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Contact Info
Home Town Charleston, Tennessee
Last Address Florida
Date of Passing Apr 09, 1945
Location of Interment Calhoun Community Cemetery - Calhoun, Tennessee
He was credited with destroying 17 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. He was killed in a plane crash in Pinellas, FL. A bridge on US Highway 11 over the Hiwassee River is named for him. The bridge is between Charleston, TN, his home town, and Calhoun, TN and is very near where he is buried in the Calhoun Community Cemetery.
Synopsis of his Silver Star citation: Awarded for actions during World War II
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: James S. Varnell, Jr., United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the FIFTEENTH Air Force in the Mediterranean Theater of Action during World War II.
General Orders: Headquarters, 15th Air Force, General Orders No. 2341 (1944)
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Normandy Campaign (1944)
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
July / 1944
Description Normandy Campaign 6 June to 24 July 1944) Early on D-Day airborne troops landed in France to gain control of strategic areas. Aerial and naval bombardment followed. Then the invasion fleet, covered by an umbrella of aircraft, discharged Eisenhower’s assault forces. Soon the beachhead was secure, but its expansion was a slow and difficult process in the face of strong opposition. It was not until late in July that the Allies were able to break out of Normandy.
