Eighty-two years this weekend, the largest amphibious liberation force in world history landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. Among those D-Day liberators are two extraordinary and unassuming Virginians honored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia earlier this week.
James Flinchum was born on October 15, 1923, and raised in Floyd County, Virginia. He began his World War II service in the Army Air Forces as an aviation engineer, stationed in England. At extreme personal risk, Mr. Flinchum pulled Allied pilots from burning aircraft as they returned from battle, including the legendary P-51 Mustang. He survived a crane collapse during a Normandy off-loading operation, seeking cover on a beachhead as German bombs exploded around him “like fireworks.”
Later in the war, Mr. Flinchum saw combat during the bloody Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Mountains. Mr. Flinchum fought and served, with honor, and distinction. After the war, he returned to Virginia, raised a family, and had a successful career at the National Gallery of Art. At 103 years young, Mr. Flinchum now resides in Salem, Virginia…