James Born was born in 1922 in Denver, Colorado. His father was a railroad man so his family was living in Denver or Fort Collins [Annotator's Note: Fort Collins, Colorado]. During the Great Depression, his mother worked as a waitress, and his father worked on his in-law's farm. Born remembered as a child that he would sometimes sell secondary produce to make money. He went to high school in Fort Collins. He recalled his parents discussing the war development in Europe. He remembered some of his friends joined the National Guard prior to the United States getting involved with World War 2. His father did not permit him to join. He graduated from high school in 1940 and went to college in Fort Collins to study engineering. After the war broke out, Born went to the recruiting office and wanted to enlist to become a radioman, but the recruiter convinced him to sign up for the V-1 program so Born could continue his college education. He was in the program for one year and was called to active duty in the Navy in July 1943. He was sent to the University of Colorado in Boulder. He received his degree in civil engineering then went to Williamsburg, Virginia for midshipmen school for 60 days. He graduated as an ensign. He was assigned to the 90th Naval Construction Battalion in Hawaii and arrived there in October 1944. He was the only ensign in his battalion for the first nine months of his service. He went to mine disposal school for a four week course twice. Although his battalion was not a combat unit, they did receive training. There unit was to support the fighting forces by providing roads and airstrips. His battalion was sent to Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. Born's first job on the island was to dispose of mines and his did that for six weeks.

James Born installed water units that changed saltwater to fresh water for various buildings like barracks, bases, and hospitals [Annotator's Note: on Iwo Jima, Japan]. He also helped the Army remove Japanese out of caves by pumping water into the caves to flood them out. Born recalled one event where a Japanese soldier came and an Army man convinced him to go back in and get his buddies out, which he did. The rest of the Japanese eventually came out, but one had a grenade and threw it. The grenade rolled back into the cave and blew up. His battalion [Annotator's Note: 90th Naval Construction Battalion] lost ten men by the end of the war. He recalled the Japanese would have Banzai attacks during the night. One Banzai attack killed two men in his battalion. He witnessed Japanese commit hara-kiri [Annotator's Note: ritual suicide] a few times while on the island. After the Marines left Iwo Jima, the Army moved in and the Japanese continued to bomb. One day there was an air raid alarm, and as he and another newly commissioned ensign went over to check on their enlisted men, a bomb dropped on a tent killing six people, included the new ensign. After the Japanese surrendered, and war was over, Born was assigned to go to Japan. He had to prepare new assignments for enlisted men who still needed to earn enough points to return home. Born remarked that about half of the battalion went to Yokosuka, Japan, while the rest earned enough points to go home. Their mission was to improve the facilities on the base by modernizing them. They put in kitchens, bathrooms, and heating facilities. He thought many of the enlisted men were not very skilled or qualified, but he made sure to get the job done. Born interviewed Japanese contractors and builders to hire them to do some of the work. He also was assigned to look at housing facilities for American occupancy for those who would be living off base.

James Born remarked on his feelings of the Japanese during World War 2. He had a very low opinion of the Japanese because of the way they treated people. It did not bother anyone to see an American shoot a dead Japanese or steal their teeth. When he was stationed in Japan and became acquainted with the Japanese, he discovered that the people were just like Americans in many ways. Part of his job was to go into Japanese homes, so he really familiarized himself with them. He befriended one Japanese that invited him to parties in Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan], and another family invited him to stay for a few days in their house. Born enjoyed his experiences in Japan and the people there. Born spent the rest of his time in Japan as the assistant to the public works officer who was responsible for the maintenance of the entire base [Annotator's Note: the Yokosuka Navy Base]. Born did not get to see the aftermath of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki while in Japan. He and a couple of friends did take a trip to Nikko [Annotator's Note: Nikko, Japan].

James Born commented on the damage he saw in Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan]. Many of the buildings were damaged except for the Imperial Hotel which still stood. When his battalion [Annotator's Note: 90th Naval Construction Battalion] first got to Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan], they were kept offshore for several days, and he could see the action happening. When they finally did go ashore, his battalion was able to get up without resistance. They found an area to set up tents and ate K-rations for a while. They were able to set up some drinking water, but bath water was very limited. Their first mission, when they finally got set up, was to lengthen the airstrip on the island. He recalled the Japanese last attempts to take Mount Suribachi with a banzai attack. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer cuts the tape at 0:54:45:000.] Born describes how a hand grenade works and how to diffuse it. He explains that when you throw a hand grenade, the handle comes off and that sets up a train for a fire and explodes within a few seconds. To diffuse a hand grenade, he would pick it up, twist off the top and pour powder on it. He then described how a landmine works. Born explained that landmines are pressure-sensitive so if you step on it, or drive over it, the mine will explode. He recalled one time when a bomb was dropped into a hospital and it did not go off. Born put the bomb on his truck and hauled it off to a disposal area.

When James Born left Japan and landed in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. He had no intentions of staying in the Navy. He went home and found a job as an engineer designing highways in Colorado. A couple of years out of the service, he was influenced by a friend to join the Reserves. He used his G.I. Bill to go to graduate school and then got a job in railroading. He eventually moved to Maine, and there he found a Naval Construction Battalion unit and became involved. He became the commander of the unit but was never called to duty. Born did not find it hard to adjust to civilian life. He wanted to fight because he was patriotic, his dad was in the Navy, and it was part of being an American. He said the war changed his life because he probably would have ended up marrying someone else. He believes that his service made him a responsible citizen and felt it was his duty to do it. And he is glad he came home. He feels that World War 2 was a problem in its time that needed to be dealt with. Today, we have new problems. He believes that there should be institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana], and teaching about the war shows we are a responsible nation. A memorable experience he remembers was when he was standing next to an Army officer watching a bulldozer and it hit a boat mine, which exploded. Part of the bulldozer blade flew off and went right in between him and the Army officer.