<p>
<em>James Butler Bonham, </em>almost always called “J.B.,” was born in Chattanooga, TN to CPT Francis “Pete” Graves Bonham ’17 and Louise Walker Bonham. J.B. was named after his great-great uncle, the man at the Alamo who left to get reinforcements and returned to die when he was unsuccessful. J.B.’s military roots also sprang from his great-grandfather, Milledge Luke Bonham, a general in the Confederate Army and governor of South Carolina. The military tradition was deeply ingrained in his life.</p>
<p>
Being an “Army brat,” J.B. grew up at various posts, including Ft. Leavenworth, Panama, and Ft. Benning. In 1921, J.B.’s only sibling, Francis “Ham” Hamilton Bonham Jan ’43, was born. As a young man, J.B. played competitive tennis and swam, sports he continued to enjoy in later years. After graduating from Western High in Washington, DC in 1935, J.B. attended Millard’s Prep School for a year before joining the Class of ’40. In December 1939, tragedy struck when his father committed suicide near Ft. Benning. J.B. somehow found the strength to make it through his last semester.</p>
<p>
Shortly after his Academy graduation, J.B. married Margaret “Peggy” Chambers. He was assigned to Ft. Sam Houston, TX, where his daughter, Susan Elizabeth, was born. J.B. served in four campaigns in the Pacific during WWII. Upon news that his brother Ham had been killed in a plane crash in December 1945, he returned home to discover that Peggy had divorced him the month before, which was a complete shock. It was then that he finally met Ham’s widow, Susan Haislip Bonham (niece of General Wade Hampton Haislip ’12). Her first two husbands were both graduates of USMA Jan ’43—Herschel Ashby Jarrell and Ham—and she had been widowed twice before age 25. Fortunately, Sue and J.B. found consolation in their mutual losses and, on 1 Jan 1947, were married in Bethesda, MD. Their son, James Butler III, was born in 1948 in West Virginia, where J.B. was teaching at the Greenbrier Military School.</p>
<p>
J.B., Sue, and Jay then moved to Alaska for his assignment as assistant and deputy J-4 in the Alaskan command. In 1952, he became a student, then an instructor, at CGSC at Ft. Leavenworth. His daughter, Sarah “Sally” Barrett Bonham, was born there in 1955. In March 1955, he was promoted to colonel. He went to VietNam in November 1955 but had to be evacuated two months later due to having contracted a type of encephalitis that paralyzed his throat. He began a long recuperation with a tube through his nose, which he endured for about a year before being able to eat solid foods again. His throat never totally recovered, and difficulty swallowing plagued him to some degree for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>
J.B. was assigned to ODCSOPS from July 1957 until March 1960. J.B. had returned to his “home”—the Washington, DC area—and the Bonhams settled in the “far away” suburb of Springfield, VA. During 1961–62, he attended the National War College before heading to South Korea for a year as chief of staff of the 1st Cavalry Division. After the hardship tour in South Korea, the Bonhams were transferred to Ft. Shafter, HI with G-3, USARPAC. In 1966, after three years on lovely Oahu, J.B. and family were transferred to Ft. Polk, LA, where he served as chief of staff. In 1968, he was transferred to the Army Audit Agency in Arlington, VA. Once again, he was back home, and the family settled in Fairfax, VA. J.B. retired from the Army in 1970 after 30 years of service. His decorations included the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.</p>
<p>
He learned of a job opening at Army Emergency Relief in northern Virginia, and he worked there as controller and then deputy director, retiring a few months after his wife Sue died in 1980. During the next difficult year, J.B. reconnected with Sue’s good friend, Bobbie Truluck, whose first husband was Teddy Brooks Jan ’43, and whose second husband died one day before Sue in 1980. J.B. and Bobbie married in 1981 and lived in Fairfax until Bobbie’s death in April 1999. Seeing Bobbie die of the same disease that had taken Sue brought on the family depression he had managed to escape for so long. Earlier that year, J.B.’s daughter convinced him to move to The Virginian, a retirement home in Fairfax, VA, where classmate Fred White also lived.</p>
<p>
J.B. never quite adjusted to the move or to life without Bobbie, despite much attention from The Virginian’s staff and friendliness from the other independent living residents. He also had many visits from daughter Sally and son-in-law Pete Mohle, who purchased the family home in 2000 and still reside there.</p>
<p>
After a heart attack in October 2002 (his first ever), J.B.’s health, memory, and hearing deteriorated so much that he required in-apartment help by The Virginian’s assisted living staff. He died peacefully in his sleep and was buried next to Sue in Arlington. He is survived by his son Jay and daughter-in-law Syd; and daughter Sally and son-in-law, Pete Mohle. His daughter Susan preceded him in death in 1977. He had no grandchildren except the furry, four-legged ones, of which he was very fond.</p>
<p>
J.B. was known for his wonderful sense of humor until the passing of his third wife, Bobbie, when it understandably waned a bit. At The Virginian, he was thought of as a quiet, distinguished gentleman.</p>
<p>
J.B. was the epitome of stability, calmness, logic, and reliability. His sense of responsibility, demonstrated so well in the Army, was also omnipresent as a husband and father. He was a wonderful listener, always available when needed, and greatly loved by his children and children-in-law.</p>
<p>
<em>Sally Bonham Mohle and Peter H. Mohle</em></p>