FORT JACKSON, S.C. (June 5, 2014) -- Mary Lynch-Jones spent much of her life working at Fort Jackson. She arrived here in 1969 as a teenager, shortly after enlisting in the Army. Last week, though, her retirement became official, bringing an end to a career that has touched six decades on post.
"What I'll miss the most are the patients," said Lynch-Jones, who retired May 30 from her job as a dental hygienist. "I believe they appreciated my service. And my co-workers have been the best friends you would ever want to have."
Lynch-Jones came to Fort Jackson from Cleveland, Ohio, but it wasn't a direct path. It took some time for the Army to find a place for her, she said.
"It was scary," she said. "I arrived here from a major city with sky scrapers, big and tall buildings, and Fort Jackson was really country. They sent me and my best friend, Leandra Villanova, from Fort Benning, (Georgia), because they didn't have room for us there."
They arrived on post courtesy of a Greyhound bus. Both were in tears by the time the bus stopped. "(Villanova) wasn't crying as much as I was because she was from a small town," she said.
Lynch-Jones enlisted in the Army on the advice of her sister, who didn't want her pursuing home economics or food services studies in Cleveland.
"She helped me select 'dental specialist,'" Lynch-Jones said. "I had an array of things to choose from, but was interested in dental. It was something I chose to do because I had a personal interest in it. I had a problem with cavities and I thought, 'How in the world is everyone besides me not having this problem?'"
Fort Jackson was her first permanent duty station, and Columbia would eventually become her home. Her first assignment in 1969 was at Dental Clinic #1, a facility that was located near the current Strom Thurmond Building. The building no longer stands.
"There were long, white buildings, and the medical departments were there," she said. "And they had a dental clinic on the end. They started us out at the front desk, and my next assignment was pediatric."
The Army would take her away from Fort Jackson for a time, but she returned in the 1980s as a dental hygienist. Her final job on post was at Hagen Dental Clinic.
Lynch-Jones said she has seen a lot of people come and go from DENTAC on Fort Jackson over the years, and she believes she might be the first African American to retire from the post as a registered dental hygienist.
"The U.S. government has stood by me, put me through school, the whole nine yards," she said. "This (job) was a way for me to repay that. Plus, I really wanted to work with Soldiers because I was a Soldier. I've had a very enjoyable dental career. But I hope to stay active and maybe get more education and studies in."
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