T/Sgt.

Terry Lee Jones

Ball Turret / Flexi Gunner

547th Bomb Squadron

384th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

Serial Nr. 39908229

Awarded Purple Heart medal for injuries sustained on 24th May 1944

Died 17/05/1997

Born in Rigby, Idaho on the 17th of August, 1923, Terry Lee Jones was the eldest of six children born to Lee and Zina Jones. 

Jones was a graduate of high school and carpentry school before enlisting in the US Army Air Force. 

On the 15th of January 1943, Jones married Merle Morris, and less than two weeks later, on the 26th of January, he graduated from gunnery school in Laredo, Texas.

Jones was assigned to the 547th Bomb Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group on 26 April 1944 as part of a replacement combat crew where he served as a ball turret gunner and waist gunner. 

On the 24th of May 1944, while on his fourth combat mission, T/Sgt. Jones was wounded with flak in his left calf and thigh while on board the B-17G, #42-97201 Jamaica Mary. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his injuries, and returned to duty after a two-month recovery period.

T/Sgt. Jones also survived a daunting mission on the 10th of November 1944 over Cologne, Germany when his aircraft, B-17G #42-102449, Hale’s Angels, was severely damaged by flak. Just after dropping their bombs on target at Ostheim & Butzweilerhof Airfields, Hale’s Angels, piloted by 2 Lt. Ralph Hicks, was hit by a barrage of flak that tore a three-foot-long and foot-wide hole to the fuselage and left wing. The ball turret occupied by T/Sgt. Jones was also completely shattered by a flak hit, leaving him without a functional oxygen system in the sub-zero altitude. 

In a remarkable feat of survival, T/Sgt. Jones, without a parachute, was able to hang on to the control handles while bracing himself with his right leg in the fragments that remained of the ball turret. Within seconds, his fellow crewmates, Sgt. Earl E. Frerichs (radio operator) and Sgt. Melvin F. Weeks (waist gunner) saw what had happened, and their desperate rescue attempt began. After two harrowing minutes hanging suspended between the shattered turret and open sky, T/Sgt. Jones was safely back inside the bomber. Blue from exposure to the bitter cold, T/Sgt. Jones had been without oxygen throughout the whole ordeal, his legs were bruised, and he was also temporarily blinded by shards of plexiglass that cut his face and eyes. His crewmates swiftly led him to the radio room, administering oxygen and applying boric acid and bandages to his eyes. 

Due to the severe battle damage sustained over Cologne, the crew of Hale’s Angels was forced to make an emergency landing in Brussels, Belgium, rather than attempting the return flight back to Grafton Underwood. Twenty other 384th Bomb Group aircraft were also damaged that day, with twelve of them classified as having major damage. 

The following day, T/Sgt. Jones had regained his sight and only required a small facial bandage. He and the Hale’s Angels crew returned back to Grafton Underwood. 

The November 10th mission was to be T/Sgt. Jones’ final flight, and he flew a total of 33 combat missions before completing his tour. In addition to the Purple Heart, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals for his service. 

After the war, Jones returned home to Idaho. He had two children with Merle Morris, but they later divorced. In 1949, he remarried to Pauline Stevenson and they had three children together.

Jones worked as a carpenter by trade, building homes and furniture to support his three daughters and two sons. Later in life, he even got to build special cradles for some of his many grandchildren, 17 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. Jones was also a High Priest in his church, The Church of Latter-Day Saints. 

Jones passed away at the age of 73, in 1997, and he lies in rest in his home state of Idaho.

Research courtesy of Mikayla Leech on behalf of 384th Bombardment Group Museum.

With kind thanks to the 384th Bomb Group website www.384thbombgroup.com for permission in using material from their records in the making of this story. It holds a wealth of information, documents and photographs of their activities during World War.

Further information courtesy of www.newspapers.com,  www.findagrave.com and www.ancestors.familysearch.org