Ira Jones was an author, best known as the first sergeant in charge of Elvis Presley for a portion of the time Elvis served in the army.
12 Facts About Ira Jones
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Ira Jones was the tenth child of Elihu Jones and Bethany Francis McAlister.
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Ira Jones's siblings were Granville Enos Jones, Sarah Jane Townsend, Elmer Jones, Leona Pitts, Beulah Tumbleson, Columbus Jones, Leonard Jones, Eula Owen, Iva Rushing, Elihu Jones Jr, Nana Lou Hodges, and Wanda Earline Page-Davis.
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Ira Jones's grandfather Fee Gregory Jones was a Baptist Minister and a son of Robert Jones who was a colporteur who sold publications of the American Tract Society and anti-slavery documents.
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Robert Jones traveled Kentucky with John Gregg Fee and in January 1858 Jones was beaten by a mob for their anti-slavery stance.
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Ira Jones was awarded the Purple Heart on September 9,1944 for "wounds incurred in action on 27 August 1944" near Paris, France.
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In May 1956 Ira Jones was stationed in Bremerhaven, Friedberg, Germany.
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On May 6,1959, Sgt Ira Jones appeared on the popular television game show I've Got A Secret.
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Ira Jones was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia at the time.
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Ira Jones retired from the Army in 1963 and in 1978, Jones began writing a book about the time he spent with Elvis, entitled Soldier Boy Elvis.
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Ira Jones appeared in numerous television specials, documentaries and videos including the short-lived newsmagazine Instant Recall, hosted by John Palmer, former news anchor from NBC's The Today Show and the 2001 documentary Remembering Elvis: A Documentary [1], which included interviews with comedian Steve Allen and others.
12.
Ira Jones died of a heart attack in July 2004 in the US state of Arkansas where he grew up.