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William E. 'Bill' Jones, 80, Columbia City    Page 2 of 4

Bill Jones' photos of World War II are published in a half-dozen books. Some of his many pictures taken in Japan after the war will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution. "I have never met anyone who has something in national archives, and now I am in two," Jones says.

[[image - black & white photograph of woman holding fish]]

"The Fish Woman" is one of many photos Jones took in Japan after World War II.

In 1946, as a 20-year-old Army Air Force photographer who specialized in aerials, Sgt. William E. "Bill" Jones was sent on missions to document from low-altitude the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima devastated just a few months earlier by atomic bombs.

Jones' photographs of acres of barren ground dotted by crumbling buildings and twisted metal may not be as dramatic as those showing the mushroom clouds over the cities — or as iconic as the photograph of the Iwo Jima flag-raising caught by another World War II military photographer, Joe Rosenthal, whose passing was marked last month.

But like Rosenthal's photos, these black-and-white pictures are moments from a horrific time caught in a lens. And for at least the past decade, Jones has been working tirelessly to tell the story of this part of that war and get his images into places where his glimpse into history can be preserved.

The photos already are in the collections of more than a half-dozen military or atomic museums. The National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, N.M., has copies, and negatives are on loan to the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, which houses the national archives for the Air Force.

Last month, shortly after the 60th anniversary of the bombings, came another accomplishment — six of Jones' photos of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were accepted by the archives at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

That means the native of Knox, who became fascinated by aviation when he lay on his back to watch airplanes fly over his family's farm fields when he was only 4 or 5 years old, is represented in two national archive collections.

Jones has spoken about the war and shown his photos to about 250 groups, and his images are published in a half-dozen books. He can be found most Fridays at the Hoosier Air Museum next to the DeKalb County Airport in Auburn, where he gives impromptu talks and tours and explains a display of six of his photos.

Also at the museum is his service scrapbook, a four-inch-thick volume with hundreds more pictures, including photos of everyday Japanese life after the occupation shot during weekend leaves. The album also contains portraits of Jones' comrades and commanders, pictures of the aftermath of routine aircraft accidents and stills from videos of "kills" — Japanese planes being shot down.

"I have never met anyone who has something in national archives, and now I am in two," says Jones, who owned Jones Photos in Columbia City for 43 1/2 years before retiring at the end of 1992. "I feel honored."

There's so much I'd like to know! First of all, how did this Smithsonian thing come about?

"There was a gentleman who cam (last year) to speak to our Greater Fort Wayne Aviation banquet, Edward Mautner, who was deputy director of the National Air and Space Museum. ... I showed him my pictures, and he said, 'You know, you could probably get these into the Smithsonian now. The next time you're in Washington, let me know and I'll get you

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/15532890.htm?template=contentMo... 9/16/2006