James "Jake" Edwin Foxworth was born in Bagdad, Florida on August 28, 1923 to the union of George Oscar Foxworth and Sarah Elizabeth "Lizzie" Willis. They owned their home in Bagdad in Santa Rosa County with George supporting his family as a radio technician. James graduated from Milton High School in 1941 just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps at Camp Blanding, FL on April 23, 1942. After training as a radio operator and gunner he was promoted to Staff Sergeant and assigned to the 90th Bombardment Squadron, arriving in the South Pacific in the Spring of 1943. Eventually, they were assigned to the Hollandia Airfield in New Guinea where they operated enemy air strips, troop deployments, and shipping in and around New Guinea.
On June 19, 1944 he and his crew took off from Hollandia to bomb the enemy's Warren Airfield. Arriving over the target, they were hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire. Their left engine was knocked out and their right engine was damaged. The pilot, 1st Lieutenant Leonard T. Duval ditched the B-24 bomber into the sea several miles north of the western end of Mios Noem Island. James was killed in the crash, however Duval was able to escape and was later rescued by a Catalina and returned to duty. George and Lizzie were notified that their son was "missing in action" because his body was not recovered.
Ironically, Duval was shot down again four weeks later on July 16, 1944 and once again he survived to be rescued. Sadly, after fifty missions James now rest at the bottom of the Pacific along with so many American heroes. His name can be found on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. There is also a grave marker at the Bagdad Cemetery in Section #4.
SSgt James "Jake" Edwin Foxworth, USAAC, 1923-1944
Pensacola News Journal 7-2-1944
Grave Memorial of James Edwin Foxworth at Bagdad Cemetery