James W. Reid.
Pilot · J.W. Reid Crew · 330th Squadron · Of Tulia, TX, TX.
The Man Behind the Name
Reid formed a B-24 crew at Boise and arrived at Hardwick on 9 August 1944. Assigned to the 330th Bomb Squadron, he piloted Liberators through 35 combat missions plus four ferry and trucking flights. Campaigns included Northern France, the Ardennes, Central Europe, and Germany. He returned to the United States on Easter Sunday 1945.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.
Before and after.
Born in Tulia, TX. Enlisted in the Army Air Corps in December 1942 at age 19 while attending Texas A&M. Stations included Gowen, Hardwick, Jones Field, Perrin, Lubbock AAF, and Fort Worth AAF.
Assigned to 4th Ferry Command in Memphis, TN; attended Instructor Instrument School at Lubbock AAF; ferried war-weary B-24s to junkyards and also ferried L-5s and C-54s. Discharged December 1945 as first lieutenant. Returned to Texas A&M in 1946 and finished a petroleum engineering degree. Married; four sons, two daughters (one son deceased), 12 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren. His father served in World War I as a Jenny pilot and in World War II as a Link Trainer instructor.