James Wallace Flanagan was born March 14, 1923, in Fairfax, MO. He graduated from high school in 1941 and joined the military in December 1942, enlisting in Kansas in the Army's Airborne Infantry . He had three children with his first wife, Nell Danner. He served in the U.S. Army during the Normandy Invasion of World War II as a Private First Class in C Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He died on December 8, 2005 and is now buried in Leavenworth National Cemetery, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA. He ended his military service as a Sergeant.