Brigidare General George A. Jones loved to play golf. He battled racism in the Army to rise through the ranks to brigadier general and faced racism at home only to return and serve his community.
George Jones, a brigadier general who fought in WWII and the Korean War and served as a New York firefighter for 20 years died Sept. 2. He was 93.
Jones was born April 28, 1923, in midtown, an area known as Hell’s Kitchen.
At age 16, he joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to fight with the 369th Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard — the famed “Harlem Hellfighters” who had terrorized German soldiers in WWI.
That began a lifetime of public service for Jones, who joined the Army in 1941 — seven years before it was desegregated — and rose in rank to sergeant.
By 1947, he was married and embarking on a new career as one of the few black Bravest in the FDNY.
Jones was among a wave of WWII vets who returned from active duty to apply to work with the city’s fire department — and it was a job he held until he retired in 1967.
Jones was assigned to Ladder 23 on 139th St. in Hamilton Heights.
He had also rejoined the National Guard and by 1950 he was called into active duty again — this time to fight in the Korean War.
When he returned to the city and the FDNY, he became active in the Vulcan Society — the nation’s first organization of black firefighters.
Jones was elected president of the organization twice and was an ardent supporter of the organization’s efforts to recruit more African-Americans into the FDNY.
After moving to Long Island, Jones also worked for Nassau County to promote employment and opportunities for minorities and people with disabilities.
Jones was inducted into the New York State Veterans Hall of Fame not long before he died and was also featured in New York City’s Historical Society WWII Exhibition.
Jones was very proud of his 70-year-marriage to Eunice Jones, who survives him along with his daughter Gwendolyn Andrews, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter as well as many other relatives and friends.
He will be interred on Thursday, September 15, 2016, at noon following a full military burial service with honors at Calverton National Cemetery at 210 Princeton Boulevard in Calverton, N.Y. In honor of their fallen comrade, the Mid-Island Golf Club members are asked to wear Blue Jackets, Red Ties, White Shirts andGray Slacks.
