James Alfred Hays was born 4 May 1916 in Wyaconda, Clark county, Missouri to Samuel Wiley and Ruth (Duncan) Hays, his father was a farmer. He had five brothers and three sisters, he being the oldest. Alfred is the name most used on records throughout his life. Alfred graduated in 1933 from the Wyaconda High School. Following graduation, he went to stay with his grandparents in California for a while but returned to Missouri and worked on various farms throughout the region. The 1940 census has him, at age 23, in Moline, Illinois as a salesman. Alfred enlisted on 19 November 1940 in Peoria, Illinois standing 5’9” and weighing 145 pounds. He was formerly a member of the clerical staff of Batter B of the Moline National Guard.
Private Alfred Hays (Service Number 16017464) was assigned to the Headquarters company of the 5th Bombardment Group which was moved from a medium bomber designation in 1939 to heavy bombers in 1940 and was known as the Bomber Barons. The 5th was equipped with a mix of B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-18 Bolo Medium bombers and was the first overseas group to be equipped with the new Boeing heavy bomber. In December 1941, the 5th had twelve B-17s based at Hickam Field, most of which were destroyed during the attack. However, the 5th was the first to fly following the attack. In the reorganization that followed Pearl Harbor, the 5th was allocated to the Seventh Air Force, performing search and patrol duties, guarding against a repeated attack.
Pvt. Hays was taken to the hospital but did not survive. He is listed as killed in action and is buried in the New Woodville Cemetery, Wyaconda, Missouri. He received a Purple Heart, WW II Victory, American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign and Army Good Conduct medals as well as the Army Presidential Unit Citation.

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 112985792
HonorStates.org
Ancestry

Hays, Alfred, Pvt