[Curran L. Jones oral history interview (Part 1 of 2)]

In this two-part oral history, fighter ace Curran L. Jones discusses his military service with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. In part one, he describes his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time in the Pacific Theater with the 39th Fighter Squadron. Topics discussed include his combat missions, his service in Papua New Guinea, and his thoughts on war in general. Special focus on a bomber escort mission on June 9, 1942 in which Jones scored his first aerial victory, shooting down Japanese ace Satoshi Yoshino.

Curran L. Jones was born on October 4, 1919 in Columbia, South Carolina. He joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1940 and graduated from flight training the following year. A member of the 39th Fighter Squadron, Jones served in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and other areas of the Pacific Theater. In 1943, he returned to the United States and became director of operations for a fighter replacement training unit. Jones remained in the military after the end of World War II and went on to command a transport squadron during the Berlin Airlift and a jet training group in Texas. After his retirement as a lieutenant colonel in 1961, he embarked on a number of civilian careers, including cattle farming, managing a retail business, teaching as a professor of aeroscience, and writing an aviation-themed newspaper column. Jones passed away in 2013.