"The darn thing is out.." RIP Pelago

[LarrBeard]

It is with a very sad heart that I share this with the Forum. Ira, his M38A1 and his dogs (Magoo and Jake) were a part of our group for many years.

There weren't many topics on which he didn't have a story to share. We'll miss him.


https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jdnews/obituary.aspx?n=ira-richard-jones&pid=197133927&fhid=21620

Ira Richard Jones Jr., 75, of Hubert, died Thursday, Nov. 12, 202 at Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville.

A memorial service, with military honors, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020 at the Vietnam Memorial of Jacksonville.

He is survived by his children, Ira Richard Jones Jr. of Hubert and Tina Dirksmeyer of Arizona.

Arrangements are by Jones Funeral Home of Jacksonville.

[mrgrtt123]

I don't know him personally but my heart goes with his family. RIP Sir Ira Jones.

[5JeepsAz]

Sorry to hear of this news. I did not know him but from reading him one senses that he will always be An American Hero. His Epic Thread and the online community here the reason I joined up. RIP forum member Ira Jones.

[gmwillys]

Thank you LarrBeard for finding the information. It had been too quiet for too long.

Rest in peace Ira.

I found a little bit more information on Ira's life through the funeral home's site.


https://www.jonesfh.org/obituary/Ira-JonesJr

[bmorgil]

I feel we have all really lost something. I will dwell on what that guy taught me about resilience till I meet him again. This does hurt. And to think I never meet him in person. His presence was felt by everyone through his actions.

His last post, 15 September 2020.
https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys.com/showthread.php?2411-134f-total-rebuild

The famous thread.
https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys.com/showthread.php?1421-well-the-darn-thing-is-out/page252

God speed Ira.
"To those we have lost, to those who are still here and to those we will meet again"

[TJones]

What a ICON to this site he was!!!!!
He was a WEALTH of knowledge at anything you wanted to talk about, it didn't matter if it was camping,building Heeps,Lovin on dogs, Ham radios or Guns and you really didn't want to get in a argument with him about anything especially Guns or Shooting them HE WAS THE BEST this side maybe even the west side of the Mississippi as well!!!
Rest in Peace Brother.......

[gmwillys]

If he had his choice, he would want us to remember him like this;

https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2288&d=1519420688

[bmorgil]

Oh man! Red in the face he was not. HaHaHa where in the world did you find that? I found this one.

https://www.carolinacoastonline.com/news_times/sports/article_ef3338ff-983f-52cc-ba2f-b780c7d9203d.html

[LarrBeard]

WOW! I've booked that as a reference.

"One of the competitors Jones lined up against, and beat, was his friend and retired Marine, R. Lee Ermey, who starred in the movie, Full Metal Jacket. Ermey was also the one who presented Jones with his medals."

FYI Ermy wasn't that great a shot. My friends Mike Gingher (USMC Reserve Team Armorer) Andy Giegold built an M1 National Match rifle for Ermy. Ermy sent it back saying it wouldn't shoot and trash talked the guys to the shooting community about what a lousy job it was. I shot the rifle to bench test it with just average match ammo I had loaded and I was able to hold 1-inch groups at 100-yards. It wasn't the rifle, it was the loose nut behind the stock.

Ira was a lot better shot than Ermy.

[LarrBeard]

Here is Ira's post from one of the ham radio sites, QRZ.com:

The picture in the qsl card is a picture of my 33 ft sailboat underway off Cape Hatteras NC in the summer of 96 I am a retired US Marine with 25 years active service. My wife Tammy and I depart North Carolina and will travel to the Bahamas aboard our sailboat "PELAGO" while we are in the islands we will be WB6LNH/C6A.

Pelago was the name of his boat - see attached picture. Pelago means "belonging to the sea". WB6 is a west coast call sign prefix, probably from some time he spent at Camp Pendelton or somewhere in the area.

He often talked about rewiring the boat and overhauling its' diesel engine.

[okiemark]

I am sorry to hear that. I had definitely notice his absence for a while and knew he had been having some health issues. When I started my project, I looked through his whole thread and learned a lot from his experience. Another hero is gone.

[bmorgil]

Check out the photo tribute to pelago, very nice LarrBeard!

https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys.com/album.php?albumid=158

[TJones]

Great Work LarrBeard!!!!

[5JeepsAz]

God bless the USA. So glad he got that top on. Thank you for posting.

[bmorgil]

Great write up on the Kaiser Willys Blog!

https://blog.kaiserwillys.com/in-memory-of-ira-jones-pelago-of-the-kaiser-willys-jeep-forum?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=kaiser-willys-auto-supply&utm_content=

[TJones]

Great write up on the Kaiser Willys Blog!

https://blog.kaiserwillys.com/in-memory-of-ira-jones-pelago-of-the-kaiser-willys-jeep-forum?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=kaiser-willys-auto-supply&utm_content=


WOW you did a Great Job Larry as well as The Girls at KW!!!

[LarrBeard]

WOW you did a Great Job Larry as well as The Girls at KW!!!

The thanks also go to you guys who egged me on, supported me, made suggestions and proof read some of the early versions that were dead-end starts.

[gmwillys]

Well done Chief. I'm am thankful for your word smithing abilities to preserve the memories that we have of Ira in one place.