Gift of Thomas F, Jones, Jr., February 2012.
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MSS 651, Thomas F. Jones, Sr. papers regarding the Civilian Conservation Corps and Pearl Harbor, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
Processed and encoded by E. Evan Echols, March 2012.
Thomas Francis Jones, Sr., a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served in the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1937-1940, after which he served in the United States Army Coast Artillery. Jones was stationed in Hawaii and saw action at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was honorably discharged in 1945 and he married Ann Barras in Philadelphia in May of 1946.
Thomas F. Jones worked as a laborer for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1937 to 1940. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public works program launched by the Roosevelt administration to address the dual problems of "widespread unemployment by the nation's youth and neglect and unwise use of our once vast wealth of natural resources." (CCC album, F2) Jones, who was one of several children of a widowed mother, enrolled in the CCC on April 19, 1937, in Philadelphia, and was assigned to CCC Camp SP-19 at Baynesville, Virginia. Jones was honorably discharged after the expiration of his two-year term on March 31, 1939. Papers in the collection indicate that Jones carried a Seaman's Certificate of Identification from the U.S. Department of Commerce that was issued in May 1939, but it is not clear if he obtained work. Later in the year, on October 6, 1939, Jones re-enrolled in the CCC, once again in Philadelphia. He was assigned to work in camps in Velarde and Hatch, New Mexico, where his duties consisted of soil conservation. He served until March 28, 1940, when his six-month extension expired.
Jones enrolled in the United States Army and was stationed in Hawaii as a member of Battery C, 15th Coast Artillery during the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan. He was honorably discharged at the rank of Private First Class from the Army on July 12, 1945.
This collection consists of photograph albums, training manuals, documents, and artifacts related to Thomas F. Jones, Sr.'s service in the Civilian Conservation Corps and later as a solider in the United States Army Coast Artillery stationed in Hawaii during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Series I. documents Thomas F. Jones, Sr.'s service in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1937 to 1940. It contains two photograph albums from Jones's experiences at Camp Baynesville in Virginia and other CCC project sites in New Mexico. The albums include official camp photographs as well as personal snapshots of Jones and other camp members at work (in uniform or work gear, often with shovels, rakes) and recreation (swimming, baseball, in casual dress), and in transit. Camp scenes include mess hall and barracks interiors, and exterior grounds with camp buildings and work sites. The album in Folder 2 includes a CCC history with lists of the Baynesville laborers, and the series contains other documents from his service.
Series II. documents Jones's service as a Private First Class stationed in Hawaii during and following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Included are a training guide for enlisted men in the event of chemical warfare and a manual used to identify the silhouettes of American and Japanese ships and aircraft. The series also contains brochures given to enlisted men detailing Christmas celebrations in Hawaii as well as other brochures, identification cards, and publications collected by Jones during his service in the military.
Of particular note is a handwritten "Chronology of Events of 7 December 1941" written on December 10, 1941, detailing the attack on Pearl Harbor. There is also a 1941 Christmas dinner program, with the handwritten marks next to the names of forty-one members of Battery C, 15th Coast Artillery, who were "gone by Xmas 1942" or killed in action. Series II also features two souvenir service albums containing autographs of Jones's friends, photographs of military personnel and equipment, locations in Hawaii, family and friends, and scenery. The albums also contain officially-produced copy prints of U.S. Navy photographs of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The series includes a cigar box containing artifacts collected by Jones during his time in Hawaii.
Thomas Francis Jones enrolled in the CCC in Philadelphia, 1937, for a term of two years. He served as a laborer in Headquarters 2352 Co. at CCC Camp SP-19 in Baynesville, Virginia. Jones was honorably discharged from the Baynesville camp in March 1939 and received a Seaman's Certificate of Identification (messman) from the U.S. Department of Commerce in May 1939. Jones re-enrolled for a six-months term in CCC, and was honorably discharged in March 1940 at New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. He was en route to camps in New Mexico, where he worked for several months in soil conservation at Belarde and Hatch, New Mexico.
Includes honorable discharge documents from Jones's two terms of service, as well as identification and service papers from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Also includes envelope of photograph negatives addressed to Thomas Jones, CCC, Hatch, New Mexico, which probably date to 1939 and correspond to images in the album in Folder 3.
Leatherette album (circa 6 x 8 inches) issued by CCC P & R Photo Service with a history of the Corps, list of officers and enrollees, and photographs from Camp SP-19 in Baynesville, Virginia.
Leather-covered photograph album (8 x 11 inches) filled with official camp photographs and personal snapshots of Jones and camp members at work (in uniform or work gear, often with shovels, rakes) and recreation (swimming, baseball, in casual dress), and in transit. Camp scenes include mess hall and barracks interiors, and exterior grounds with camp buildings. One image includes a water tower from HDQ 2352 (Baynesville) and a few images at the end of the album are from Jones's trip to New Mexico (one building has a sign, "Hotel Jornada.")
Jones was a private first class in Battery C 15th Coast Artillery, stationed at Fort Barrette, Territory of Hawaii, and was working as a plane spotter on the morning of December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The guns of Fort Barrette were meant to protect Pearl Harbor, so Fort Barrette and the Marine Corps Air Field at Ewa were first attacked before the Japanese planes flew over the ships in the harbor.
Four postcards, 1940, addressed to "Mom" (Mrs. Marie Winther) in Philadelphia; 11 photographs from Fort Worden, Port Townsend, Washington; one war-time map of Seattle; and one postcard, 1945, addressed to wife Ann (Mrs. Thomas Jones). Fort Worden was part of the coastal artillery network during World War II.
Also includes 1943 "Circuit Nomenclature and Written Circuits" issued by the Association of American Railroads for signaling devices.
Ship silhouettes used for identification training with Jones's handwritten completed forms with data about each class of surface craft.
Handwritten, in pencil, two-page report dated December 10 about the events of December 7, 1941. The report appears to be copied by Jones, perhaps from a report by Captain R.S. Spangler, the commanding officer of Battery C, whose name appears at the end of the report. Fort Barrette was attacked at 07:55; Corporal Joseph A Medlen, a casualty of the attack, was machine-gunned at 08:05.
Two Christmas dinner programs and one Christmas newsletter for Battery C 15th Coast Artillery with photographs, lists of officers and enlisted men, and menus. 1940 and 1942 items are from Fort Kamehameha, Territory of Hawaii. The 1941 program is from Fort Barrette and bears pencil marks beside the names of many men with the note, "41 gone by Xmas, 1942."
Army & Navy YMCA Map and Guide (Honolulu: James B. Mann, 1940);
Honorable discharge, other documents, and negative print of marriage license for Thomas Jones and Ann Barras, May 17, 1946.
Personal recreational and official military photographs of Honolulu, Diamond Head, Waikiki, etc. The photographs (mostly 2.5 x 4.5 inches) are hand-labeled and include images of the U.S.S.
Mostly official U.S. Navy photographs (5 x 7 inches) of before and after images of Pearl Harbor. There are images of 8-inch, 12-inch, 16-inch, and 155-mm firing guns; an image of Fort Barrette's main gate, the Pali Mountains, and other scenes. On the inside back cover, Jones noted that the album was begun July 3, 1940.
Miscellaneous military souvenirs from Hawaii include a pair of light-weight bamboo eye goggles, a hand-held spear-thrower, a cloth wrap-wallet with ties to secure around an arm, and military insignia, including one with the motto of the U.S. Army 15th Artillery Corps, "Littore Sistimus" ("We take our stand by the shore.").