A husband, son, brother, friend and hero was remembered Saturday.
The memorial service for Capt. Jason Benjamin Jones was held Saturday afternoon at the First United Methodist Church in Pottsville.
"Jason was a humble gentleman and he would be mortified by this attention," his father, Attorney Jay Jones, told the crowded church. "He was also a great man and this attention is well-deserved."
Jones, 29, formerly of Orwigsburg, was killed Monday 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.
"What these guys were doing as a team over in Afghanistan is unbelievable," Jay said. "They look in the face of danger with courage, heroism and patriotism that those of us who have not so served will never know the feeling. Jason and all those of you out there who have served, I now know are heroes to a degree I will never forget."
After graduating from Blue Mountain High School in 2003, Jones attended West Point Military Academy, West Point, New York. He earned a degree in nuclear engineering in 2007 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. He was 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 went on to receive various military degrees and awards, including the Bronze Star during 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 deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in April 2014.
Jay said his son was always determined. He recalled a time when Jason was cut from the basketball team and he worked even harder to make it the following year.
"Jason knew where he was headed and that's where he was going to go," Jay said.
His mother, Suzy Jones, said Jason was doing what he loved because he really felt like he was making a difference in the world. She shared the last letter he sent home from Afghanistan.
"I have a great team and when we are out on a mission, I'm happy because I'm getting to do what I wanted to do," Suzy said.
Jason would have celebrated his first wedding anniversary next week. He and Dr. Amy Weniger Jones married June 15, 2013, in a ceremony at West Point.
"Our wedding was the best day of my life and a memory I will cherish forever," Amy said.
They resided in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with a rescued beagle named Molly.
"Jason was the type of man who made everyone a better person around him. Jason was an intelligent, moral man with incredible character and a sense of humor," she said. "He challenged me daily to make me a stronger person. He is the type of person I aspire to be both personally and professionally."
Amy said they were planning on moving to Colorado, having children and rescuing another beagle or two while Jason opened a fly-fishing store.
"Words can not describe how much I will miss him," she said. "I feel so lucky to have met Jason, for the time I spent with him and being able to call him my husband and my best friend."
She also recalled meeting him while in medical school with his sister, Dr. Lizzy Jones.
"All my life, Jason took me under his wing and watched out for me," Lizzy said.
She said her older brother came to visit her in Philadelphia whenever he was home.
"At his core, Jason was humble and generative in every action," Lizzy said. "In Philly, he once gave a homeless man $5 and I said to him 'You know that guy will take your money and probably go spend it on alcohol.' But Jason said, 'Whatever gets him through the night. I just don't like to see people suffer.' "
Also remembering Jason at the service were friends from childhood and the military: Sgt. James R. Sorrells, retired Major Mike Orloff, Capt. Pete Van Hooser, Capt. Matt Hubbard and Alex Campbell.
"We will miss him, but we are all stronger for having met him," Lizzy said.