James "Jim" Marshall was born in August 1923 in Reading, Kansas. He grew up on a farm with his six siblings. His family had a rough time during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945] as the mortgage company, little by little, took over his family farm. He called the Traveler's man [Annotator's Note: the representative for The Travelers Insurance Company] with the mortgage company the "boogeyman." Somehow, they were able to keep the farm in the end. He graduated high school and won a scholarship to attend college. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], he thought he would not have to fight the war and it would be over soon. He found a good job and worked for several months until he was drafted into the Army's armored force and assigned to Camp Campbell, Kentucky [Annotator's Note: now Fort Campbell, Kentucky]. He recalled that basis training was tough, but he enjoyed the physical challenges. In 1943 he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. He wanted to be a pilot but was unable to pass the eye test. He applied for radio school and was sent to Scott Field [Annotator's Note: now Scott Air Force Base in Saint Clair County, Illinois] for radio training.

After graduating from radio school, James "Jim" Marshall was sent to Salina, Kansas [Annotator's Note: Smoky Hill Army Air Field; now Salina Regional Airport in Salina, Kansas] where he was trained on a B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber]. After being transferred as a replacement and receiving training, he was sent to Harrington, Kansas where he was assigned to a B-29 crew. They flew their plane from Kansas, to California, to Hawaii, and then to Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Marianna Islands]. They landed on the island on 11 November 1944. One of Marshall's crew members painted nose art on their plane, and it became known as "Honey." He was assigned to the 20th Air Force, 499th Bombardment Group, and 73rd Wing [Annotator's Note: 499th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing, 20th Air Force].

[Annotator's Note: James "Jim" Marshall served in the US Army Air Forces as a radio operator aboard Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombers in the 499th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing, 20th Air Force based on Saipan, Mariana Islands.] Marshall flew his first mission on 24 November 1944 which was also Thanksgiving Day. During the mission, Marshall realized that his headset had disconnected during their flight. They were flying at 32,000 feet, so they did not receive any flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire]. They found out later that when flying that high, it was difficult to hit their targets due to the jet stream. They would eventually fly lower, so they could hit them more accurately. They began to fly so low that they could feel the thermal currents of the explosions which would bounce the plane around. They also received a lot of flak flying so low. Their missions could take as long as 17 hours and were very stressful. In June 1945, Marshall was on a mission when they began to run out of fuel and made an emergency landing on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] to refuel. The fighting was still taking place on that island and they left the island as fast as they could. They flew 31 missions over Japan. Their targets included the firebombing of Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan] and other major industrial sites.

James "Jim" Marshall and his unit [Annotator's Note: 499th Bombardment Group, 73rd Bombardment Wing, 20th Air Force] were based on Saipan, Northern Marianna Islands. Although they were bombing mainland Japan, he did not feel war was coming to an end anytime soon. The Japanese refused to relent. His crew was selected to train to skip bombs [Annotator's Note: low-level bombing technique that skips a bomb across water] to eventually bomb Tokyo Bay [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan]. They had to navigate with P-51's [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] from Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] to Tokyo Bay so they could drop the bombs. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes at 0:50:44.000.]

After finishing 31 missions, James "Jim" Marshall laid around, went to the PX [Annotator's Note: post exchange], played poker, watched movies, made jewelry from ocean shells, learned home photography, and learned to play chess and tennis. He wrote two letters a week to family and friends. He received a three day pass [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to Tinian [Tinian, Northern Marianna Islands], but was called back to be a radioman on a plane heading back to the United States. His commanding officer was not happy with him because he asked the General for the pass, and not him. When he returned to the United States, he received a 30 day pass. He was visiting family when he heard over the radio that the war had ended. Marshall did not know the effects of the atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945]. He was discharged in 1945.

James "Jim" Marshall was discharged in 1945 and returned home to Kansas. He had some difficulty adjusting to civilian life and finding a vocation to pursue. He attended the University of Kansas [Annotator's Note: in Lawrence, Kansas] with the help of the G.I. Bill and obtained a degree in Education in 1948. He believes that young people should not take democracy for granted.