Online research provides that he was the last of three children born to Mary Effie Cody and Clarence Randolph Haile. His mother died in 1918 and the kids were raised by the father.
James entered military service on 29 Nov 1940 at Abilene, TX. He was accepted into and completed the Army Air Force Navigator School, upon which he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. Following his graduation in Montgomery, Alabama, Lieutenant Haile married Ima Dora Richards on 14 Feb 1943. They had one son born in Jan 1944.
Lieutenant Haile became the Navigator on a B-17 bomber and, by early summer of 1944, he was stationed in England, assigned to the 524th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bomb Group (H), at Kimbolton Field.
On 12 July 1944, 2Lt Haile was the Navigator on B-17G, #42-38192, during a bombing mission over Munich, Germany. Based upon the Missing Air Crew Report, his aircraft sustained heavy flak damage at the target area and was last seen going down in a controlled flight at 1430 hours near Bourg-Bruche, France. The post-war report provides that three of the four engines were lost and the pilot attempted to fly the plane to Switzerland. However, the plane crashed at 1500 hours near the town of Feldburg, approximately 18 kilometers SE of Freiburg-Breisgau, Germany. Eight of the nine aircrew members were killed on impact. In addition to 2Lt Haile, those KIA were 2Lt Bruce L. Hutchins (Pilot), 2Lt Robert H. Webber (Co-Pilot), Sgt Grover J. Bowen (Nose Gunner/Togglier), SSgt Robert L. Shaffer (Radio Op), SSgt George N. White (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner) and Sgt Harry I. Degenhart (Waist Gunner) and Sgt Walter E. Collins (Tail Gunner). The lone survivor of the crash, Sgt James L. Stutts (Ball Turret Gunner), was held as a POW until April 1945.
After the war, Lieutenant Haile's body was exhumed from it's German burial location and interred in the Lorraine American Cemetery.
James entered military service on 29 Nov 1940 at Abilene, TX. He was accepted into and completed the Army Air Force Navigator School, upon which he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. Following his graduation in Montgomery, Alabama, Lieutenant Haile married Ima Dora Richards on 14 Feb 1943. They had one son born in Jan 1944.
Lieutenant Haile became the Navigator on a B-17 bomber and, by early summer of 1944, he was stationed in England, assigned to the 524th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bomb Group (H), at Kimbolton Field.
On 12 July 1944, 2Lt Haile was the Navigator on B-17G, #42-38192, during a bombing mission over Munich, Germany. Based upon the Missing Air Crew Report, his aircraft sustained heavy flak damage at the target area and was last seen going down in a controlled flight at 1430 hours near Bourg-Bruche, France. The post-war report provides that three of the four engines were lost and the pilot attempted to fly the plane to Switzerland. However, the plane crashed at 1500 hours near the town of Feldburg, approximately 18 kilometers SE of Freiburg-Breisgau, Germany. Eight of the nine aircrew members were killed on impact. In addition to 2Lt Haile, those KIA were 2Lt Bruce L. Hutchins (Pilot), 2Lt Robert H. Webber (Co-Pilot), Sgt Grover J. Bowen (Nose Gunner/Togglier), SSgt Robert L. Shaffer (Radio Op), SSgt George N. White (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner) and Sgt Harry I. Degenhart (Waist Gunner) and Sgt Walter E. Collins (Tail Gunner). The lone survivor of the crash, Sgt James L. Stutts (Ball Turret Gunner), was held as a POW until April 1945.
After the war, Lieutenant Haile's body was exhumed from it's German burial location and interred in the Lorraine American Cemetery.
Online research provides that he was the last of three children born to Mary Effie Cody and Clarence Randolph Haile. His mother died in 1918 and the kids were raised by the father.
James entered military service on 29 Nov 1940 at Abilene, TX. He was accepted into and completed the Army Air Force Navigator School, upon which he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. Following his graduation in Montgomery, Alabama, Lieutenant Haile married Ima Dora Richards on 14 Feb 1943. They had one son born in Jan 1944.
Lieutenant Haile became the Navigator on a B-17 bomber and, by early summer of 1944, he was stationed in England, assigned to the 524th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bomb Group (H), at Kimbolton Field.
On 12 July 1944, 2Lt Haile was the Navigator on B-17G, #42-38192, during a bombing mission over Munich, Germany. Based upon the Missing Air Crew Report, his aircraft sustained heavy flak damage at the target area and was last seen going down in a controlled flight at 1430 hours near Bourg-Bruche, France. The post-war report provides that three of the four engines were lost and the pilot attempted to fly the plane to Switzerland. However, the plane crashed at 1500 hours near the town of Feldburg, approximately 18 kilometers SE of Freiburg-Breisgau, Germany. Eight of the nine aircrew members were killed on impact. In addition to 2Lt Haile, those KIA were 2Lt Bruce L. Hutchins (Pilot), 2Lt Robert H. Webber (Co-Pilot), Sgt Grover J. Bowen (Nose Gunner/Togglier), SSgt Robert L. Shaffer (Radio Op), SSgt George N. White (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner) and Sgt Harry I. Degenhart (Waist Gunner) and Sgt Walter E. Collins (Tail Gunner). The lone survivor of the crash, Sgt James L. Stutts (Ball Turret Gunner), was held as a POW until April 1945.
After the war, Lieutenant Haile's body was exhumed from it's German burial location and interred in the Lorraine American Cemetery.
James entered military service on 29 Nov 1940 at Abilene, TX. He was accepted into and completed the Army Air Force Navigator School, upon which he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. Following his graduation in Montgomery, Alabama, Lieutenant Haile married Ima Dora Richards on 14 Feb 1943. They had one son born in Jan 1944.
Lieutenant Haile became the Navigator on a B-17 bomber and, by early summer of 1944, he was stationed in England, assigned to the 524th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bomb Group (H), at Kimbolton Field.
On 12 July 1944, 2Lt Haile was the Navigator on B-17G, #42-38192, during a bombing mission over Munich, Germany. Based upon the Missing Air Crew Report, his aircraft sustained heavy flak damage at the target area and was last seen going down in a controlled flight at 1430 hours near Bourg-Bruche, France. The post-war report provides that three of the four engines were lost and the pilot attempted to fly the plane to Switzerland. However, the plane crashed at 1500 hours near the town of Feldburg, approximately 18 kilometers SE of Freiburg-Breisgau, Germany. Eight of the nine aircrew members were killed on impact. In addition to 2Lt Haile, those KIA were 2Lt Bruce L. Hutchins (Pilot), 2Lt Robert H. Webber (Co-Pilot), Sgt Grover J. Bowen (Nose Gunner/Togglier), SSgt Robert L. Shaffer (Radio Op), SSgt George N. White (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner) and Sgt Harry I. Degenhart (Waist Gunner) and Sgt Walter E. Collins (Tail Gunner). The lone survivor of the crash, Sgt James L. Stutts (Ball Turret Gunner), was held as a POW until April 1945.
After the war, Lieutenant Haile's body was exhumed from it's German burial location and interred in the Lorraine American Cemetery.
