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Sergeant Calvin Solomon Jones

  • Unit: 2nd Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Regiment, Company K
  • Date of Birth: June 26, 1927
  • Entered the Military: January 29, 1949
  • Date of Death: February 28, 1951
  • Hometown: Norfolk, Virginia
  • Place of Death: Camp #5 Pyoktong, North Korea
  • Award(s): Combat Infantryman Badge; Korean Service Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Prisoner of War Medal; Purple Heart Medal; Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation; Republic of Korea War Service Medal; United Nations Service Medal
  • Cemetery: Courts of the Missing, Court 6. Honolulu Memorial, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Contributed by Mrs. Kathleen LaRoue
Tallwood High School (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
2024/2025

Early Life

Calvin Solomon Jones was born on June 26, 1927,in Southampton Virginia, to Leila Britt Jones and Jimmie Jones. He had two step-siblings, Andrew and Goldie, and three full siblings, Dorothy, Jessie, and Leila. In 1930, the family lived in Southampton County. Jimmie was a farmer and Leila worked as a laundress for a private family. Leila’s mother, Rosa Britt, also lived with the family and worked as a nurse and midwife.

Eventually the family moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where Jones was raised in a home on Freemont Street that no longer exists. 

Jones worked for Britchard Dairy in Norfolk before joining the U.S. Army.

The Britcherd Dairy Building, where Jones worked before joining the U.S. Army, 1937. Virginian-Pilot Photograph Collection, Norfolk Public Library (FN000205).
Calvin Jones’s draft registration card, June 27, 1945. National Archives and Records Administration.

Homefront

Norfolk, Virginia is an extremely old city, dating back to before the American Revolution. In the 1950s, Norfolk was a segregated city, with the two African American high schools. The city is a military community, home to Naval Station Norfolk, a key base where ships are built and repaired to support the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. 

In addition to the naval base, the area is known for agricultural production, especially strawberries, and fishing. General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the Korean War, was buried in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Naval Air Station control tower at Naval Station Norfolk in the 1950s. The Virginia-Pilot, August 9, 2019.
The USS Missouri returned to Norfolk Naval Station from Korea on May 4, 1955. The Virginia-Pilot, August 9, 2019.
Strawberries were always a popular local crop in the Hampton Roads area. This tradition continues today in farms like Flanagan Farm, January 2025. Courtesy of Kathleen LaRoue.

Military Experience

Jones enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 29, 1949.  He trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey from October 1949 to August 1950. He was then sent to Camp Stoneman, California on August 18, 1950. Jones deployed to Pusan, Korea as a member of the 2nd Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Regiment, Company K. 

The 9th Infantry Regiment, known as the “Manchus” saw heavy fighting during this period, engaging in the Battle of Bloody Ridge (August 18-September 5, 1951) and the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (September 13-October 15, 1951). On September 27, 1950, Jones was wounded in battle by a bayonet along the Natkong River and sent to the 8054th Evacuation Hospital in Pusan, Korea. Three days later he was transferred to the 64th Field Hospital. He recovered and returned to his unit on October 2.

On November 25, 1950, the 9th Infantry Regiment was attacked by Chinese Communist forces along the Ch’ongch’on River. In the early morning hours of November 26, Jones was captured along with other soldiers of the 9th Infantry Regiment and became a Prisoner of War (POW). He was marched north to a POW camp along the Yalu River in North Korea. 

His mother, Laila Jones, was notified that her son was missing in January 1951.

This report details the wound Jones received and battle and his recovery and return to his unit, September 27-October 2, 1950. Individual Deceased Personnel File.
Lalia Jones was notified that her son was Missing in Action, January 10, 1951. Individual Deceased Personnel File. 

Commemoration

Jones and other prisoners were marched north to Camp #5 in Pyoktong, North Korea. Food and medical supplies were scarce. When released, U.S. medical personnel reported that Jones died of malnutrition and dysentery and was buried across the river from the camp in a mass grave. His date of death was determined to be February 28, 1951. 

Prisoners who survived captivity were interviewed and debriefed following their captivity. On November 12, 1953, Laila Jones was notified that the military determined her son died in February 1951. In response to a later inquiry for additional medical records or other information that might help identify her son, she wrote a heartbreaking letter that she had no other records to share, because her son was, in her words, “perfec[t].”

His remains were not identified in the years following the Korean War. His name is engraved on the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawai’i.

Letter to Laila Jones letting her know that released Prisoners of War confirmed her son’s death at POW Camp #5 (page one). Individual Deceased Personnel File.
Letter to Laila Jones letting her know that released Prisoners of War confirmed her son’s death at POW Camp #5 (page two). Individual Deceased Personnel File.
The official report of Calvin Jones’s death, November 12, 1953. Individual Deceased Personnel File.
Laila Jones’s response to requests for additional information or medical files to help identify her son’s remains, August 4, 1955. Individual Deceased Personnel File.
Calvin Solomon Jones’s name is engraved on the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawai’i. American Battle Monuments Commission.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Britcherd Dairy Building. Photograph. 1937. Virginian-Pilot Photograph Collection, Norfolk Public Library (FN000205). http://smcdigital.norfolkpubliclibrary.org/digital/collection/p15987coll9/id/1744/. 

Calvin S. Jones. Individual Deceased Personnel File. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Calvin Solomon Jones. U.S., Korean War Casualties, 1950-1957. Digital images. https://ancestry.com. 

Calvin Solomon Jones. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men 1940-1947. Digital images. https://ancestry.com. 

The Naval Air Station control tower. Archival photograph. The Virginian-Pilot [Norfolk, VA], August 9, 2019. https://www.pilotonline.com/2017/06/28/photos-returning-from-korea-and-coping-with-the-cold-war-naval-station-norfolk-from-1950-1959/. 

“Second Infantry Division Command Reports – Headquarters.” Korean War Project. Accessed February 25, 2025. https://www.koreanwar.org/html/2011-2id-korean-war-records-unit.html?pid=1.  

The USS Missouri returns to Norfolk Naval Station from Korea on May 4, 1955. Archival photograph. The Virginian-Pilot [Norfolk, VA], August 9, 2019. https://www.pilotonline.com/2017/06/28/photos-returning-from-korea-and-coping-with-the-cold-war-naval-station-norfolk-from-1950-1959/. 

Virginia. Norfolk County. 1950 U.S. Federal Census. Digital images. https://ancestry.com. 

Virginia. Southampton County. 1930 U.S. Federal Census. Digital images. https://ancestry.com. 

Secondary Sources

“”The Battleship Wisconsin.” Nauticus. Accessed February 7, 2025. https://nauticus.org/explore/battleship-exhibits/about-the-battleship/. 

“Calvin Solomon Jones.” American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed March 28, 2025. https://weremember.abmc.gov/#!/details?id=125549.  

“Digital Archives.” MacArthur Memorial. Accessed February 7, 2025. https://www.macarthurmemorial.org/242/Digital-Archives. 

Fella, Alexander. Segregation: A History of Norfolk Schools. Urban Renewal Center. Accessed February 7, 2025. https://theurcnorfolk.com/norfolk-history-segregation-timeline. 

Flanagan, Roy. Interview with the author. January 21, 2025.

Glass, Albert J. “History and Organization of A Theater Psychiatric Service Before and After 30 June 1951.” AMEDD Center of History & Heritage. Accessed May 7, 2025. https://achh.army.mil/history/book-korea-recad2-ch8-2. 

“History of the Korean War.” United Nations Command. Accessed February 21, 2025. https://www.unc.mil/History/1950-1953-Korean-War-Active-Conflict/. 

“NNSY Roots.” Naval Sea Systems Command. Accessed February 7, 2025. https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Shipyards/Norfolk/About-Us/History/Roots/. 

“Norfolk.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed January 15, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/place/Norfolk-Virginia. 

“Princess Anne County Training School-Union Kempsville High School Museum.” Virginia Beach Public Schools. Accessed January 31, 2025. http://www.pacts-ukhs.org/museum.html. 

“Sgt. Calvin Solmon Jones.” Find a Grave. Updated October 19, 2013. Accessed March 28, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/118959753/calvin-solmon-jones.

This profile was researched and created through the Researching Silent Heroes program, sponsored by the American Battle Monuments Commission.