James Orin Patton Jr

Military
media-29621.jpeg UPL 29621 First Lieutenant James O Patton Jr of the 78th Fighter Group, being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross at Duxford c. June 1944.

Caption 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

Object Number - UPL 29621 - First Lieutenant James O Patton Jr of the 78th Fighter Group, being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross at Duxford c. June 1944.

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

Places

Line up of P-47 Thunderbolts of the 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, at Duxford air base. September 1944. Printed caption on reverse of print: '55432 AC - War Birds Home To Rest - Republic P-47 Thunderbolts lined up on an 8th Air Force field in England after a daylight sweep over Germany. Crews have finished inspections and refueling.'
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: "Duckpond"

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

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Marriage notice in the Birmingham News, 22 October 1944, via newspapers.com, Draft Registration Card via Ancestry, and Obituary

Date
Changes
Sources

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

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

James Orin Patton: Gallery (3 items)