USAAC SSGT James "Jim" Nathaniel Blitch was born in Pensacola, Florida on August 17, 1922, the son of Leonard Kullman Blitch (1888-1939) and Marguerite L. Ridgely (1891-1970). His father was originally from Valdosta, Georgia where he was a bookkeeper. He relocated to Pensacola around 1911 and went to work as a bookkeeper for the H. G. DeSilva Lumber Company. From approximately 1916 to 1919 he was the secretary, treasurer, and bookkeeper for the Pensacola, Mobile, & New Orleans Railroad Company. During this time, he would meet and marry Marguerite Ridgely in 1918 and together they would have one child, James Nathaniel. Afterwards, he was the bookkeeper for the R. C. Tweed and the Duval Lumber Companies at various times for the rest of his life. For a short period in 1934 he tried opening the Blitch Lumber Company along with Joseph G. Suarez at 200 East Zarragossa Street. He would pass away in 1939 and was buried at St. John's.
As for James, he would attend Pensacola High School for two years before dropping out and entering the work force at the end of the Great Depression. In his enlistment papers he lists civil occupation as an actor with no other employment mentioned. After his father's death, his mother worked as a clerk before leaving Pensacola and moving to New Jersey. Prior to WWII, James enlisted on 8-19-1941 and volunteered for the Army Air Corps. Designated as a B-24 Liberator aerial gunner, he was sent to the school in Las Vegas, Nevada after his basic training. Eventually he was sent overseas with the 15th Air Force who flew missions in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian, and European theaters of war.
Soon, James and his fellow crewmen watched as the number of required missions began to mount up, but the question was how many did you have to fly before you were rotated back to the States? Nobody could make up their mind depending on your individual command. It was known that few bombing crews in Europe ever survived the original required 25 bombing missions unscathed. During the bombing raids in Europe, America lost 44,000 aircraft of which 23,000 were due to combat. Given the cost of a B-17 bomber at $204,000 and a B-24 at $216,000 these loses were huge. The loss in human lives was just as staggering at 57, 200 men (46%) with 8,400 wounded and 9,900 captured. Plus, the high command kept extending the number of required missions from 25 up to 35 depending on the casualties the squadrons were experiencing at the time. So, you can see where James' "50" missions was so remarkable!
James would return from the war and took up the life of a civilian once again. He would become a fireman at Whiting Field before passing away on April 3, 2005 and subsequent burial at Barrancas National Cemetery.
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