Sam R. Jones

Marine Sgt. Sam Raymond Jones, 22, son of Mrs. Thenia Jones, 4965 Ball Camp Pike, was killed in Vietnam Friday, the day his mother received a letter from him. The family learned of the death yesterday. The body will be brought here to Weaver’s.

Details of his death were not learned. He had visited his young wife and mother here in May, leaving May 25 and arriving in Vietnam June 2. He was na only child. His wife is Mrs. Phyllis Hammock Jones, 17, of 107 Evergreen Lane, Fountain City.

The official message said he received a gunshot wound in the body.

“His letter was written June 17,” said the mother today. “He said it was a beautiful country and the people were awfully nice.

“I don’t know if he had been in combat yet. He always protected me from such news-like when he was at the Guantanamo base during the Cuban missile trouble and in the Dominican Republic during the rebellion there.”

Sgt. Jones would have been 23 July 5. He reenlisted in the Marines last August after completing a five-year hitch. He attended Third Creek Elementary School and Powell High School, and went to Third Creek Baptist Church. He was the 16th young Knox countian to die in Vietnam.