James William Grimes was born in November 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio. Everything was okay during the 1920s, but the 1930s saw the arrival of the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] and Grimes' father lost his job. By 1940, things were beginning to improve. They lived in an Irish neighborhood and the Roman Catholic church provided the Grimes family relief and food. He joined the YMCA at nine years old and learned how to swim and associate with older people. Eventually, the family moved out to a farm. Grimes had three sisters and two brothers, and they all worked on the farm. Things got better then because they were raising their own food. In September 1942, Grimes was a senior in high school when he saw a long line of people waiting in line to enlist in the Navy. He was only 16 at the time, and too young to go in, so he altered the date of birth on his birth certificate so it seemed that he was 18 and enlisted. The next day, a bunch of them got on board a train to Great Lakes [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois] and began six weeks of training in learning how to be a sailor. They slept in hammocks, there were no bunks. They learned how to make knots, march and salute. They got six days of leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], so Grimes went home to see his parents. After several stops, Grimes arrived in Alameda [Annotator's Note: Alameda, California] and received his assignment. [Annotator's Note: Grimes ask to pause for a minute.]

James William Grimes was assigned as a mess cook. He was very young [Annotator's Note: he was only 16 years old, but had altered the date of birth on his birth certificate so it seemed that he was 18 in order to enlist in the Navy] and did not know anything. He just emulated what the older guys were doing. Grimes was once put into a cell in the brig [Annotator's Note: military prison aboard a Naval vessel or base; slang for jail] for breaking the brig line without realizing he had done so. He was scared to death, but the sergeant eventually let him out. After three months of cleaning duty, Grimes was assigned to A&R, assemble and repair, for aviation ordnance and learned how to strip .30 caliber [Annotator’s Note: Browning ANM2 .30 caliber machine gun] and .50 caliber machine guns [Annotator's Note: Browning ANM2 .50 caliber machine gun], how to mount them on a plane, etc. One day, the Marines were going to lead a demonstration on bomb disposal. Grimes was too intimidated by the task and asked for a new assignment, which was granted. He was sent to the communications department which was his cup of tea. He learned about radio and how to copy code. After two months, he was made Aviation Radioman 3rd class and sent to aerial gunnery school in Lake Chabot outside of Oakland [Annotator's Note: Oakland, California]. Once that training was completed, Grimes was assigned to Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 45 [Annotator's Note: CASU-45] and was shipped overseas, landing at Barking Sands, Hawaii. His squadron was assigned to the USS Hornet (CV-12). Grimes was not used to ships, and was surprised by how large she was. He went aboard and got his bunk. Grimes had learned to type in high school, which came in handy for his assignment in communications. From time to time, he had to change hats and served as an aviation ordnance man.

James William Grimes [Annotator's Note: assigned to Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 45 (CASU 45) aboard the USS Hornet (CV-12)] was transferred to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] after their actions in the Philippines. In the Philippines, Grimes only went on two flights. The Japanese had hardly any aircraft left at this point. As they approached the Philippine islands, Grimes could smell the dead bodies. He was transferred to Guam as an aviation radioman with a Naval Air Transport Squadron flying R5Ds [Annotator's Note: Navy designation for the Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo aircraft] and R4Ds [Annotator's Note: Navy designation for the Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft]. They would transport nurses and hospital corpsman [Annotator's Note: enlisted medical specialist in the US Navy who may also serve in the US Marine Corps] to Tinian and Saipan [Annotator's Note: Tinian and Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] to pick up patients and bring them back to Guam. Those who were in bad shape were flown to Honolulu [Annotator's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii]. These flights would take almost a day and a half, stopping at Johnston Island [Annotator's Note: or Johnston Atoll], Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Eniwetok or Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands], and finally arriving at Pearl [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. The patients were in bad shape. [Annotator's Note: When asked what he thought of the Japanese at the time, Grimes responds that he would rather not answer and gets tears in his eyes.] The nurses were outstanding people and very professional. After doing those flights, Grimes was transferred to Kangqiao Field [Annotator's Note: spelling uncertain] in Shanghai [Annotator's Note: Shanghai, China]. He spent eight months on detached duty in Shanghai. Shanghai was terrible. The communists were on one side of the street, and the nationalists on the other. There was no food. People would just die, and there was a death wagon that would come by and pick up their bodies. [Annotator's Note: Grimes shakes his head in sadness.] In his free time, Grimes would play cards. He gave up drinking while there.

James William Grimes kept in touch with his family by writing letters occasionally. He had a girlfriend in high school who sent him a Dear John letter [Annotator's Note: a Dear John letter is a letter from a female to a male serviceman serving overseas breaking off a romantic engagement] after a year of his being in the service. He was disappointed, but it was the best thing for both of them. In 1947, Grimes went back to Honolulu [Annotator's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii] from Shanghai [Annotator's Note: Shanghai, China]. He was then assigned to Moffett Field [Annotator's Note: in Mountain View, California] where he maintained R4Ds [Annotator's Note: Navy designation for the Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft] and R5Ds [Annotator's Note: Navy designation for the Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo aircraft]. His enlistment was coming to an end, and he was asked to volunteer for the air lift in Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin Airlift; Allied military operation which delivered food and other supplies to the people of West Berlin between 24 June 1948 and 12 May 1949] because radio men were needed. He went on liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and met his future wife in the USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] in September [Annotator's Note: September 1947], and they were married by 19 December. He decided not to reenlist. He was only 23 years old. He got a job at PG&E [Annotator's Note: Pacific Gas and Electric Company]. In 1951, he was called back for the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] and ended up in Squadron 871 at NAS Oakland [Annotator's Note: Naval Air Station Oakland in Oakland, California]. He had been home on leave because his wife had just given birth to their son. Meanwhile in Los Alamitos [Annotator's Note: Los Alamitos, California], three flights headed north and ended up flying into a mountain in the Catalina range and were all killed. Grimes' would have been on one of those planes if not for the birth of his son. He was discharged in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] in 1953 with the rating of Aviation Radioman 3rd class.

James William Grimes had a discussion with his parents [Annotator's Note: about changing his date of birth on his birth certificate so he could join the Navy at 16 years old, when the required age was 18 years old]. He was able to convince his father to support him in the decision. Grimes' most memorable experiences of the war was his flights to Tinian and Saipan [Annotator's Note: Tinian and Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] with the flight nurses [Annotator's Note: Grimes was stationed on Guam, Mariana Islands for a while, serving as radioman on flights to pick up wounded soldiers and transport them to receive care elsewhere]. Grimes decided to service because everyone else was. He does not know what he would have done if he had not joined the service. It gave him a broader perspective on things. He had adventures and met all kinds of people, good and bad. Serving was an honor, he did his duty. The war changed the direction of the American government. Instead of being an isolated country, we became more outgoing and began doing things for other countries. It is important to continue teaching World War 2 to future generations because it gives a point of reference for how people can pull together and be successful. The CCC [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps] and WPA [Annotator's Note: Works Progress Administration] were good programs.