Written
by Bob Cappel, in memory of my
Father-In-Law
E-mail:
lndcruzr@inforum.net
James
was a Nebraska farm boy, born
in Norfolk, Nebraska on March
24, 1922. His parents separated
when he was young, and his grandmother
and aunt raised him on a farm.
He attended grammar school in
the Ames/Freemont, Nebraska area
and most of his high school years
in Denver, Colorado. He graduated
from high school in Freemont,
Nebraska in June 1939. James
was a quiet man with a dry sense
of humor. He was very likeable
and easy to get along with.
James
joined the Army Air Corp in Freemont
when he was 18 years old, on December
16, 1940. He originally trained
for ball turret gunner on B-17s,
and later switched to the crew
position of tail gunner. He flew
31 missions with the 384th
Bombardment Group, 545th
Squadron. Seventeen of those
missions were flown with
Capt. Dewayne Bennett
(pilot). Capt. Bennett felt
that James did his job well, and
commented: “He was a hell of
a crew
member, and his cooperation
with the rest of the crew is what
got us through.”
I
believe every pilot that James
Trumbo flew with felt better knowing
that he was behind him. He was
brave and steady and flew in two
of the worst missions the 384th
Bomb Group had, on April 13 and
April 24, 1944. He was awarded
the Distinguished
Flying Cross.
James
was discharged from the Army on
September 1, 1945, and married
Stephanie
Meidler/Columbo, the woman
he was corresponding with while
he was in the Army, on July 6,
1946. They were married for 34
years until her death on September
27, 1980. They had no children.
James
first worked for a floral shop
and then went into the grocery
clerk field. It was at a grocery
store in Vacaville that he met
his
second wife, Helen Sosbee/Galleher.
They were married on October 12,
1981. He bought a home in Cameron
Park, California, where Helen
still lives today. He married
into an instant family as she
had five children from previous
marriages, my wife, Sonja, being
the oldest. Never having had
children of his own, he was now
able to see a son graduate from
Law School, become the father
of a bride, and to be there for
his first grandson’s birth.
James
loved opera music and cruises,
and he and Helen went on several.
He also was an active member of
SIRS. He really fell in love
with the game of golf and played
every chance he had. He always
said, “When I die, I want to go
playing golf.” Ironically, he
suffered a fatal heart attack
early one morning on the green.
This
picture of him and Helen
was taken 4 days before his death
on September 22, 1987.
GOD
BLESS HIM.
