James Albert Horner was born 23 July 1920 in Celeste, Hunt county, Texas to Jeremiah Mitchell and Mary Belle (Jarvis) Horner, he had one younger brother. “Jerry” Horner was a farmer by trade. According to James’ enlistment papers, he had three years of high school when he enlisted on 3 October 1939. The 1940 census has him in Ewa, Hawaii as a soldier.
PFC James Horner (Service Number 6950776) was assigned to Headquarters of the 11th Bombardment Group. The 11th Bombardment Group, “The Grey Geese”, was activated in February 1940 as medium bombers but in November it was re-designated as a heavy bomber group. It was part of the 18th Wing of the Hawaiian Air Force. On 7 December 1941, the aircraft were lined up near the runways, ten feet between wing tips so they could be easily protected from ground sabotage. When the first wave of the Japanese attack began at 0755, the planes could not be accessed let alone moved as the keys to the locks were kept in the armament section, which had been destroyed by enemy bombs. The 11th had an air strength of 50 aircraft but was reduced to 13 combat ready aircraft. Most of the airmen were in their barracks when the assault began, some in the mess hall, all taken by surprise. The airmen began to head for the flight line to get the squadrons into the air. Unfortunately, many were strafed by enemy fighters. There were twelve B-17 Flying Fortress bombers arriving from California during this attack; these Flying Fortresses were unarmed to save weight and increase fuel efficiency. They were able to land safely however. Fortunately for the 11th, their arrival provided enough time to get some of the 11th’s bombers out of the way, each bomber hard won. The second wave of the attack targeted the barracks as well as the hanger. Personnel grabbed whatever arms they could find to defend the flight line--involving many courageous acts of valor against overwhelming odds.
PFC Horner was killed in action during the attack at Hickam Field on 7 December 1941. He is buried in the Leonard Cemetery, Leonard, Texas.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SOURCES:
Find-a-Grave memorial 8664515
HonorStates.org
Ancestry

Horner, James Albert, PFC