As a Marine Corp pilot in WW II, Ben earned the Distinguish Flying Cross and Air Metal for his duty in the south Pacific theater. Ben was known as the "man who bought the town" of Vredenburgh, Alabama. In 1964, after a fire destroyed the mill in the small sawmill town of Vredenburgh, Ben purchased the burned out mill and the entire town. Most of the residents were mill employees and were jobless due to the mill loss. Ben rebuilt the mill, gave the men their jobs back, and sold them their homes for one dollar each.

In 1976 Ben founded Ben Jones Machinery Inc. to buy and sell sawmill machinery in Columbus, Georgia. Mr. Ben was the epitome of the "true southern gentleman" and extremely well thought of by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. One of the "Greatest Generation" as coined by Tom Brokaw, Ben will be greatly missed.

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