Black, Kidnapped in the '60S, No Big Deal (ePub)

Born in , on September 18, 1950, McFerrel Jones became the first child of Annie Louise Jones, who was 16 years old at the time.  Because of his mother's young age, his grandparents Frank and Rosa Jones mostly raised him. was a devout Christian, and it was through her love and guidance that he learned about God and the highest of moral values at an early age.  Church and Sunday school were musts under the Jones' rules.

The years McFerrel lived with his grandparents were precious and very dear to him.  So much so, that after reaching adulthood, he spent many hours longing for those days living as one of his grandparents' sons-his uncles Warren, John Arthur, and Earnest Jones, who treated him as their little brother.  All of the Joneses are very good hunters and fishermen, so it is no wonder that McFerrel never got enough of these two sports.  Of the two, however, fishing is what he enjoys the most.

McFerrel's hometown was a very small place when he was growing up there.  It had only five traffic lights in the entire city.  He graduated high school at the age of 17, and at 18 enlisted in the US Navy's one-year delay entry program.  Having to go to the recruit processing station in , 21 miles away, gave him his very first opportunity to ride on a Greyhound bus.  This was so amazing to him.  McFerrel had lived his whole life in this country town and had never gone anywhere or even ridden on a Greyhound bus.  And now, at age 19, in 1969, he found himself on an airplane with orders to report to , for duty.

McFerrel served in the US Navy for 20 years, from May 1969 through April 1989, as an Aircraft Refueler.  He served aboard the Aircraft Carriers USS John F. Kennedy CV67 and USS Saratoga CV60, as well as other shore-based commands.