On July 23, 2016, one hot summer day in Fort Pierce, Florida, granddaughter Salsa and I visited my mother, Cherry. Mother, I said, tell us my favorite life story about your brother, Spec 4 Paul Jones. A history that seemed mythical was fitting that our fourth generation heard the story from her great-grandmother. My two brothers, Paul and Amos, and three sisters, Jo, Ruth, and Martha, were raised by our single mother of Seminole Indian descent and great-grandmother D-eye. D-eye was a full-blooded Indian with hair she would sit on. Our father, German Jones, was a young man who fell dead of a heart attack on his way to work one morning. He would always say, "as long as he can help it, his kids would never go hungry." Grandmother never remarried, and times were tough. We were agricultural migrant fruit and vegetable pickers born and schooled in the roots of Tallahassee, Florida. "The Museum of Florida’s History displays the heritage of the Seminole Indians, a heritage rooted in our family, I added." Food was scarce raising six children; we labored in fields up and down the eastern coast of America. Squatted in old abandoned houses and created makeshift furniture; grandmother was artistically gifted. Living from camp to camp, hunger was well known as we traveled highway to highway. We had no permanent place to call home; Highwaymen in every sense of the word.

Mother’s story was my story, which I now narrated to my granddaughter. In 1957, grandmother was on the move, Fort Pierce, Coconut Grove, Good-bread Alley, in Over-Town Miami. Her son, Paul Jones, was born on July 4, 1948. He attended Booker T. Washington and Carver High schools. After graduation, Paul enlisted with the Job Corps in California, then volunteered for the United States Army, but he needed permission from his mother. Her last son, still a boy, was not yet legally eighteen.

March 26, 1963, an experiment began more than 50 years ago that would change the lives of generations of warriors, their loved ones, and our Army. It was the birth of the first and only separate Airborne Brigade in the United States. Superior leaders at all ranks recruited and honed the skills of promising young warriors. In the 1960s earned their nickname, "Sky-Soldiers" for Combat Parachute Assaults and established a standard of Military Excellence! Unparalleled heroism! Exceptional service and dedication to the nation, other units only hope to equal! The exploits of the Sky-Soldier Brigade, both in the Vietnam era and in the current struggle against terrorism, are well known. It wasn't until January 23, 2017, that our family rediscovered, uncle Paul was a "Sky-Soldier!" "A 173rd Airborne Brigade War Hero!"

I was there! When the knock came at the door, two military men reported that while on a mission in Binh-Dinh Province, South Vietnam, Paul Jones was killed on May 3, 1969, when his 173rd Airborne Brigade stopped for a rest period. It was said he went for a swim and was caught in an undercurrent. Three weeks before he was to return home, still a boy, he never saw twenty-one. His body was recovered but said to be unrecognizable. Urged against viewing his body, the family debated many unanswered questions. Grandmother respectfully complied with Military closed casket wishes. She gracefully lived with the death of her only son, uncertainties. “Sky-Soldier Paul Jones" achieved several noble metals for Vietnam's hostile combat missions. His life was on the line; he performed paratrooper rescues, recovered his wounded American soldiers, and was awarded the Bronze Star. "Paul Jones paid the Ultimate Sacrifice." Eight years old, I remember a handsome young boy raised with me and laughed with me; Uncle Paul was the only male role model known to me. Forever scarred, who would play with me now? He was the best of America! His "Gold Star mother" was heartbroken. Grandmother received $15,000 for his veteran benefits and had to make it count! At age 55, she purchased the lone family home on a corner lot, which she enjoyed until age 79, when she died. Her daughter and granddaughter inherited the renovation. Restoration, preservation, and education of his home is the ultimate achievement. As a Blue Star mom, I share the feelings of a military mom. Her aches, pains, and loneliness of having a daughter serving in the United States Army in Korea and a son who fought in Iraq. We are of a long line of military soldiers serving in the Air Force and Marines. In honor of a fallen hero and for the heart of a volunteer, Specialist 4 Paul Jones, our "Gold Star family," honorably served their country, followed in his footsteps, and without realizing, honored his legacy!
May God bless our family and the United States of America.