IMO 1SG Jones

First Sergeant Michael D. Jones, age 43, of Unity, Maine, died March 3, 2005, of a non-combat related illness. He died just days after returning home to the United States from a one-year tour of duty with the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard.

Mike Jones graduated from Mount View High School in Thorndike in 1979. He was one of eight boys in the junior high school class who enlisted in Company B, 262nd Combat Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard in June 1978. He was to serve for 26 years in the Maine Army National Guard.

He was employed for six years at NRF Distributors as a truck driver.

He was called to active duty with the 133rd Engineer Battalion in November 2003. He deployed to Iraq despite having some health problems that could have excluded from the deployment. His unit was stationed in Mosul, Iraq. As a platoon sergeant, he led his unit in many construction missions under dangerous conditions.

Mike got sick the day after his unit arrived in the United States at Fort Drum, New York to begin the demobilization process after their one-year long deployment to Iraq. He was rushed to a hospital at Syracuse University where he died.

A state funeral was held in the Augusta Civic Center. He was buried on March 9, 2005 with full military honors in Pond Cemetery in Unity, Maine. A new armory has been dedicated in his honor in Skowhegan, Maine. He leaves behind a wife and three children in Unity, Maine.

Websites Honoring 1SG Jones.

Stryker Brigade News.

Honor the fallen.

Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Faces of the Fallen. The Washington Post.

News Articles About 1SG Jones.

March 1, 2005. "Community, military mourn Unity soldier". Courier Publications.

March 3, 2005. "Governor Mourns Passing of Maine Guardsman Recently Returned from Iraq". Office of the Governor of the State of Maine.

March 4, 2005. "Senator Snowe statement". Senator Olympia J. Snowe.

March 4, 2005. "Maine soldier dies at New York hospital". Kennebec Journal.

March 4, 2005. "Maine soldier loses his final battle". Boston Globe.

March 5, 2005. "DoD Identifies Army Casualty". Department of Defense News Release.