Mitch Landrieu: “I rise today to honor an exemplary soldier, a loyal American, a loving father, and a devoted husband. Our friend and…”

“I rise today to honor an exemplary soldier, a loyal American, a loving father, and a devoted husband. Our friend and neighbor, Colonel Jon Jones passed away on June 6 after a courageous battle with brain cancer that he waged on his own terms. Until the week of his death, Jon lived life to the fullest and did not allow cancer to define him or to diminish his dream. Rather, he chose to be a husband, father and soldier until the end. His death has been a profound loss to his colleagues in the Army, his neighbors, his friends, and especially to his family. I say to his wife Cynthia, to his two children Nick and Lena, who are here with us today, our Nation is grateful for your family's service and sacrifice. Jon was born and raised in California. His mother was a teacher, and the influence she had on him was apparent throughout his life. He attended high school outside of Sacremento, and graduated from Cal State at Sacramento. He went the extra mile to participate in the ROTC program at UC-Davis, because his own school had abolished ROTC during the Vietnam war. He graduated in 1980 as a distinguished military graduate and was commissioned as a regular Army military intelligence officer. He met Cynthia while he was in officers' basic course in Arizona, and they married in 1981. His career in the Army took Cynthia, Nick, and Lena to Turkey, Germany, and South Korea; and his last deployment was to Kuwait and to Iraq.”