Captain Robert S. Jones, USN, Ret.

SAVANNAH – Retired Navy Captain Robert S. Jones, 89, who was instrumental in the building of the U.S. Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., died August 5, 2009 at Hospice Savannah in Savannah, GA. Prior to moving to Savannah in 1997, he had lived in McLean, VA for twelve years and in northern Virginia for more than 30 years.
Captain Jones was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Navy Memorial Foundation and was executive assistant to the President of the Navy Memorial Foundation during the building of the Memorial. He also directed the creation and installation of the 22 large bronze sculptures at the Navy Memorial, reportedly the largest bronze relief project ever undertaken in this country. He continued as a consultant to the Navy Memorial Foundation.
During World War II, he served in the Pacific on five amphibious ships, including command of a small amphibious ship. During the invasion of Leyte in the Philippines, he also had to assume command of a second ship when its commanding officer was evacuated after being wounded by a Japanese kamikaze suicide aircraft.
In the early stages of Vietnam, he was senior fleet public affairs officer for the Commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Far East. Later in the conflict he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for four years as Deputy and Acting Director of Defense Information and as Director of Defense Public Affairs Plans and Programs. During the Incidents at Sea Talks between the United States Delegation, headed by Secretary of the Navy, former Senator, John Warner, and the Soviet Delegation, Capt. Jones was the Talks' public affairs officer. Just prior to retirement he served as Chief of Public Information for NATO's Southern Europe Command with headquarters in Naples, Italy.
His decorations include the Legion of Merit for service in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of the Navy Meritorious Public Service Award, for his part in the building of the U.S. Navy Memorial, plus numerous campaign medals.
Jones was born in Kansas City, MO. He received Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Missouri, and a Master of Science degree in Public Relations from Boston University. He also attended the Naval War College and received a one-year course in Defense Policy from the Harvard University Graduate School of Public Administration.
He was Chairman of the Navy V-12 National Committee, a Vice Commander of the National Capitol Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States and a Board member of the U.S. Navy Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was a Life Member of the Naval Order, the U.S. Naval Institute, and The Retired Officers Association, as well as the U.S. Navy Public Affairs Association, a member of the Naval War College Foundation, the LST Association and the LCSS Association, and a Founding Member of the American Air Museum in Britain.
In Savannah he was on the Board of Directors of the Savannah Council of the Navy League and a member of Kiwanis.
Surviving are his wife, Ellen Anding Jones of Savannah; his children, Robert S. Jones, Jr. of Clifton, VA and a daughter, Kathryn A. Clarke of Greenwood, SC; and seven grandchildren, Robert S. Jones, III, Ashley E. Jones, Katherine P. Jones, Colin G. Jones, Brian P. Clarke, Alison L. Clarke, and Caroline M. Clarke.
Interment with full military honors will be held on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, in Arlington National Cemetery following a funeral service in the Fort Myer Chapel at 11:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the United States Navy Memorial Fund, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 123, Washington, D.C. 20004-2608 or Hospice Savannah, Inc., P.O. Box 13190, Savannah, GA 31416.