| James L. Lamar |
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| Rank, Service |
| Colonel O-6, U.S. Air Force |
| Veteran of: |
U.S. Navy 1945-1948
U.S. Air Force 1948-1973
World War II 1945
Cold War 1945-1973
Korean War 1950-1951
Vietnam War 1965-1973 (POW)
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| Tribute: |
James Lamar was born in 1927 in Eudora, Arkansas. He entered the U.S. Naval Reserve on May 9, 1945, served on active duty from July 1, 1945, to August 24, 1946, and received an honorable discharge on October 4, 1948, in order to enter the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force on October 5, 1948. Lamar was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings on September 30, 1949, and then flew F-51 Mustang and F-80 Shooting Star fighters in Japan and Korea from November 1949 to May 1951. After returning from Korea, he served as a fighter gunnery instructor at Luke AFB, Arizona, from July 1951 to August 1955. His next assignment was at Kadena AB, Okinawa, where he served from September 1955 to March 1958. Capt Lamar then transferred to Vance AFB, Oklahoma, where he served as a flight instructor with the 3576th Pilot Training Squadron from May 1958 to April 1963. He then served with the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron at George AFB, California, and then at McConnell AFB, Kansas, from April 1963 to November 1965, and then deployed to Southeast Asia at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from November 1965 until he was shot down over North Vietnam and taken as a Prisoner of War on May 6, 1966. After spending 2,474 days in captivity, Col Lamar was released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Lackland AFB, Texas, and then attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., from August 1973 until August 1974. Col Lamar's last assignment was at Bergstrom AFB, Texas, where he served from August 1974 until his retirement from the Air Force on May 31, 1976. He and his wife Judy have four children. |
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