James Orin Patton Jr
MilitaryCaption updated after comparing dates of service at Duxford of Lonnie Moseley (Late May- July 1944) and James Patton Jr (June-September 1944) to Patton's DFC Award Card held at NARA
James 'Jimmy' Patton Jr was born in 1922 in Birmingham Alabama. He was attending Birmingham Southern College and working for the Continental Gin Company when he enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in June 1942. After completing his flight training at Spencer Army airfield in Georgia, Patton was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, based at Duxford on 26 January 1944. From 7 May to 10 June 1944 Patton undertook a temporary assignment with the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron at Boxted, and received a promotion to First Lieutenant upon his return to Duxford. Patton was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 13 May 1944, and received an oak leaf cluster on 26 August 1944, he also received the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters during his service. Patton ended his tour of duty on 1 September 1944, upon his return to the US he married Dorothy Garrett on 28 October 1944. Following the war, Patton obtained an electrical engineering degree from the University of Alabama and served in the US Air Force Reserve, he was closely associated with his local scout troop and taught Sunday school at Bluff Park United Methodist Church. Patton retired as Chief Engineer from the American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPO) in 1987, he died on 14 February 2006.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Bimingham, Alabama | 14 June 1922 | |
Other Assigned to 78th Fighter Group |
Duxford | 26 January 1944 - 7 May 1944 | |
Other Assigned to 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron |
Boxted | 7 May 1944 - 10 June 1944 | |
Other Assigned to 78th Fighter Group |
Duxford | 10 June 1944 - 1 September 1944 | |
Died |
14 February 2006 | ||
Enlisted |
Revisions
Marriage notice in the Birmingham News, 22 October 1944, via newspapers.com, Draft Registration Card via Ancestry, and Obituary
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- AccidentReports.com ;
- Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia