Army Sgt. Anthony G. Jones

Died June 14, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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25, of Greenville, S.C.; assigned to the 104th Transportation Company, 36th Engineer Group, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Benning, Ga.; killed June 14 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle in Baghdad.

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Fallen S.C. soldier laid to rest

Associated Press

SUMTER, S.C. — A soldier who hunted and fished in the woods and waters near here was laid to rest Saturday after being killed in Iraq when an explosive detonated near his vehicle as he traveled in a convoy.

Sgt. Anthony Jones, 25, had been stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., where he served as a driver with the 233rd Heavy Equipment Transporter Platoon. He was on his third tour in Iraq when he was killed on June 14.

Jones lived here until age 6 and also lived in Greenville and Easley between 1998 and 2000.

Jones had wanted to re-enlist for a second hitch and had planned to attend a training school in Germany to become a scout, with the long-term goal of becoming an Army Ranger.

“He was a great soldier,” Lt. Dennis Graves said. “I’m not an emotional guy — I don’t cry. But on June 14, I cried. And I’ve cried every day since it happened. I lost a driver, we lost a friend, and we lost a warrior in Sgt. Anthony Jones.”

Graves said Jones sometimes had to be told to take a break. And while some soldiers would come back from outings with counterfeit compact discs or DVD’s, Jones would return with knives and extra ammunition, Graves said.

He left a mark on his extended family.

“You didn’t have to ask Tony to come help you, he’d just come,” said Sumter’s Ron Jones, a cousin.

Jones is survived by his widow, Kelly Jones, 25; his 2-year-old son, Blair; his 1-month-old son, Aaron, all of Fort Benning; his sister, Amanda Howard of Pickens; and his parents, Glenn and Sandra Jones of Hartsville.