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“One day Uncle Sam gave him his cry,
And then he bade his girl goodbye.
He has not been gone very long,
But still her heart keeps him in song.
And now he’s trying to win her heart
Because he does not want to part.
“He wants to be where he can see
His little girl when he is free.
Each night she says a prayer for him
Who she has loved so well to win.
And when they settle down for life,
They’ll drive away care and strife.”
— Viola
Top: Hospital Apprentice First Class Wilbur Jones Sr. served with
the 4th Marine Regiment in the Dominican Republic in 1919.
Left: This letter was sent from sailor Wilbur Jones Sr. to his “Precious
Girl” Viola Elizabeth Murrell, from Charleston, S. C., on June 7, 1918.
Above: Wilbur Jones Sr., left, in Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 1919.
Wilbur Jones Sr.’s 1943 birthday gift to his son was a Smith & Wesson
revolver confiscated from a Dominican Republic bandit in 1919.
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WILBUR D. JONES, JR. COLLECTION
WILBUR D. JONES, JR. COLLECTION
WILBUR D. JONES, JR. COLLECTION
CAPE FEAR MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND SCIENCE; WILBUR D. JONES, JR. DONATION