Like John Wayne

Fred Beal James started out like a lot of aces do, running a crop duster, in his case somewhere in Texas, which is where he was the night of the long poker game.

The game was running late and likely into daylight when Fred decided he needed a little pick-me-up and so he told the guys he was going to get a cup of coffee.

The story folks in his family tell is that Fred heard, somehow, about what happened in Hawaii, so much further to the west.

Fred never made it back to the poker game because he had to be about other business, the business of his Uncle Sam, because of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, because there was no way he wasn’t going to be one of the first to volunteer after that, like so many volunteered after Sept. 11, 2001.

His children had heard the story many times, like they heard a lot of other stories, because Fred was one of those people who did the kinds of things people tell stories about.

“He went right away and signed up,” is what his daughter Julie James Falgout knows for sure.

Another thing everyone knows for sure is that Fred ended up at Fort Stockton, and that from there he was placed with the 312th bombardment group of the 388th bomber squad.

This was at a time when the U.S. did not have a separate air force. Most flying forces were under the command of the army, their divisions known as the Army Air Force, and it was a great place for a guy who jockeyed crop dusters to serve.

The planes they flew included the A-20 g Havoc — also known as the “Roarin’ 20s” and they were called this for reasons obvious to the ear.

From the stories everyone got told at home Fred had him a hair-raising time in the Pacific, as the group went to only the best places, like the Philippines and New Guinea, at a time when it was very dangerous to be there. They were giving air support to ground troops going through hell.

The story that kept getting told and retold, however, after Fred got back home, when he was opening and running bars in a Houma that was an oilfield wild west, was how he had flown underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

This was not done to assist anyone, other than, perhaps, a bored young airman.

Asked why Fred had flown under the Sydney Harbor Bridge, an old buddy said it was done “because he could.” It also appeared that the errant airman never did get a reprimand.

This was all very fascinating to Julie James Falgout, but she was never able to prove it and so had some questions. And then, just a few weeks ago, comes an angel in the form of none other than C.J. Christ, the historian and friend to fellow veterans who runs the Military Museum in Houma, and who knows more than a lot of people have forgotten about military stuff. He is a well-read man and one of the books he is familiar with is titled “Rampage of the Roarin’ 20’s : The Illustrated History of the 312th Bombardment Group During WWII (Eagles Over the Pacific Series, Vol III) 1st Edition,” written by Michael J. Clarignbould, Lawrence J. Hickey and Michael H. Levy.

C.J.’s book had the answer, and he was quick to share it with Julie.

“These were the kind of stories you would hear about your daddy and you believe them,” she said. “Now I have proof.”

So now Julie is engaged in another pursuit regarding her dad, who passed many years ago and who she wishes she had known more. The matter is finding out how he was offered a Distinguished Flying Cross, which is a high honor. The story — another one of those Fred stories — is that Fred didn’t want the medal and so never accepted it. The death of a dear friend on a flying mission made for more grief than Fred could bear, so the story goes. Julie found more evidence of this, a note that spoke of some of the feelings. It’s more of a clue than people got from a lot of WWII vets, more than they still get from vets from other wars very often, too.

Julie, who works for SeaGrant, is a thorough gal, and I believe she will find what she is looking for, because she has always had faith in her dad.

“I am getting to know my dad in a way I didn’t’ know him before,” she said. “I guess part of it is just find out, because for a long time I thought maybe people are just making things as big as they are. I am learning that he is who I thought he was, and that then he was more complete than I thought he was too. My daddy was John Wayne was what I thought growing up. I thought John Wayne got his lines from my daddy. Now I am coming to find out he had a little John Wayne in him.”