James Baross served as a radio operator aboard bombers during WWII, serving with the Army Air Forces, 501^st Squadron, 345^th Bomb Group.

James Phillip Baross was born on August 28, 1923. He was a member of the Musicians Protective Association before World War II broke out. At the age of 19, Baross enlisted to the Reserve Corps of the Army on November 9, 1942. He was trained at Camp Upton, Long Island, arriving February 25, 1943, and was later sent to U.S. Army Air Corp basic training at Miami Beach, Florida. Later, his training took him to California and, according to his memoir, he liked the weather so much he decided he would one day live there. He was deployed to the Pacific Theatre near the Philippines as a radio operator aboard various types of bombers, primarily the North American B-25 Mitchell.

Many of his wartime stories are contained in his memoir, which was conducted through the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project later in his life. Baross, achieving the rank of Technical Sergeant, kept a required and extensive catalogue of over 40 bombing missions (included in the collection). When he returned to the United States he married, Mary, who he would be with until he passed away on January 4, 2003. He is buried in Riverside.  For more about this collection, see our Descriptive Finding Guide.