World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseDaniel James, Jr. was born in Pensacola, Florida, United States in 1920 to father Daniel James, Sr., employee of the city's gas company, and mother Lillie Anna James, a high school teacher who later established her own private school attended by the James children and other black children. James graduated from the historically black Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, United States in 1942, and then married Dorothy Watkins later in the same year. With Watkins, James would have three children; his oldest son, Daniel James III, would follow his father's footsteps and become a general officer in his own right. James received flight training in the government-sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program, and enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the US Army Air Forces in Jan 1943. In Jul 1943, he was commissioned a second lieutenant upon earning his pilot wings. He was trained to fly the P-40 Warhawk fighter and the B-25 Mitchell bomber, but remained in the United States during WW2. James participated in the Freeman Field "mutiny", during which African-American officers attempted to enter an officer's club designated for white officers only; while under arrest, he smuggled out press releases written by fellow black officer Coleman Young. This "mutiny" was later regarded as an important event during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, especially after the US Air Force removed the court-martial convictions in 1995. He saw combat during the Korean War as a flight leader. In Apr 1953, he was given command at the squadron level. In Jun 1957, he graduated from the Air Command and Staff College. He flew combat missions during the Vietnam War, achieving several kills. In Dec 1967, he was made the vice commander of a fighter wing, following by being made a wing commander in Aug 1969. James was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in Mar 1970, lieutenant general in Jun 1974, and general in Sep 1975, becoming the first African-American to obtain a four-star rank in the US military. He served in the positions of commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command, commander of Aerospace Defense Command, and a special assistant to the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force in the final years of his military career. He retired from military service in Feb 1978 after suffering a heart attack, and another heart attack led to his death weeks later. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, United States following a funeral service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC, United States. He was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, United States.

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Daniel James Timeline