So this is something Ive been wanting to share since Wednesday night... Our family is very excited. Baylor leaves on a class fieldtrip to Washington D.C. next Friday and they will be visiting Arlington Cemetery and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Students wishing to participate in the laying of the wreath ceremony were asked to write a short 2 paragraph essay about The Tomb of the Unknowns and what it would mean to them to be chosen for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Out of 106 students, they were choosing 2 boys and 2 girls and Baylors name was chosen in the raffle at the meeting two nights ago. Ken and I both teared up when they called his name and Baylor did all he could to hold his own tears back. His teacher said that one of the fieldtrip chaperones would also be able to take Baylor to visit his Great Uncles gravesite. He said that he and the other teachers were very touched by the amazing story about what happened to his Great Uncle Amos and they were so happy for Baylor. I am sharing my post from last May that details Kens mom and dads trip to Icelanc to visit the crash site and to meet the heroic men that tried to rescue Sonny and his crew on that horrible night back in December of 1953. The same men that would eventually navigate Kens parents up to the wreckage that had peacefully settled on the edge of what used to be an icy glacier. Again, we are SO HAPPY that Baylor has been given this amazing opportunity. Attached is Baylors essay: Baylor Jones March 25, 2014 Tomb of the Unknowns The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery is a guarded monument in Washington, D.C. It represents the burial of the Unidentified American Soldier. On the back of the tomb, you can read the words “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God”. On another side of the tomb are Greek figures representing Peace, Victory and Valor. The men and woman who have fought courageously and bravely for our country must never be forgotten and The Tomb of the Unknown insures we will always remember their sacrifices. Being able to assist in being an Honor Guard and laying a wreath at the ceremony performed by the Third Army would mean the world to me and my family because my great Uncle, Amos W. Jones is buried at Arlington. He was only 20 years old when his U.S. Navy P-2V Neptune Patrol aircraft crashed into a glacier in Iceland on December 17, 1953. My uncle and eight other crewmen died in the crash and the wreckage was buried by seven days of blizzard and high winds which made a search and rescue impossible. The plane and any sign of its location were completely covered in snow on a treacherous mountain of ice and snow. The wreckage and bodies of the nine men were finally discovered almost 30 years later, in October 1981 when sheep farmers discovered the wreckage that had moved to the edge of the glacier. Amos W. Jones was finally brought home and laid to rest respectively at Arlington National Cemetery, near the Tomb of the Unknowns. My Great Uncle Amos’s story is an amazing one and I would cherish the opportunity to honor his personal sacrifice along with the Unidentified American Soldiers, more than anything.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 01:26:00 +0000
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