Capt. Jason Benjamin Jones was more than a soldier to many in Schuylkill County.
To Shawn Werdt, he was a classmate, a teammate, a neighbor and a close friend.
"He was a friend for life, someone I could always call a friend," Shawn, who lives in the Philadelphia area, said Wednesday.
Jones, 29, formerly of Orwigsburg, was killed after being wounded in a small-arms fire fight Monday near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He was the commander of a 12-man Special Forces A-Team with the Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets.
"It's just devastating. It's not something you think will happen to someone so close to you," Shawn said. "He was such a great friend. He was my hero, and I'm going to miss him. We had so much fun together. It's like losing a brother."
Shawn graduated with Jones from Blue Mountain High School in 2003. As seniors, they were co-captains of the basketball team after having been teammates ever since they first started playing in elementary school. The Eagles finished that season with a 30-1 record and reached the quarter finals in the state championship.
"Our friendship was born because of basketball and lasted because of basketball," Shawn said.
Burt Werdt, Shawn's father, coached that successful basketball team and was also a guidance counselor at the school when Jones was there.
"Truly Blue Mountain's finest," Burt, Orwigsburg, said Wednesday. "Athletically, academically, morally, he was the complete package."
"Everyone loved him," he continued. "He was a great student and everyone just loved his personality. He would do everything for anyone. He had the biggest heart. I can't say enough about him. We are just so proud of him."
Jones was also an accomplished soccer player. He was nominated for the First Team All American Soccer in the Eastern Region and First Team All State Soccer in 2002. He earned eight varsity letters in high school while graduating with honors.
"He was just a tenacious competitor and a really tough kid," Shawn said. "I don't think you could say there was a better teammate out there. He was always sacrificing himself for the betterment of the team."
Early on in high school, Shawn said Jones knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
"I can't remember a time he didn't want to go into the military," Shawn said. "His personality fit the mold. He was a team player, a hard worker and a natural leader. He was made for it."
After high school, Jones went on to West Point Military Academy in West Point, New York.
"He really wanted to be in the military," Burt said. "He certainly could have played soccer or basketball at some of the smaller schools, but that was his goal. That was his dream. That was what he wanted to do and he loved it."
"No matter what Jason chose to do, he would excel," he continued. "He was driven. Whatever task he took on, it was completed to perfection. No matter what he did, it was always his best."
While at West Point, Jones was the captain of his Sandhurst Military Skills Team and earned a Master of the Sword Physical Fitness Award.
After earning a degree in nuclear engineering and finishing sixth in his class in 2007, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. He was then assigned to Second Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and deployed to Iraq, where he served as a platoon leader, company executive officer and battalion air operations officer.
Jones continued his military career and received various degrees and awards, including the Bronze Star for his deployment in Iraq from 2008 to 2009 and the Iron Panther Award as part of the 82nd Airborne Division.
He joined the Green Berets in May 2013 and married Dr. Amy Weniger on June 15, 2013, in a ceremony at West Point.
Jones was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in April 2014.
Werdt said the last time he saw Jones was at his late teammate's wedding nearly a year ago.
"He was always striving for something more," he said. "He believed in the cause and wanted to make a difference. He's the ultimate hero. He's a good old boy from the Skook doing big things. What's there not to be proud of? He's an American hero."