Honor your hero with thoughts, memories, images and stories.
I am doing this to honor my Uncle 1st Lt. James F Claussen. As the years go by, there are very few who remember him, and it is my wish that he not be forgotten.
This is my mother Pat Bower with her brother Jim.
We are in the process of trying to get a section of road renamed for my Uncle. This is the paper that we turned in, explaining why we feel he deserves to be honored, and why that particular section of road.
First Lieutenant James F Claussen Memorial Highway
My uncle, First Lieutenant James F Claussen, voluntarily enlisted in the US Army in June of 1940 with his sights set on becoming a paratrooper. However, standing just over 5’6” and weighing just over 140 pounds, he did not meet the army’s requirements for the job. Jim, as he was known to his family and friends, then redirected his efforts on becoming the next best thing – a pilot.
From July 1943 to his death in March 1945, Jim flew 7 combat missions over Sicily, France, Holland, and Germany. He was the recipient of the Air Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and a posthumously awarded Purple Heart.
In recognition of his service and sacrifice, it is our wish to dedicate a section of Route 3 – beginning at his childhood home (mile marker 22) and ending at his final resting place at Glenn Cemetery (mile marker 20) – in honor of First Lieutenant James F Claussen.
My Uncle Jim died serving his country and left behind no wife or children. As the years have passed, those with memories of Jim have also passed and we fear his sacrifice will be lost in the pages of time. My mother will turn 83 in April 2021. A lasting tribute to a brother she never really knew would mean more to her than words can express.
Jim Claussen was born on Christmas Day 1921. At that time, the Claussen family lived on a small farm near the Jacob area. Jim was the second of four children born to Ernest and Stella Claussen. Only my mother, Pat Bower, lived past her 50s. Siblings Virginia and John, also a WWII veteran, both died prematurely from cancer
Why This Location
One day 1942, my father, Glen Bower, was a small boy attending Logan Hollow School in rural Jackson County. While walking home from school one day, my father unknowingly encountered the man who’s sister he would later marry.
On that day, Jim, flying a training mission, flew off course to drop a note to his mom and dad. To accomplish this, he flew his plane low over the area, dropping a cardboard ice cream container with the note inside it in my grandparents’ horse pasture. The note told them that he was okay, that he might have strayed from his flight plan, and that he didn’t think he’d be able to stay for supper that night.
Glen, with the memory of the attack on Pearl Harbor still fresh in his mind and knowing nothing of the note, saw the military plane fly low overhead and thought the enemy had made it to America.
Military Service
Jim was killed in action on March 24th, 1945 while taking part in Operation Varsity. While my grandparents hardly ever spoke about the loss of their son, the one story they did share is that Jim volunteered to fly that day, and that he was due to come home. While I do not have yet have any paperwork to back up my grandparent’s claim, through my own research, I have found that when Jim was accepted into flight school in March 1942 and required to serve for three years as an enlisted pilot. In March 1945, his three-year commitment would have been fulfilled.
Word of Jim being missing in action did not reach my grandparents until April 9. My mother, Pat, who was 6 years old at the time, remembers the day when she learned her brother was killed in action. She and her mother were at church, when they exited the building, they saw an official military car and the men inside waiting to tell them the news.
My uncle, like many others killed in the European Theater, was initially buried in a US military cemetery in Holland. Nearly four years later, his remains were returned to Illinois where he was laid to rest in Glenn Cemetery, not far his parents’ home where he dropped the note roughly seven years prior.
About Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was an Allied airborne operation that took place over Wesel, Germany. The purpose of the operation was to gain a foothold across the River Rhine, so that Allied forces could cross into Germany and bring the Second World War to an end.
At that time, Operation Varsity was the largest airborne operation in history and involved the British 6TH Airborne Division and the US 17TH Airborne Division. The troops were deployed using 540 C-47 Skytrain aircraft, 72 C-46 Commando aircraft, and 1,300 gliders.
All objectives of the mission were achieved within 24 hours, including capturing bridges over the Rhine River and linking up with Allied ground troops. Success did not come easy. Allied forces suffered heavy losses. 1,111 men were killed, 1,625 men were wounded, and 61 aircraft were lost.
Operation Varsity was the first to use the C-46 Commando. It could carry 36 paratrooper - twice as many as the C-47. The C-46 was also faster and had doors on both sides, making it quicker and easier for the paratroopers to get out of the plane. The C-46 did have one fatal flaw that became apparent during the drop -the fuel tanks were not self-sealing. The 313TH Troop Carrier Group were the only ones to use the C46’s in the European Theater of Operations. On that day alone, there were 33 members of the 313TH killed, in large part due to the fuel tank issue.
In talking with WWII researchers who have helped me to find information about my uncle’s service, more than one of them has stated that Jim’s plane didn’t take off until about 4:00 p.m. German propaganda had been filling the radio airwaves, claiming that the allied paratroopers would not need parachutes, that they would instead be able to walk to the ground on the flak. By 4:00 p.m the German defense was in full force.
In his Missing Air Crew Report, it is noted that Jim was last seen with his left engine on fire heading back towards the Rhine River after successfully dropping all the paratroopers over the drop zone. All crew members but one died that day.
Service Record
July 13, 1940 – August 31, 1940 | Fort McPherson, Georgia
Company A, 62ND Signal Battalion
September 1, 1940 – April 1, 1941 | Fort Benning, Georgia
Headquarters, 22ND Infantry
April 3, 1941 – September 7, 1941 | Fort Benning, Georgia
Headquarters, 501ST Parachute Battalion
September 8, 1941 – May 18, 1942 | Fort Kobbe, Panama Canal Zone
Headquarters, 501ST Parachute Battalion
May 26, 1942 – July 2, 1942 | Kelly Field, Texas
Army Air Force Preflight School
July 3, 1942 – September 6, 1942 | Muskogee, Oklahoma
315TH Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment
September 7, 1942 – November 10, 1942 | Brady, Texas
317TH Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment
November 11, 1942 – January 13, 1943 | Lubbock, Texas
Aviation Cadet Detachment Army Flying School
January 15, 1943 – February 13, 1943 | Del Valle Air Base, Texas
89TH Troop Carrier Group
February 17, 1943 – May 7, 1943 | European Theater
38TH Troop Carrier Squadron, 314TH Troop Carrier Group
May 29, 1943 – March 24, 1945 | European Theater
48TH Troop Carrier Squadron, 313TH Troop Carrier Group
Missions Flown
Operation Husky: July 9, 1943 – Sicily
Operation Neptune: June 5, 1944 – France
Operation Neptune: June 6, 1944 – France
Operation Market: September 17, 1944 – Holland
Operation Market: September 18, 1944 – Holland
Operation Market: September 23, 1944 – Holland
Operation Varsity: March 24, 1945 – Germany
Medals and Honors
Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters – Awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Subsequent awards are annotated with Oak Leaf Clusters
American Defense Service Medal with Foreign Service Clasp – Awarded to military service members who had served on active duty between September 8, 1939 and December 7, 1941
Good Conduct Medal – Awarded for honorable and faithful service
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one Silver and one Bronze Service Stars – Awarded for service in the Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Normandy Northern, France, and Rhineland Campaigns
World War II Victory Medal – Awarded to any member of the United States military who served on active duty, or as a reservist, between December 7, 1941 and December, 31 1946
Distinguished Unit Emblem with one Oak Leaf Cluster – Awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy
Purple Heart – Posthumously awarded for having made the supreme sacrifice in defense of his country