James W. McDonald

James W. McDonald, 98, of Clinton, MS., died on March 12th while recovering from an age related illness.

 A graveside burial service for family members will be conducted by Webb & Rodrick on Sunday, September 1st. Rev. Mark Lyons, pastor of the First Christian Church will be officiating the burial service at the Mount Hope Cemetery.

 James William McDonald was born on September 2nd, 1925 in Flushing, NY., to James A. McDonald and Eleanor M. Vance. He attended school in New York City where his dad worked as a police officer. After graduating from high school in 1943, he enlisted in August 1943 in the Army. He received basic training in Fort Benning, GA and training to be an engineer at the University of Illinois before being transferred in March 1944 to 8th Armored Division in Camp Polk, LA. He was then assigned to “A” Company of the 7th Armored Infantry Battalion and deployed to Europe in November 1944 on the troopship SS Samaria. His unit served in combat in France, Holland, and Germany and he received various promotions along the way to Staff Sergeant. In February 1945 he was wounded in the vicinity of Telarath, Germany and taken to an evaluation hospital for surgery. He was later transferred to a hospital in Paris to recover from his wounds. Released from the hospital in May 1945, he rejoined the 7th AIB in Czechoslovak and then in France until he was transfer to Fort Knox, KY in January 1946. While at Fort Know he took the entrance exam for the service academy and was accepted to West Point. He joined the West Point Cadet Corp in August 1946 and received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant with the other graduating cadets of the Class of 1951. He then served in different infantry assignments in Texas, Panama, and Washington D.C. In 1957, while working in the Pentagon, he met and later married Geraldine Turner in a ceremony in Fort Myers, VA. He continued to serve the Army in various assignments (infantry, armor, and intelligence) in other locations in the US, and overseas in Korea, Okinawa, IndoChina, and Vietnam before retiring in October 1972 at the rank of Lt. Colonel. He then pursued and obtained a Master’s Arts Degree (in history) at Pittsburgh State University in 1974. In 1975 he started a job with ARCO in Independence, KS, as an engineer and worked there until he retired around 1985. During retirement he continued to participate in reunions of the 7th AIB and West Point Class of 1956 gathering. In June 1993, Geraldine passed away. Looking for a place with milder winters and golf courses open all year, he moved in 1995 to Springhill, FL. While visiting friends in Georgia, he later met and married Aline Bain in August 1998. They split time between Georgia and Florida until she passed was in December 2018. Shortly thereafter he moved to Mississippi to be near one of his sons living in Clinton, MS.

 He is survived by his wife’s sister, Norma Turner, wife’s brother Gerald Turner, and his two sons: Gerald S McDonald, his wife Sherri and two grandchildren Chelsea and Courtney; and James T. McDonald, his wife Cathleen and three grandchildren James, Melanie, and Ashley.