In Memory OfSSgt James A. Wages Jr.

SSgt James A. Wages Jr., 19, U.S. Army Air Corps, born February 21, 1924, was killed in action on February 2, 1944. Wages was a B-25D tail gunner with 396th Bombardment Squadron, 41st Bomb Group (Medium) in the Pacific Theater of WWII. While on a low-level strafing mission to weaken enemy positions in the Marshall Islands, his bomber was hit by AA fire and crashed into a lagoon off Mili Atoll. Wages survived the impact but was taken prisoner and executed by Japanese forces ten days later. For his service, he earned a Purple Heart. Fly high, Airman! Til Valhalla, Brother!