James Lee Durham
Second Lieutenant James Lee Durham, 23, of Bowling Green, Warren County, was killed on D-Day, 6 June 1944 in Normandy, France by friendly fire while serving on federal active duty with Company B of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division.
He joined Service Company of the 149th Infantry of the Kentucky National Guard in April 1939. Private First Class Durham was inducted into federal active duty with his unit in January 1941. He listed his civilian occupation as student likely owing to his having just completed high school. Durham graduated the sixteenth class of engineer officer candidates at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and was promoted to Second Lieutenant when he graduated in November 1942. This is most likely when he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division.
He and is buried in the Fairview Cemetery #1, Bowling Green, in section P, plot 1, lot 12, site 1-6.
Officers of Company B the 307th AEB in Burbage, England prior to D-Day. They are (left to right) Seated: 2/Lt James L. Durham, 1/Lt Edward F. Murray Jr., 1/Lt Robert E. Klein, 1/Lt Edward P. Whelan and 2/Lt Adrian J. Finlayson ; 2nd Row (Standing): 1/Lt James A. Rightley, 1/Lt Alfred J. Cappa, Captain William H. Johnson, 1/Lt David G. Connally Jr. and 1/Lt Edward W.Helwig
Lieut. Durham Is Missing
First Warren Casualty In Invasion Is Reported
Unknown newspaper, 28 June 1944.
First casualty of the invasion among Warren County soldiers was reported today when Mr. & Mrs. A. H. Durham, Cemetery road, received a message from the War Department that their son, Lieut. James L. Durham, 22, was missing in action since June 6 in France.
Lieut. Durham was a member of the Airborne Engineers Corps. He was a member of the National Guard and left with the outfit when it was called for active duty in January, 1941, at Camp Shelby, Miss. Prior to his entering the service he was employed by the Central Tire Company, Tenth and College streets.
Local Man Is Declared Dead By War Department
Unknown newspaper, 12 June 1945.
Lieut. James L. Durham, son of Mr. & Mrs. A. H. Durham, Cemetery road, missing in action since June 6, 1944, when he parachuted from an airplane over Northern France in the D-Day invasion, has been declared officially dead by the War Department, his parents were notified yesterday. Lieut. Durham entered active duty with the National Guard in January, 1941, and went overseas in March, 1944, with an engineering corps.