VALDOSTA — James E. Herring has done things few bakers have done.
He fought in the Pacific during World War II. He took part in the Korean War and the Vietnam conflict. He served in both the Navy and the Air Force during a long military career. Luck and the grace of God kept him from setting foot on a pair of vehicles that met disaster.
Herring turns 100 Tuesday, and shared the story of his life with a Times reporter.
Before there was a Moody
Herring was born April 30, 1924, in the Barretts community in northern Lowndes County. He recalls riding in a horse and buggy across the farmland that would become Moody Air Force Base.
As World War II loomed for America, the armed forces began buying land to build hundreds of temporary bases, and the Barretts farmland became Moody Field in 1940, used for training pilots. Herring worked on the base’s construction, earning 40 cents an hour.
Then came Pearl Harbor. The sneak attack by Imperial Japanese forces against U.S. forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and other locations around the Pacific on Dec. 7, 1941, dragged the United States into World War II.
At the time, the Navy required enlistees to be at least 18 years old, with the exception that 17-year-olds could join if their parents gave permission. Herring convinced his father, James T. Herring, to sign on the dotted line for his son to get into the Navy at age 17.
Where he went
After boot camp, the younger Herring was posted to the USS Scott, headed for North Africa. Just days before he would have boarded, his orders were changed, sending him to the West Coast. The Scott sank during the North African campaign.
“It happens every day,” Herring said. “I didn’t give (the sinking) a second thought except that I wasn’t on it.”
After a stint on Russell Island in the Solomon Islands group, he was sent to the USS Willard Keith as a first-class petty officer. His regular duties were as a baker in the ship’s kitchen.
At Banika Island, part of the Solomon Islands chain, Herring went ashore, “took an outdoor coconut lodge and turned it into a bakery.”
During combat, there’s not much call for a baker’s skills. Herring’s battle station was as a shell loader for a 20mm cannon.
At the battle of Okinawa, “we were firing so fast the gun barrel warped.”
Shifting gears
The war ended on Sept. 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japanese forces. The USS Willard Keith was in Wakayama, Japan, when the surrender papers were signed.
“We felt great,” Herring said. “We were thinking ‘It’s over, boys.’ ”
Once he got back to Valdosta, he went to a cousin’s house, where he met Mary Alvis Corbett, a student beautician. After a nine-month courtship, they married on July 13, 1946.
Herring was honorably discharged from the Navy on Oct. 30, 1945.
in January 1947, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Eight months later, the Air Force was pulled free of Army control as a separate armed service thanks to the National Security Act of 1947. Herring chose the Air Force because he wasn’t satisfied with the rank the Navy was offering. He received training for a new job, aircraft maintenance, in Mississippi.
In 1947, the U.S. learned how long wartime alliances last. The collapse and conquest of Germany left that country divided into four zones of military occupation by the victorious powers — the U.S., Great Britain, the Soviet Union and France. The capital city of Berlin, though deep in the Soviet zone, was supposed to be jointly garrisoned by the four Allied powers. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin decided otherwise, and blockaded the city from his “allies” by land and sea, wanting the city for himself alone as a war trophy. Since the western districts of Berlin depended on the U.S. and Britain for food, fuel and all the vital supplies of life, two million Germans faced starvation.
The western allies’ answer was the
erlin Airlift, a round-the-clock airborne delivery of vital supplies to the city. If the Soviets shot one of these aircraft down, they risked war with a United States now armed with nuclear weapons.
Herring took part in the airlift operations, and for his services, was honored 60 years later with the Federal Republic of Germany Friendship Award on May 26, 2009.
in 1948, the Soviet Union finally relented and opened the blocked land routes.
Fate steps in again
In October 1954, while stationed in England, Herring was one of 15 men from the 514 Fighter Interception Squadron rewarded for outstanding service with a three-day vacation to any European city of their choice; they chose Rome. “I had a powerful premonition,” Herring said. He didn’t get on the aircraft taking the others to their vacations. “I thought, ‘Lord, I hear you talking.’ ”
The C-47 transport plane bringing the men home from their trip vanished near Corsica, France. All 21 people aboard were killed.
Later in Life
During the Vietnam War, he was stationed in Thailand. Across a three-decade career, he served two tours in Europe and four in Asia and the South Pacific, visiting or stationed in 29 countries.
Herring was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1973 as a chief master sergeant.
His life came full circle when he accepted a civilian job at Moody Air Force Base — once Moody Field, once the farmlands of his youth — working with supplies.
James and Alvis Herring’s marriage lasted 52 years, encompassing a son and daughter, two grandchildren and two great-grandsons. Alvis died May 15, 1998, at 71.
James Herring remarried, taking Mary Elizabeth Mott as his wife. After a 16-year marriage, she died in 2017.
Herring is a charter member of Westside Baptist Church and has served on many church committees. His enjoys fishing for bass and crappie.
A public birthday celebration for Herring was planned for Sunday, April 28, at Westside Baptist Church.
“I can see many times that God obviously spared my life,” he said. “I believe He put His angels in charge of me to keep me safe.”
Fredrick Koehler, M.D., contributed to this article.