Captain, U.S. Army (Ranger Qualified)

On 16 October 1967, Captain Bernard Francis Jones was serving with Advisory Team 91, Military Assistance Command Vietnam, in Binh Long Province, South Vietnam.

On that day, CPT Jones was killed in action when he sustained wounds from small arms fire. His body was recovered.

The following information about the engagement that led to his death was obtained from David Maraniss' book, "They Marched into Sunlight." Captain Jones was Special Forces qualified and was leading a provincial reconnaissance unit (PRU) of Vietnamese scouts from Ben Cat. He was able to speak Vietnamese fluently and implicitly trusted his men, saying they looked out for each other. At the time of his death, Captain Jones' PRU was accompanying Delta Company, 2/28th Infantry on a search and destroy mission when they encountered an enemy bunker complex. Over the next couple of hours the US force maneuvered into the enemy complex before a decision was made to withdraw. Captain Jones was beside his friend, the Delta Company commander (Lt Clark Welch) when he said he hadn't killed any Viet Cong in two weeks and then ran towards the front of the engagement. He was killed by a burst of machine gun fire from a bunker. Afterwards, his PRU men carried him from the field.

Badge and Medals

Combat Infantryman Badge

Bronze Star Medal with Combat Valor Device

Purple Heart

Air Medal

Army Commendation Medal

Army Good Conduct Medal

National Defense Service Medal

Vietnam Service Medal

Vietnam Campaign Medal

Honors

The name Bernard F Jones is located on Panel 28E Line 015 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

CPT Bernard F. Jones has Honoree Record 110273 at MilitaryHallofHonor.com.

∼Bernard F. Jones was born in Beverly, West Virginia, to Bernard A. and Violet "Rurh" Jones. He lived his childhood in and around Coalton, West Virginia. Bernard was the normal teenager of the times, liking fishing and hunting. Bernard was a graduate of Coalton High School. His true calling was the U.S Army, where he served several years, 3 of them in combat zones in Viet Nam. He was a Captain at the time of his death. He had been working with civic type operations, helping children in the orphanages at Ben Cat, Viet nam. CPT Jones was buried with full military Honors. He leaves behind his parents, 3 sisters, Joyce, Betty and Virginia and 3 brothers, Charles (Jack), John and Bradley. Bub will be sadly missed by all who knew him.