Richard L. Jones was born at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1920, and later resided in Jefferson County, Ohio. His parents were John Robert Jones (21 Jan 1892 – 21 Dec 1965), who was born at Venetia, Washington County, Pennsylvania; and Leah Gladys (Baker) Jones (16 Oct 1893 – 13 Sep 1964), who was born at Kilgore, Jefferson County, Ohio. His parents married at Mingo Junction, Jefferson County, Ohio, on December 1, 1917. In 1917 his father worked as a traveling auditor for the Youghiogheny and Ohio Coal Company of Cleveland, Ohio. By 1935 the family lived at 306 Cedar Avenue, Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio, where his father worked for the Dyke Motor Supply Company as a wholesale automobile salesman. He had an older sister, Cleda Geraldine Jones (15 Nov 1919 – 13 Feb 1980), who was born at Waco, McLennan County, Texas; and a younger brother, John R. Jones (abt 1924 – unk), who was born in West Virginia.

He completed two years of college and worked in a skilled occupation in the production of bakery products. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio on January 5, 1942, and completed Army Air Forces navigator training in Class 42-14 at Selman Field, Louisiana. He graduated and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on October 24, 1942. He was then assigned as a navigator in the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), part of the the 26th Antisubmarine Wing of the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command. The 26th Antisubmarine Wing was headquartered at Miami, Florida. From late 1942 to 1943, it dispatched B-24 antisubmarine patrols from bases in Florida, the Caribbean, South America, and Ascension Island. These included bases at Miami, Florida; Havana, Cuba; Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico; Waller Field, Trinidad; Atkinson Field, British Guyana; Zandery Field, Suriname; Belem, Fortaleza, and Natal in Brazil; and Wideawake Field, Ascension Island.

On October 1, 1943, the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) was designated the 839th Bomb Squadron (Heavy), and was assigned to the newly formed 487th Bomb Group (Heavy). The Squadron moved temporarily to Pueblo, Colorado; and on November 17, 1943, moved to the 487th Bomb Group's base at Bruning Army Air Base, Nebraska. In December 1943 the 839th Bomb Squadron moved with the 487th Bomb Group to Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, to conduct combat crew training in the B-24 'Liberator' heavy bomber. After crew training at Alamogordo, Lt Jones flew overseas as a passenger with the 839th Bomb Squadron crew of Lt Joseph A. Duncan. The crew flew B-24H 42-52591 via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. In July 1944 the Group transitioned to flying the B-17 'Flying Fortress'.

On August 25, 1944, Richard L. Jones—then a Captain and a lead navigator—flew with the Joseph A. Duncan crew in B-17G 43-37980, the deputy lead aircraft in the Lead Squadron, on a mission to bomb the German airfield at Rechlin, Germany. Captain Winston S. Rogers flew in the copilot position as Air Leader. Copilot Lt James Hood Jr moved to the tail gunner position as Officer Tail Gunner and formation observer. Captain Jones and eight of his crew mates were killed in action when their aircraft was hit by flak just after bombs away over Rechlin, Germany. The right outer wing was lost, and the burning aircraft went into a spin, exploded, and crashed in Muritz Lake (Müritzsee) near Boek, Germany, north of the target. Two crew members, 1/Lt Joseph Anderson Duncan and S/Sgt Monroe Stanley Wolyn, were blown clear and survived. Lt Hood's body was never found. He probably went to the bottom of Muritz Lake with the aircraft wreckage.

The body of Capt Jones was recovered on the shore of Muritz Lake near Boek, Germany on September 16, 1944. His remains and those of seven of his crew mates were buried initially at the Retzow Cemetery in Retzow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, a short distance north of Rechlin Airfield. His remains were disinterred from Retzow Cemetery on July 17, 1947, moved to the U.S. Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, and reinterred there in Plot AA, row 11, Grave 263. After final confirmation of the identity of his remains, they were permanently reinterred at then renamed Ardennes American Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium on May 5, 1949.

B-17G 43-37980 crew:
• Duncan, Joseph A – 1/Lt – Pilot – POW
• Rogers, Winston S – Capt – Air Leader – KIA
• Jones, Richard L – Capt – Pilotage Navigator – KIA
• Friedman, Ely N – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Dolan, James J – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Henahan, Joseph W – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Brown, Gerard F – T/Sgt – Radio operator – KIA
• Everett, Lloyd E – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Brown, Rhodes L – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Wolyn, Monroe S – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW
• Hood Jr, James – 2/Lt – Tail Gunner – MIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com