James E. Bodell and his wife Alice are at New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery.

James served as an Army Air Corps pilot and was the first Rhode Island service member who was relieved from combat duty under the Sole Surviving Son Policy of the US Army. This policy sought to protect the life of a service member who was the last surviving son of a family that lost multiple other sons in battle.

James was born September 30, 1922, in Pawtucket, RI. He was from a large family with three sisters and two older brothers. All three of the Bodell brothers enlisted in the US Army with the eldest Joseph assigned to the infantry while Edward and James went into the Air Corp.

James enlisted in the US Army Air Corp, on June 3, 1942. He completed Primary and Basic training in Texas and Kansas. On January 7, 1944, he graduated from Flight School at Altus Army Airfield, Oklahoma. James was Commissioned Second Lieutenant upon graduation on January 7, 1944. James ferried a Douglas C-47 cargo plane to Europe. He traveled the southern route with stops in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa.

He arrived in England on May 1. 1944 and was assigned to the 315th Troop Carrier Group. The 315th had approximately sixty C-47 aircraft and was based in the English Midlands at Spanhoe Airfield. James and the 315th were extremely busy up to the invasion of the continent and during campaigns in Normandy, Northern Europe, and the Rhineland. Notable deployments of paratroopers dropped near Cherbourg, France on D Day June 1944 and the 82nd Airborne dropped over Arnhem in early September 1944. Additional Unit activities included towing gliders and numerous supply missions.

As a result of their extraordinary accomplishments, the 315th was awarded the Distinguished Flying Unit Badge for their service on June 6, 1944. James was individually awarded an Air Medal and Europe Africa Service Medal. James brothers’ service was far more tragic.

The eldest, Army Pfc. Joseph Bodell was killed in action on Jan. 17, 1945, in Leyte, Philippians. Army Air Corp Staff Sgt Edward Bodell was declared MIA/KIA on May 1, 1943, when the B-25 bomber was shot down over Burma. Edward was later determined to have died of his wounds while a prisoner of war in Rangoon, Burma. As a result of these losses, on May 3, 1945, James was permanently assigned to service within the continental United States as the Sole Surviving Son of the Bodell family.

On October 8th James was demobilized and appointed First Lieutenant, Officers Reserve Corp, US Army. James was commissioned a Captain US Air Force Reserve on March 27, 1957. On May 23, 1962, James was honorably discharged.

James married his high school sweetheart Alice Cardin on February 9, 1946. In time their family grew to two sons and one daughter. The family moved to New Hampshire in 1960. They celebrated a joyous 50th wedding anniversary in Hooksett, New Hampshire where they resided for many years.

James passed away on December 8, 1998, and is interred at the NH State Veterans Cemetery, Section C1, Site 20D. He was joined by his beloved, Alice on her passing in Dec 2008. It is there they remain, “Reunited Forever in Love.”