James Griffin
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James Lloyd Griffin (1932 - 1967)

CDR James Lloyd Griffin
Born in Gates, Lauderdale, Tennessee, United Statesmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at age 34 in North Vietnammap
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Profile last modified | Created 5 Oct 2015
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Roll of Honor
Commander James Griffin was Killed in Action in Vietnam during The Vietnam War.
Roll of Honor
Commander James Griffin was a Prisoner of War for 2 days during the Vietnam War.

Contents

Biography

Commander James Griffin served in the United States Navy in the Vietnam War
Service started: 1955
Unit(s): RVAH-13
Service ended: 1967

Birth

CDR James Lloyd Griffin was born on 27 December 1932 in Gates, Lauderdale, Tennessee, United States of America. [1]

Education

He attended the University of Tennessee at Martin, Weakley, Tennessee before entering the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland from which he graduated in 1955.

Jim attended the United States Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and received a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963. [2][3]

Marriage and Family

On 11 June 1955 he married Dora Bessie Smith (born about 1934) in Haywood County, Tennessee.[4]

Children of the Griffin-Smith Marriage

  1. Glyn Carol Griffin born 11 May 1961 in Monterey, Monterey, California, United States. Called Carrie and now an M.D.
  2. James F. Griffin born before 1965.

Military Service


In 1955 he entered flight training in Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida and received his wings as a Naval Aviator in 1956.

In 1958 he deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex and flew missions with the VA-83 Squadron into Lebanon during the Lebanon Crisis. He was assigned another cruise in 1959 to 1960 aboard the USS Forestal.

After an assignment to obtain his Masters Degree, he joined RVAH-13 Squadron and flew RA-5C Vigilantes in 1964. He served on two cruises to Southeast Asia between 1965 and 1967. He was one day away from the USS Kitty Hawk returning to the United States. He had completed over 100 combat missions when he was forced to eject over Hanoi, North Vietnam on Ho Chi Minh's Birthday 19 May 1967. He had been flying reconnaissance at low-altitude. During the time that their status was POW, the rank of both men changed. Griffin to Commander and Walters to Lieutenant Commander.

Prisoner of War from 19 May 1967 to 21 May 1967. [5]

He was a Lieutenant Commander when his RA-5C was shot down over North Vietnam on 19 May 1967 and taken as prisoner on that day. His injuries were critical and he died on 21 May 1967. On the day of his capture, a radio broadcast from Hanoi announced that Commander Griffin and his navigator, then Lieutenant Jack Walters, Jr. had been captured. Although he was gravely injured, he read a statement that was broadcast. His wife, Dora, has said that a photo of his military ID card was displayed in a museum in Hanoi and that there is a plaque marking the event of his shoot down on the corner of a building in downtown Hanoi which gives the date he was captured.

Honors

  1. Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 Gold Star
  2. Purple Heart
  3. 9 Air Medals
  4. Navy Commendation Medal with the V Device and Gold Star

The full ribbon set is available here.

Death and Burial

He died on 21 May 1967, 2 days after he was taken captive when he ejected over North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government did not tell his family or the United States government that he was dead until January 1973; so he was listed as MIA (Missing in Action) until then. On 16 January 1974 the Secretary of the Navy verified that he had died while a POW, according to Dora Smith Griffin Bell.

His remains returned to the United States government in April 1974.[6] He was buried with full military honors in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia in 1974. Plot: Section 11, Site 113-2. Find A Grave: Memorial #94221776 A headstone photo is available. Inscription: James L. Griffin Tennessee CDR US Navy Vietnam Dec 27 1932 May 21 1967. [7]

Sources

  • Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002.
  • U.S. Navy Cruise Books, 1918-2009.
  • California Birth Index. For daughter Glyn Carol Griffin.
  • U.S. Find A Grave Index.
  • U.S. Social Security Death Index
  • U.S. Vietnam War Military Casualties, 1956-1998.
  • Veteran Tributes The full tribute is here.
  • Virtual Wall, Panel 20E, Row 43 of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Click here to view [1]
  • Together we Served. Click here to view [2]
  • Ruston Daily Leader, Ruston, Louisiana on 23 December 1970, page 8 entitled: List of U.S. Prisoners in North Vietnam. They are broken down by state of record (not birth). Jim is in the unlisted town section, death date 21 May 1967.
  • USNA (United States Naval Academy) Memorial found [here]

Footnotes

  1. Vet Trib
  2. Vet Trib
  3. Arlington website
  4. "Tennessee, State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch TN Marraiges: accessed 7 October 2015), James L Griffin and Dora Bessie Smith, 11 Jun 1955; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," p. 54, Haywood, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.
  5. NAM POW list
  6. Different dates are given on different sites for this. Others say that the remains were returned on 13 March 1973 and positive identification of both Griffin and Walters was announced on 17 April 1974.
  7. Arlington National Cemetery Website page for Griffin is found with statement from his wife Dora who gives her account and the account that the United States Navy gave her about her husband [here]

Acknowledgements

Darlene Scott Kerr created Griffin-5340 profile on 4 October 2015, added bio and sources. Part of personal Vietnam POW project. Not a family member of mine. If a family member who is a member of WikiTree wishes to take this over and has more information, please let me know.





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Comments: 1

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PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE the placement of the reference and footnote notations. 1/2 of the census data and other is lost if you do. No rule that I know of that says you have to have no space between "Sources" and References or can't have footnotes. And yes, I have read the "Help" page.Thank you.
posted by Darlene (Scott) Kerr

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