James Elwin Millican was born in Los Angeles, California on January 8, 1927. He was the second of three children born to William Millican (1902-1973) and Ella Van Zandt (1904-1990). James had a younger sister named Lucille Mae (1928-1980) and an older brother named Dorin “Donn” William (1923-2007). In 1930, the Millican’s lived on Merced Street, not far from Elysian Park. Growing up, James’ dad was a streetcar conductor and his mother took on private work as a seamstress.

By 1940, James, now 13 years old, and his brother Donn (17 years old) had moved out of the house and were living in Fresno County California. On December 31, 1940, Donn enlisted in US Navy.

James waited less than 2 years and at the age of 15, followed in his brother’s footsteps and enlisted in the military. He used 1924 as the year he was born (not 1927) on his enlistment form. In September of 1942, James became one of the Army’s youngest 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment Paratrooper. He belonged to Company I.

Early training for the took place in Camp Toccoa, Georgia which was adjacent to the Currahee Mountains. "Currahee" means "stand alone" in the local Native Indian language and the troopers immediately adopted it as their regimental motto since that was their objective behind enemy lines.

Toward the end of November 1942, the 506th PIR was ordered to Fort Benning for parachute training. They learned to pack their own chutes and to prepare their equipment to be dropped in an airborne operation. Once their advanced airborne training at Fort Benning was completed, the unit moved to Camp Mackall, NC. It was here that extensive tactical training was conducted, including many night jumps.

On September 15, 1943, Technician 5th Grade James E. Millican crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the S.S. Samaria, arriving at Liverpool, England. In England, the Tec5 Millican’s battalion was stationed in Ramsbury. Here the unit continued to train for the upcoming invasion of France. It would be their first combat mission.

In the early hours of June 6th, 1944, the 506th PIR would jump to the designated drop zone. The objective of the group was to take and hold two bridges over the Douve River, about 6 miles inland from Utah Beach (Normandy, France). Taking control of the bridges would prevent German troops from sending support troops and supplies to Utah Beach during the ally invasion.

At the time of the jump, low lying clouds made the night jump more difficult. In addition, the Germans were prepared and fired upon the planes and paratroopers as they were coming in to the drop zone. This caused a break up in the formations and only a few of the planes actually made it to the designated drop zone. Some of the men landed as far away as 20 miles from their designated area. While still under heavy fire, James’ battalion was one of the groups landing closest to their drop zone.

James and a group of paratroopers made it to the bridge over the Douve River. The sun was up and men were still arriving to the bridge from the night’s jump. James was signaling fellow soldiers to safety when he was killed by Germans. The men of the 506th PIR went on and accomplished the battalion’s objective and fought valiantly and Tec5 James E. Millican was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.

Technician 5th Grade James E. Millican is buried in Sacramento City Cemetery.

References https://www.506infantry.org/memorials/wwii/?ccm_paging_p=43

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/624057771/ The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento California, Saturday, June 22,1949, Page 25

https://www.506thrps.com/history

https://ww2-airborne.us/units/506/506.html

Tonight We Die As Men: The untold story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Tocchoa to D-Day, by Ian Gardner, Roger Day, Osprey Publishing; Illustrated edition (September 21, 2010)

James Elwin Millican : Technician Fifth Grade from California, World War II Casualty (honorstates.org)

James Elwin “Jim” Millican (1927-1944) - Find A Grave Memorial

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 here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related 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.

James E Millican