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Born in 1920, he graduated from Washington High School and received his degree from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Tuskegee became the training center for African American pilots during WWII and James completed his flying training there in 1943. He was commissioned in the Army Air Force and piloted supply planes in an all-black squadron. During the Korean War he flew 101 combat missions in fighter planes. During the Vietnam War he flew missions over North and South Vietnam. In 1975 he became the first African American 4 star General in the Air Force. He died of a heart attack in 1978.