Herman Walker Jones was born on March 13, 1926 in Lomita, California, the son of John F. Jones and Cleo Verna Barnett. Jones lived in Lomita until 1938 when he moved to Torrance and resided with his mother on Cota Avenue. He was active as a Boy Scout and as a member of the First Christian Church of Torrance, where he was president of the church’s Conference Club one year and was later elected president of the statewide conference held in Idyllwild, California.
Jones attended Narbonne High School, and later transferred to Torrance High School from which he graduated in June 1943 in the midst of World War II. Only 45 students attended the combined graduation and baccalaureate service as members of the class had entered the armed service or went into industry. While at Torrance High, Jones was part of the Stage Crew, and was the Student Body Vice-President and the Senior Class Vice-President.
Jones was employed at the Torrance Safeway store and then at the Shell Refinery in Wilmington. On March 8, 1944, at age 17, he enlisted as a private in the United States Marine Corps. He took the oath of allegiance from Lt. Col. Roscoe Arnett, who was in charge of the Marine Corps Recruiting Headquarters in Los Angeles.
Jones said the U.S. Marine Corps was his first choice because he believed it was the “outstanding branch of the service” and he wanted to go along with the “fightingest men in the world.” The achievement of the Marines in the South Pacific area and elsewhere appealed to him, and he hoped for the opportunity to go after the enemy before any major attack on Japan.
He was sent to basic training in San Diego and served with Company E, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, FMF. He was sent overseas, and on March 2, 1945, PFC Herman W. Jones, age 18, died of wounds received in action on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. The battle lasted from February 19 to March 26, 1945 and while not much is known about the details of his death, the 2d battalion, 9th Marines were part of the reserve forces and were committed to the action five days after the operation began.
The official Marine Corps Historical Reference account states that life for the Marines of the 9th during this time was a “constant round of training, combat, training, combat, and then more training for the next combat.” Fighting on Iwo Jima was brutal. On the day PFC Jones was killed, the 9th ran into an enemy stronghold and for the next three days, Marines “battled against a maze of enemy-defended caves, pillboxes, dug-in tanks, stone walls, and trenches that blocked their route of advance.”
Nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines and Sailors died during the Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history. According to the National Cemetery Administration, those killed in action were originally interred at three cemeteries on Iwo Jima until their remains were repatriated to the United States. PFC Herman Jones’ body was returned to the United States aboard the U.S. Army transport Liberty ship SS Albert M. Boe in 1948. Funeral Services were held for him on June 9, 1948 in the Stone & Myers Chapel in Torrance.
There was a capacity gathering at the service, which was conducted by the Rev. Leonard D. Babcock. Interment was at the Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena where an honor guard from the Bert S. Crossland American Legion Post officiated at the gravesite rites. Herman W. Jones was survived by his mother, father, his two sisters Helen Denessen of San Pedro and Hazel Ray of Torrance, and three nieces and three nephews.
