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<em>James Bascom ‘Jim’ Giles Jr. </em>was born on September 6, 1922 in Austin, TX, the elder of two sons of James Bascom Giles and Effie Dean Rogan Giles. He grew up in Austin, attending Austin High School, graduating as its senior class president and varsity football team captain. He attended a half year at the University of Texas at Austin, during which time he earned an appointment to the United States Military Academy from the Honorable Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas’s 10th Congressional District. He entered the Academy on July 1, 1941.</p>
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Jim joined the Class of 1945, which later became the D-Day Class of 1944 when its curricula was shortened from four to three years because of World War II. He was described by his classmates as an “all-around athlete, neat, a hard worker in all activities and never content unless he produces the best possible job.” Assigned to Cadet Company H-2, he became its company commander in his First Class Year. He played “A Squad” football as a guard all three years and “A Squad” wrestling and track his plebe and yearling year. As American forces were landing on Fortress Europe on D-Day, Jim graduated in the upper half of his class and commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry.</p>
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Jim attended the Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, GA. Scheduled for four months, the course was cut by one-month as the result of an order from Army Chief of Staff General Marshall, who directed that all ground combat arms officers of the Class of 1944 would be committed to a combat theater of operation by January 1, 1945.</p>
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Destined to become one of the Class of 1944’s “Seven Samurai” (first of the class to see combat in World War II—all on the same day), Jim was thrown into combat on December 16 when his platoon of K Company, 422 Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division was struck by Hitler’s Herbstnebel offensive, designed to seize Antwerp. Within three days Jim was a prisoner of the German Army and was marched to the prison camp at Hammelburg. He managed to escape for a short period of time as a result of Patton’s Hammelburg raid, but he was eventually caught and imprisoned until the end of April. He was awarded the Bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart for wounds received in the initial German attack of the Bulge. After V-J Day, Jim was awarded three stars for the Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns to wear on his European Campaign ribbon.</p>
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In June he was returned to the United States to join the 23rd Infantry at Camp Swift, TX, until he was ordered to attend the Infantry School again at Fort Benning. At the end of this training, he married Mary Gene Catlett of Okemah, OK in June 1946. Jim and Mary Gene spent the next three years in the occupation of Japan. During the first year, Jim was assigned to the Economic Office of the Shikoku Military Government Region. During the remainder of his time in Japan, he carried out various assignments with the 27th Infantry.</p>
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In February 1949, he returned stateside to Springfield College, MA, where Jim earned a master’s in physical education. Jim and Mary Gene’s first child, Susan Elizabeth, was born at West Point in August 1949. In June 1950, he was assigned to the Office of Physical Education at West Point. He then earned his parachute wings at Fort Benning in August 1951, and in December of that year his son, James Board, was born at West Point.</p>
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In 1953 Jim was assigned to war-torn Korea as a battalion executive officer in the 179th Infantry of the 45th Infantry Division, where he earned an OLC to his Bronze Star for valor. In the second half of his tour in Korea, he served as a KMAG regimental advisor. In 1954, he returned to the States and resigned from the service in the rank of major to join the private sector.</p>
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Although Jim had worked for TRW for more than 20 years, he continued to contribute to his community in Houston as a manufacturing representative, a dedicated church leader and organizer, a spiritual advisor to young men, and an active outdoorsman. He was co-founder of the West Point Society of Houston.</p>
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Throughout his life, Jim adhered to the principles of the Academy’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.” As a sportsman, he always played an honorable game and always conformed to its rules. As a soldier he always performed with courage, skill, and valor. As a prisoner of the Reich, Jim displayed no fear and showed no acquiescence in the face of this cruel enemy. Jim distinguished himself as a good husband and father, a loyal churchman, a team member, and a fine leader in combat and of the manufacturing industry.</p>