James Louis Pattillo may be remembered by many as a judge in Santa Barbara courts, but as one of his friends said, “Jim is one of those American veterans who put the ‘great’ in ‘The Greatest Generation.’”
“Pat” or “Jim,” depending on whether you knew him during his military service or his civilian life, was born in Denison, Texas, on July 20, 1920. His father was an employee of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, which provided a regular income even during the Depression, but with Jim coming along as the youngest of seven children, the family lived on the edge of poverty.
Jim was an Eagle Scout, graduated from Denison High School, and enrolled at the University of Texas in 1937. A music major, he earned pocket money playing saxophone and clarinet in dance bands. Shortly after beginning his senior year, he dropped out of college in the fall of 1940 to enlist in the Army Air Corps as a Flying Cadet, graduating from Randolph Field the next summer. At that time, officers were required to be 21, so Jim was given a short leave until his birthday, then commissioned a 2nd lieutenant. He became an advanced flying instructor for the Air Corps, assigned to airfields across the country, training pilots on the B-17 and B-24. It was while he was stationed at Hendricks Field in Florida that Jim married his wife, Helen, in November 1942.
