James Fisher Frakes
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Reconnaissance
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Reconnaissance
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Columbia, Tennessee | 27 January 1920 | |
Died |
Alabama | 27 July 2013 | James Fisher Frakes (Tut), United States Air Force Colonel (Ret.), died on Saturday, July 27, 2013, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Frances Beeland Frakes; three children, LaRue Frakes Fields (Jeff), Stephen Alexander Frakes, and Sara Beeland Anderson (Mark Greenberg); eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Missie Alexander Frakes, in 1957. Tut was born Jan.27, 1920 in Columbia, Tenn., where he lived with his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. He graduated in Jan. 1943 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, was commissioned in the Army Air Corps, and went immediately to the European Theater. There he flew P38s for the 34th Reconnaissance Squadron until May 1945 when the Germans surrendered. He served in the Air Force until 1970. He was stationed in England, the Panama Canal Zone, Washington, D.C., West Point, the Air Force Academy, Hawaii, Montgomery, and Atlanta. While stationed in Washington, D.C., he earned a Masters of Business Administration at the George Washington University. Highlights of his distinguished career include serving as the Assistant Athletic Director at the Air Force Academy, as Base Commander of Wheeler Air Force Base in Hawaii, as a member of the faculty of the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, and as head of the Air Force ROTC program at Georgia Tech. His greatest contribution to his country was flying 52 combat missions in World War II, including flying over Normandy on D-Day. |
Buried |
Greenville, Alabama | 30 July 2013 | Magnolia Cemetery Greenville, Butler County, Alabama, USA |
Other Graduated |
United States Military Academy, West Point, NY | Graduated Bachelor of Science |