James Homer Woody, Jr. was born on 24 January 1921 in Dewey, OK, the son of James Homer Woody (1881-1947) and Rosie Bell (Coke) Woody (1897-1940) of Jefferson, OK. His wife was Agnes L. Woody. He graduated from high school and on 6 October 1942 enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Tulsa, OK. James served in the 554th Bomb Squadron, 386th Bomber Group, Medium, as a Staff Sergeant and was a crew member on the B26 #41-31771 during World War II.

1st Lt. Joseph S. Benjamin was pilot of the B-26B-15 Marauder 41-31771 nicknamed “4F” on 16 February 1945. Mission number 335 was a bombing run on the Unna ordnance depot located east of Dortmund. The identification marking on this aircraft was RU-R. According the Missing Air Crew Report 12435, around 12:30 hours, the plane was hit by flak and caught fire. The pilot gave the order to bail. Kichen (Tail Gunner), Woody (Engineer/Gunner) and Staff Sgt. John Zitnyar, Jr. (Radio Operator/Gunner) were able to bail out. However, pilot Benjamin, co-pilot 2nd Lt. Henry F. McGrady, bombardier 2nd Lt. Harold S. Tiller, and Major John W. Meldrum who was an observer were all killed when the ship crashed 8 miles southwest of Coesfeld, Germany. It was completely destroyed but local citizens found several personal documents belonging to Harold S. Tiller. Kichen, Woody and Zitnyar were able to meet up but were later captured near Darfeld and sent to Dulag-Luft (Oberursol) on 18 February 1945. The four KIAs were buried in the Darfeld Church cemetery on 19 February 1945.

Woody died on 14 May 1953 in Dewey, OK. He was only 28 years old. He is now buried in the Dewey Cemetery. His headstone is inscribed 1020 Base Unit AAF suggesting that he also served in the unit after serving the 386th Bomber Group.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.fold3.com