, IN, and after his initial training, he was assigned to B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyer Battalion. During his training, he qualified as an expert with the rifle and Thompson sub-machine gun as well as a sharpshooter with the carbine. The unit trained at a number of facilities within the U.S including Camp Hood, Texas, Camp Carson, Colorado, the Desert Training Center in Needles, California, Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, and then moved to the Louisiana Maneuvers and Camp Claiborne and Camp Livingston in Louisiana.
The unit traveled to Camp Miles Standish for final preparations before shipping out from the Boston port on September 5, 1944. They arrived at Cherbourg, France, on September 15th, equipped with M18 tank destroyers and moved to Luxembourg in November, participating in the Battle of the Bulge in December. The battalion was widely scattered with portions attached to many divisions into January, 1945.
The unit then supported operations against the Siegfried Line in February and in early March they advanced to the Rhine River, finally crossing on the 30th. They supported the 80th Infantry Division in the capture of Kassel, Germany, and advanced to Erfurt and Chemnitz, Germany, in April. Moving south, they crossed the Danube River to Regensburg, entering Austria on May 5th.
Lester received credit for each of the unit’s campaigns including Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe and was awarded the WWII Victory Ribbon, the EAME Ribbon, the American Theater Ribbon and the Good Conduct Medal. He shipped home on August 15th, arriving back in the U.S. on the 27th . He traveled to Camp Atterbury, IN, where he was discharged at the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Less than a month after his return, Lester married the former Helen Lucille Brennan on Sept 13th. Helen was born in Washington, IN, and was the daughter of Timothy O. Brennan and Agnes Miller. The new couple made their home in Washington and had four sons, Timothy, born in 1946, Anthony in 1948, Terry in 1949, and Thomas in 1951. In the 1950’s Lester opened the Jones Body shop in Washington, IN. He worked there till his death, when Tom took over he shop. Lester also did some farming and enjoyed quail hunting and golf in his spare time. He was a member of the St Simon’s Catholic Church, Elks, Moose, American Legion, VFW, Free and Accepted Masons.
Lester passed away on December 7, 1989, and was buried in the St John’s Cemetery in Washington, IN. I want to thank Lester’s son, Anthony, for providing the information and photo used in this tribute.
