US Army Air Corps Captain James Frank Folmar was born in Blountstown, Florida on February 21, 1920, the son of Jesse Frank Folmar (1893-1962) and Thelma Hendrichs (1898-1993). His parents were married in 1918 and by 1930 his father was working as as a sawyer at the Perdido Lumber Company in Millview. By 1938, he was a crane operator for the Pensacola Creosoting Company and two years later he had become their buyer. The family was living at 707 South “G” Street but as he moved up the corporate ladder, they moved into a new home at 3022 West Jackson Street sometime after 1941. By 1946, he was the superintendent for the Escambia County Treating Company.
As for James, he would enter Pensacola High School in the 10th grade in 1937. During his junior and senior year, he had become a star on the school's track team as well as a outstanding tackle on the football team. Before his graduation in 1940 "Jimmie" had received a scholarship to the University of Mississippi in Oxford thanks to his mentor Roger Scott, an Ole Miss alumni. But somehow, Vanderbilt University coach Paul Bryant was able to recruit him for their football team as a guard. By June 1940, he was working in Nashville waiting for the Fall semester to begin. He finished the year 1940 as a guard on the freshman team then went to star on the varsity squad during the 1941 season.
Then came WWII and Jimmie, ever the patriot, immediately went down and filled out his paperwork to enter the US Army Air Corps. He passed his physical and mental examinations then waited for the results. When all was approved, he would enlist as a private on January 31, 1942, just three weeks after Pearl Harbor. He was sent to San Antonio, Texas for his preliminary flight training and then on to Chanute Airfield Technical Training School in Illinois where he graduated in July 1942. His next stop was as an aviation cade in August 1942. After being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant with his pilot's wings he was sent overseas to the China/India/Burma Theater and assigned to the 75th Fighter Squadron of the 23rd Fighter Group. The 75th had inherited five of the pilots plus 19 of their ground crew of Chennault's famous "Flying Tigers" who fought the Japanese prior to Pearl Harbor. With them came their valuable knowledge and experience from their operations against the Japanese in China as well as their "Flying Tiger" nickname from their old, disbanded unit.
Over the next 14 months Jimmie was "regarded as the best all-around pilot in our bunch" as he flew 123 missions. During those missions he shot down two Japanese planes in aerial dogfights and four enemy planes on the ground. He and his squadron also pioneered a bombing technique that entailed dropping a 1,000-pound bomb to destroy enemy bridges and kill their bridge repair crews.
The squadron began their service flying the Curtiss P-40 War Hawk that flew at 360-mph but could not match the Japanese Zero's 390-mph and high altitude ability. Then, in November 1943, they converted to the superior P-51B Mustang that could reach 440-mph with altitudes of over 15,000 feet. On August 17, 1944, Jimmie took off from China's Kweilin Airfield flying toward the Yantze River to strike an enemy column. Upon sighting it, he dove from on high and opened up with his six .50 caliber Browning machine guns blazing. However, the column was winding its way through a tight valley that ultimately locked Jimmie into his dive, preventing him from pulling out in time. The subsequent crash killed the young Pensacolian instantly. His family was notified in September 1944 that he was missing in action and most likely would not be recovered. His parents were given his military medals as a token of his nation's appreciation for his sacrifice. He had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, and a Purple Heart. Today, a memorial is attached to his parent's grave in the Myrtle Grove Methodist Church.
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