"The minute I stepped out on the street, I felt so uncomfortable," he says. Four decades later, Americans often use this phrase in political and business contexts without knowing its origin. In a recent interview, he revealed that he was sober. Greg's body was near the boarding steps with his camera bag and cameras scattered around him. That's what triggered it.'. Jones berated three other new arrivals for misbehavior on the trip; they were beaten and forced to work 24 hours straight. She gave her house to the Peoples Temple and they moved to San Francisco. Vilchez worked as office manager at a private crime lab for 20 years and now, at 61, sells her artwork. The temple really became my family, she said. I said there must be another way.. My best guess is that Jones felt the press people weren't fooled by the staged setup at the mission. Jim Jones had years earlier conceived his South American settlement as a distant haven where Peoples Temple members could live in communal isolation, protected from unfriendly reporters and all the other enemies Jones denounced through his congregation. Among those speaking out ahead of the 40-year anniversary of the mass deaths isMike Touchette, who was a 21-year-old Indiana native at the time. Did you ever think there might be a physical threat to yourself? Everyone participated in it and because of that, it went as far as it did, she said. He too was a member of the basketball team. | Those who broke rules were disciplined. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. 'I believe that it was always a personal agenda for my father, and yes, there was a gradual shift in the balance. He is talking, in the first of two evenings' long conversations, between spoonfuls of almond chicken at a Chinese restaurant. "I don't even know who my loved ones were with when they died," he says softly. Then he waits a while, until they have come to know him--the very tall young man with the kind voice and the black mustache. More than 900 members of the Peoples Temple had lived in theagricultural missionin the distant jungle of Guyana, South America, led by the cult leader Rev. They moved forward slowly until one soldier bumped into an object on the ground. _taboola.push({ But even Stephan Jones never imagined that death would come the way it did, so redolent of madness and evil, so savage that a kind of panic still crawls into his voice when he talks about it. Save record . He called his church "Peoples Temple"--"Wings of Deliverance" had been tried earlier and discarded. placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails 3rd', 29. Siblings by adoption include Agnes Paulette Jones (1943-1978); Stephan Gandhi Jones(Born 1959); Jimmy Jones, Jr. aka James Warren Jones, Jr.(born 1960); and Timothy Tupper aka Timothy Glenn Tupper Jones, Tim "Day" Jones (1959-1978). 'He started firing at the front and missed the pilot,' said Dale Parks, who left the temple Saturday. The temple was the only life he knew but says he always had his doubts. Dozens of members in Guyana slipped out of Jonestown or happened to be away that day. In the past, Stephan has also been known as Stephan Gandhi Jones and Stephan G Jones. None of it makes sense. More than 300 Jonestown victims were children. It would have been like I was a counter-revolutionary, in some sense.". And he just went unchecked. I would argue that even a lot of the good works that he wanted to do early on were an attempt to impress my mother and her family'. The 40th anniversary is offering Americans an opportunity to deal with this neglected sore, with the story receiving treatment in both book and documentary form, a story of a trajectory from charismatic preacher and leader to head of a murderous cult. tap here to see other videos from our team. }); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; He dreams he is in a crowd, and his father is talking about suicide. He cries out, "My God, you're not dead!" "He used to say that I would acquire his gift in my late years. So the second thing is this whole idea of drinking the Kool-Aid thats such a prevalent saying. He says his daughters have seen him gnash his teeth when he talks about his father, but they also have heard him speak lovingly of the man who taught him compassion and other virtues. I was going back to retrieve that young person and also to say goodbye.. They have three children. This November 1978 file photo shows the Peoples Temple compound, led by Jim Jones, after bodies were removed, in Jonestown, Guyana. 2023 Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple is a, Reflections and Articles by Stephan Jones, Son of Anarchist: My Father, Jim Jones, and What the World Can Still Learn From Him,. The people are elderly and he knows he must stop it, but he cannot make contact with them; they look at him as though from great distances. Did you ever consider the ultimate rebellious act: to defect from the temple? His father, finally, is beginning to let go. We were turned back by Johnny Jones, Jim Jones' stern-faced adopted black son. He did.'. He was within a few minutes and a few yards of accomplishing his goal: to get out temple members who were afraid to leave or possibly held against their will. And there was more social rhetoric and action in my life and a lot more fear. Jim Jones (1931-1978) and Marceline Jones (1927-1978). In this Nov. 13, 2008 file photo, Stephan Jones, son of Rev. . The 21-year-old Indiana native felt pride pioneering in the distant jungle of Guyana, South America. The guy you see in all the images. A lot more conversation about the outside threat that was anyone that wasnt in the temple. Stephan is the only living son of Jim Jones and his late wife Marceline Jones. The therapy that has been helpful to me hasnt been by talking with strangers about it. Trump would hammer Biden OR Harris if he was up for election against either of them in 2024, new poll shows, At least 53 civilians who were truffle hunting in Syria are killed in terror attack blamed on ISIS, 'Find me rich, hot and kind': Hunter Biden BEGGED his cousin Caroline to hook him up with Brooklyn Beckham's wife Nicola Peltz - 25 years his junior - to help him 'break free' from his brother's widow and one-time lover Hallie, texts reveal, Onwards and upwards? What Does Lindsey Horans Boyfriend Tyler Heaps Do For a Living? Court Records. And I looked around and there were at least 15 people looking at me. Among those speaking out ahead of the 40-year anniversary of the mass deaths is Mike Touchette, who was a 21-year-old Indiana native at the time. James Warren Jones and his wife, Marceline. He has taken a lead role in a 40th Jonestown anniversary memorial to be held Sunday at Oaklands Evergreen Cemetery, where remains of unclaimed and unidentified victims are buried. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones. The Joneses adopted a black baby in Indiana in 1960, and Jim gave the 10-week-old infant his own name. "I mellowed out." . For years, Vilchez was ashamed of the part he played in an idealistic group that imploded so terribly. I believe that it was always a personal agenda for my father, and yes, there was a gradual shift in the balance. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Don't take my baby!'. What would you say is the biggest misconception people have about the Peoples Temple or your father? 2010-10-03 19:23:36. Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as Stephan Gandhi Jones. 'In an hour, that promise was broken.'. He remarried three decades ago, and he and his wife, Erin, raised three sons. OAKLAND, Calif. Jonestown was the highlight of Mike Touchettes life for a time. This dismissive thinking was convenient because its hard to comprehend how so many people marched together to a certain and unnecessary death. He remarried three decades ago, and he and his wife Erin raised three sons with two now coaching basketball at the high school and college level. Little Jimmy became part of their Rainbow Family of white, black, Korean-American and Native American children. To just be somewhere with a machete, in khakis, and just decide I wanted to go somewhere and cut myself a trail." The reason I ended up in Jonestown is that I left. My mother got me an apartment, I got a job and my father came and tried to talk me into coming back. I appreciate that question. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. People do things for him. mode: 'thumbnails-a', As outlined in the above video, he was featured in the History Channel's 2007 documentary Jonestown: Paradise Lost and has written for the website Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, which is run by San Diego State University. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; STEPHAN Gandhi Jones is - in the eyes of the world - the son of a mass murderer. "I mellowed out. Instead of finishing high school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco, where she lived in the church. He was summoned to the temple radio room. Neither were the White Nights where everyone stayed up, armed with machetes to fight enemies who never arrived. It won't work.' ". Then, with heart-stopping suddenness, the first shot was fired. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Stephan Gandhi Jonesis the son of the notorious religious cult leaderJim Jones. Plunged into a new world, those raised in the temple or who joined as teens lost the only life they knew: church, jobs, housing and most of all, family and friends. "This is really crazy," he recalls thinking. Stephanie was one of six victims in the car accident coming back from Cincinatti.Birth name: . "It's not--such a bad experience," he says. This answer is: Study guides. They also killed their dogs. "It's like you went to a vacation in Europe and found out the United States had sunk," he says. Im not trying to defend him. 'I'm not saying he didn't cause it, create it. At the far end of the strip sat a yellow government plane. I know Ive reached a better place and I dont fear lapsing back into the darkest times, but its a daily process and one that Im grateful to have.. that one last act would be admitting he was a coward, and about nothing. Quietly the men with the tractor motioned aside a group of curious Guyanese children and other bystanders. With their lives, the story of Jonestown continues, even now. Alongside it was a red tractor and trailer seen earlier at the mission. I think that we all know that in his final days he was certainly a villain, but there are people who just reach out to me because theyve come upon something Ive written and theyre able, through me, to see the humanity of it all. Vilchez was dispatched to the Guyanan capital of Georgetown to raise money. Im not saying he didnt cause it, create it. And then he went to my mother. He is married to his wife Kristi Jones since 1991. Jim Jones was cultivating his growing celebrity--elected officials visited the San Francisco temple, Mayor George Moscone had used temple members as campaign workers, and much was made of the 1976 photo that showed Jim Jones and Rosalynn Carter together during the Democratic Central Committee meeting in San Francisco. The younger man demanded that everyone in the truck move aside. Jon was born on January 31, 1975, in Oakland, California. Now, Stephan is a father of three daughters, ages 16, 25 and 29, and works in the office furniture installation business, Eugene Smith recalls how his mother, a churchgoing African-American, bought into Jim Jones' dream when he opened a new church in Fresno. Jim Jr. would lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow. If anything, we felt pity for him, he said, and it grew into a dislike, maybe hate.. The pilot had radioed for help after the shooting, but during the night the only thing we heard were more rumors about the imminent arrival of Guyanese troops and medical evacuation planes. He converted to Catholicism and registered Republican. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. More than 900 people lived in the agricultural mission, with its dining pavilion, tidy cottages, school, medical facilities and rows of crops. Read More You're not taking any more drugs." And now some wanted to depart. I focused my rage on Dad and his circle, rather than deal with me, he said. "I still get very angry," Stephan Jones says. They have altogether three daughters. It was easy to see and feel what was attractive about my father. A second plane, a Guyana Airways 24-seater, was coming in for a landing. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. He will read it when he is ready, he says. John was attending a San Francisco high school when he was allowed to join his best friends in Jonestown. He also made sure that the other disciples who were in the capital would do nothing hasty. This past year, she returned to long-overgrown Jonestown. I thought there were reasons for people to want to get us. 'Naaah.' "I say, 'Mom,' " Stephan Jones says, recalling a desperate mother-son huddle toward the end, " 'We're talking about a man who think's he's God. By nightfall, the seriously wounded, some of them on litters provided by the community, were sheltered in army soldiers' tents. The rest of us were accommodated in a private home. Vilchez returned to Jonestown for the first time in 40 years. When he brushed away the mist below him he saw that it was a lifeless human limb. Stephan Jones believes his father must have killed himself: that he could not leave his own shooting to someone else. He has nine siblings, most of whom are now dead. Four granite slabs are etched with names of the 918 people who died in Guyana- including James Warren Jones, which deeply offends some whose relatives perished. The years have shaped another lesson for Stephan Jones, but it makes him uneasy to talk about it. It would become a little town where people of all ages and colours raised food and children. Jim Jones had said as a tropical storm rained on the Peoples Temple pavilion. "I think I have a lot of the same tendencies he had. I keep remembering what Jones had said in the pavilion. Cobb lost 11 relatives that day, including his mother, youngest brother and four sisters. He too was a member of the basketball team. After that I didnt sleep well last night., I wouldnt say therapeutic. People were completely fatigued, exhausted. Volleys of shotgun, rifle and pistol fire kept coming. A woman named Sharon Amos had slaughtered her three children and committed suicide. That way no one else would want to live. 'He made a promise - once we get to Jonestown there is no corporal punishment,' Smith said. I made that last trip with him and he made me stay in Jonestown. Stephan Jones currently lives in Petaluma, CA; in the past Stephan has also lived in San Rafael CA and Novato CA. After they left, I crept out of the bush and saw five bodies around the plane. They were at a basketball tournament five years ago, in November 1978 when the congressman and the reporters came to Jonestown. Family (3) Trivia (4) Only natural son of Rev. Every loud sound put us on edge, with some wondering aloud: 'Will they come back to finish us off?'. Rebelling, they refused Jones' order to come back. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. Even though he attended public schools, Stephan Jones had never really learned to live in the outside world. Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. You'd have to deal with this elite that just revolved their lives around him' . He keeps his voice very soft, as though practice has taught him to hold certain subjects to a whisper in public, but his gaze is direct. Then, after a 1977 New West magazine expose of temple disciplinary beatings and other abuses, she was sent to Jonestown. An emotional tug-of-war ensued between a mother who wanted to stay and the father who wanted to go. He has been married to Kristi Jones since 1991. . Hes an executive at the office furniture company where he began working immediately after Jonestown. This June 2016 photo provided by Jim Jones Jr. shows, from left, Ross Jones, 21, Erin Fowler-Jones, Robert Jones, 27, and Ryan Jones, 25, and Jim Jones Jr., in Pacifica, Calif. When he was ordered to Georgetown to help with supply shipments, Smith said he concocted an escape plan: Ollie and other temple singers and dancers, he believed, would soon be sent to Georgetown to perform, and the family would flee to the U.S. Embassy. Life became more tolerable after the couples baby, Martin Luther Smith, was born. Jim Jr. would lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow. When he wakes, at dawn or in the middle of the night, it takes him some time to come back. So would the congressman and three others. He was just 14, Stephan Jones and some other team members believe they might have changed history if they were there. He is charming. Rep. Leo Ryan, D-San Mateo, had come to the temple's agricultural project to determine whether the followers of Jones were free to leave the jungle settlement. She was the adoptive daughter of Rev. As a self-taught bulldozer operator, he worked alongside other Peoples Temple members in the humid heat, his blade carving roads and sites for wooden buildings with metal roofs. He did what was expected of him. Those who broke rules were disciplined. "I got sick of the same speeches, the insisting people stay awake, the constantly testing people." He is now a 65-year-old grandfather who has worked for a Miami hydraulics company for nearly 30 years, Jordan Vilchez, pictured sitting at a memorial for mass murder and suicide victims at the Jonestown settlement in Guyana, moved to Jonestown to 1977. He is married to his wifeKristi Jones since 1991. "I don't care what you think of my father," Jones wrote in 2015. On Nov. 18 she was at the temple house when a fanatical Jones aide received a dire radio message from Jonestown. Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, poses for a portrait near San Rafael, California, November 13, 2008. Official Sites. In California, he was steeped in temple life. Publicity Listings }); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; Then-San Francisco Examiner reporter Tim Reiterman was wounded in the airstrip shooting and flown to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where he wrote the following eyewitness account. All the people who lay there around him had followed him. (As PEOPLE reported a year after the deaths, two of Stephan's adopted siblings also died at Jonestown.). NBC reported that Stephan Jones was the vice president for an office installation company in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2008. 'Being in Jonestown before Jim got there was the best thing in my life.'. "I would have been a traitor to the greatest cause there ever was . Rebelling, they refused Jones order to come back. How could that be suicide? The only sounds they heard came from the jungle animals going about their business. Of course, even if he wanted to forget Jonestown, his name was an ever-present reminder. Listen, not long before, we went to play basketball. He rode bulldozers, dodged falling trees, killed snakes, lit brush fires and rode the slow boats upriver with loads of cut wood for flooring and walls. More than 900 people lived in the agricultural mission, with its dining pavilion, tidy cottages, school, medical facilities and rows of crops. 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