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CommunityTwo hands is never enough
Jones believes in being too busy
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GARY SMITH
Gregory Jones Sr. is among a group of American Red Cross volunteers also trained in the operation of amateur radio gear, which they installed in a salvaged ambulance to provide improved communications during disasters.
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His father’s heroism and the generosity he showed as a sergeant major in the Army gave Jones insight into what he wanted his life to be like.
Although he would argue it was a mixture of many things in his childhood that formed the man he is today, he agrees that his father’s influence was definitely a major part to the story he tells today.
‘‘I had a very broad background,” he warned as he began to tell the lengthy, but interesting story of his life.
Though he designates himself ‘‘one of the original Washingtonians,” he said his childhood was spent in various places partly due to his father’s military career. He lived in Germany for five years, and still speaks a little German, as he said in the language. But he attended high school in Montgomery County, where he credits his start in wanting to give back.
‘‘It was there I got interested in amateur radio – around the 1970s. I was helping with emergency communications. It was one of those things my dad got me into,” he said. ‘‘My father was there to always help somebody.”
He was later able to do radio patching during the Vietnam ‘‘conflict,” he said.
It helped soldiers overseas connect with families in the states.
However, that wasn’t quite enough to satisfy Jones’ appetite for more.
He joined the Montgomery County Fire Department, because he thought it would be ‘‘cool.” He volunteered to fight fires and joined in the paramedic training program – just a little something extra to add to his growing resume.
‘‘I was No. 1 in the class in class No. 3, that should tell you how long ago that was,” he laughed. ‘‘I figured I could save lives and help someone in the back of the ambulance, but it wasn’t enough ...”
So, Jones went on to become an emergency medical technician instructor, a way he thought he could reach out to more people, because of the instruction he was able to give volunteers.
‘‘There’re a lot of pieces to my life. I joined the Army Reserves and stayed in for 26 years, did IT [information technology] and war planning and retired as a lieutenant colonel after Desert Storm-Desert Shield,” he listed his accomplishments. ‘‘I graduated from the University of Maryland [in] information systems technology. I worked in the Pentagon, for the Department of Justice and in December I started here at the American Red Cross.
‘‘I have many activities,” Jones said in an understatement.
Jones adamantly asserted that he just enjoys doing for others.
He spoke of a time when he was sent to volunteer at the Pentagon during the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
‘‘I was one of the first to deploy to the Pentagon for 9-11 for emergency communications to the Salvation Army. It was one of those tough things. It was so meaningful,” he said as he wiped a tear from his eye. ‘‘It was one of the most sobering experiences. All my EMT training and firefighting experience never prepares you for something of that magnitude. It’s still tough.”
Not only does he look to rescue people in the heroic sense, he also reaches out to work with the Charles County Teen Court program, a program he became active with seven years ago. He was recently named one of the community judges. The judge is the senior authority in the courtroom. He or she introduces the respondent to the teenage peer jurors who are informed of the charge against the respondent and the reported circumstances. Decisions in the case are reviewed by the judge and read to the respondent. Based on experience, the judge will then discuss the offense with the respondent and parents present and the potential impact on the teen’s future.
‘‘It’s absolutely incredible. You see the impact on the kids. You get kids to just think twice [about their actions]. Giving to the community is the hallmark of it all,” he said casually of his efforts.
What seems to be on the top of his list now is his time with the American Red Cross Southern Maryland Chapter. Most recently, the chapter’s CEO, Mike Zabko, recognized his actions after a February single-family house fire in Chesapeake Beach.
In a press release, Zabko said just after 1 a.m., with icy road conditions setting in, Jones left his bed to go to the scene of a fire that consumed the residence of a family of five. Jones helped the family with shelter and necessities, as they escaped the blaze with only the clothes they were wearing.
Zabko said jokingly, ‘‘We were going to flip a coin, but he said he was closer. I live in Mechanicsville.
‘‘Out of his character? Absolutely not. More to his character than not. He’s a great employee and he was a volunteer quite some time in this chapter. He’s a person in the community that should be imitated.”
Jones had a few stories about rescue efforts that he and the Red Cross provide. He spoke of an elderly woman who lost her trailer in a fire and then of a family with a young daughter and teenage son who lost everything.
‘‘We don’t have allocated funds. It’s all donations. We can provide a set amount ... but the [elderly] woman turned to me and asked, ‘What do I do now?’ There’s nothing that rips your heart any more,” he said.
As far as the family that lost everything, Jones said he hopes he helped the little girl through the tragic house fire. He gave her a small Mickey Mouse doll, a part of a donation the Red Cross received, that he said took her mind off of everything.
‘‘It showed her some hope. Everything she had was lost,” he said.
The chapter’s Health and Safety Director Debora Storey said she would describe Jones as someone who’s eager to help out.
‘‘Who else would go out into an ice storm and not call a volunteer out?” she said of Jones. ‘‘He’s not just a go-to guy, he’s a team player too.”
While the chapter prides itself of its great volunteers, Zabko said, ‘‘If we had more Gregorys, we wouldn’t have so many problems. Greg epitomizes that saying of JFK – ‘ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.’ He helps out the community.”
Aside from Jones’ faithful duties at the Red Cross, he said he also enjoys spending time with his family. Two of his children are now serving in capacities to impact their communities as well, one as a volunteer firefighter and the other as a Washington, D.C., police officer.
The Maryland Independent has begun a new series of profiles of people doing great things in the community to run periodically in the Community section. If you know anyone, children, teens or adults, e-mail Stacy Sneed at ssneed@somdnews.com with the subject line County Profiles.
