People named James Vandine

James A. Vandine was my father. Born in the Roaring Twenties, he lived through the Depression and joined the Navy at the age of 18 in 1940. He was a "plank owner" on the USS Washington (a battleship -- BB-56) and served on her throughout the Second World War, in the Atlantic, initially, and then in the Pacific for the rest of the war. His ship sank the IJNS Kirishima off Guadalcanal in November 1942, shortly after he turned 20. He was the man in control of the five inch guns that shot at the Kirishima, and he remembered hitting her at least 20 times that night. When she sank, he described her as rolling over in the moonlight and said he watched "all the white-clad sailors climbing up on the grey hull in the moonlight." Other highlights included the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Leyte Gulf, and even shelling the coast of Japan in 1945. After the war, he got out of the Navy so he could spend time with Mom (whom he married in June of 1942 as the USS Washington was getting extra flak guns put on her in the Philadelphia Navy Yard before going to the Pacific), and eventually wound up joining the US Army in the late 1940s. He served in the Army until 1966. After he retired, he became an Elementary School Teacher and Assistant Principle at Benjamin Milam School in El Paso, Texas, eventually retiring from that job in 1987. He lived his life quietly and without a big fuss and show, but when the chips were down, he was always there -- like so many of the rest of the "Greatest Generation." He never postured, and he was always completely honest with me and my brother growing up. He's still my hero to this day, and I miss him every day since he died. He's the example I try to imitate in my own life. I only hope that I sometimes actually manage it. Rest in Peace, dad -- you are missed and loved forever.

Jim was my older brother, and I truly miss him every single day. He was incredibly witty and intelligent and he always forced me to think my way clearly through something simply to keep up with his keen and inquiring mind. We were both fanatical wargamers and he was always taking the small, highly capable side and leaving me with the "pseudo-Soviet hordes" as he once phrased it. He told me he felt sort of guilty about that as we got older. ;-) He loved to read and watch movies, and he loved his daughter Mechelle and his son David more than anything else on this earth. He was a great teacher who had the courage of his convictions. In fact, if there was one truly outstanding characteristic about Jim, it was the fact that he wouldn't back away from doing the right thing, no matter what it cost him personally. He exemplified the code of the Non-Commissioned Officer of the United States Army. I am proud to say he was my brother, and I'm proud of him every single day.

James P Vandine of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, FL was born on September 30, 1918, and died at age 88 years old on March 10, 2007.

James A Vandine of El Paso, El Paso County, TX was born on October 23, 1922, and died at age 85 years old on February 2, 2008. James Vandine was buried at Ft. Bliss National Cemetery Section CC Site 215 P.o. Box 6342 - 5200 Fred Wilson Avenue, in El Paso.

James H Vandine was born on February 13, 1940, and died at age 61 years old on September 18, 2001. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember James H Vandine.

James L Vandine of Palm Coast, Flagler County, FL was born on September 1, 1923, and died at age 83 years old on December 5, 2006.

James Vandine of Beverly, Essex County, MA was born on July 21, 1893, and died at age 73 years old in January 1967.