From top: This World War I Victory Medal was awarded to Wilbur Jones Sr.
(and all who served). Viola Elizabeth Murrell’s 1918 letter was forwarded to
Wilbur Jones Sr. during his naval training. This card folder was a souvenir
saved by Wilbur Jones Sr. from his Charleston, S.C., hospital training camp.
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20
WBM february 2019
America declared war on Germany in
April 1917. In March, Daddy enlisted as a
hospital apprentice and began training at
the Naval Hospital in Charleston, South
Carolina. He later achieved promotion to
hospital apprentice first class.
After Germany surrendered in November
1918, for six months in 1919 he treated
Marines at a field hospital in Santiago,
Dominican Republic. American forces
landed there during the 1916 Dominican
civil war to protect U.S. and international
interests.
The photograph album he assembled
recorded primitive native existence and
Marines at leisure.
Discharged in August 1919, he took a
business course in Alexandria, Virginia, and
in 1920 joined Wilmington’s Carolina Building and Loan Association for a
44-year career. The building at 201 Princess Street still stands.
Meanwhile, Mother tended house. They met regularly and their love swelled.
BJORN CHRISTIAN TORRISSEN
WILBUR D. JONES, JR. COLLECTION
RANDALL LIBRARY, UNC WILMINGTON; WILBUR D. JONES FAMILY COLLECTION