MSGT. JAMES P. KELLEY, WWII/Korea: Survived WW II, Korea; killed in fall
U.S. Marines disembark on Aug. 7, 1942 from landing craft onto Guadalcanal island in the opening invasion salvo of the first major land offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan. Irvington Marine James P. Kelly would fight in the brutal, bloody Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower, which took six months to complete and was not wound up until Feb. 9, 1943. He was part of the 1st Marine Division based in Camp Pendleton, Calif. (U.S. Marine Corps, National Archives)
In fact, Kelley served in the military during the war, was wounded and won a Purple Heart but survived, then made the military his career, serving in the Korean Conflict as well, before dying while still serving in the Marines after a fall at his base in Okinawa, Japan in 1958.
When it comes to the "killed in action" designation on the monument, it should be noted that the original wording on lists of service members compiled by fellow veterans and published in the local Irvington Gazette newsaper explained the asterisk as meaning "killed in action or died in service," "died in service" being a phrase which would more accurately describe Kelley's case. For whatever reason, the "died in service" key was left off the monument.
One died of a heart attack two weeks before Pearl Harbor but had re-enlisted after a two-decade absence in hopes of serving in what he knew would soon be a war, two -- including Kelly, died in falls, one at a U.S. base, and one took his own life in Irvington two days after the war ended, likely as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder for which he was treated during his war service.
The haze of war does not cloud only the battlefield.
Kelley was born on April 15, 1917, the first-born child of the recently wed James Aloysius Kelley Jr. and Mary “May” (McDonnell) Kelley. He was born in Port Chester and raised in nearby Rye first in the same house as his maternal grandparents, later a house next door to them.
James’ father, born in Yonkers in 1888 and raised in Tarrytown, was an Ivy League-educated civil engineer who worked with at least one private firm and later the Town of Greenburgh. He also worked as a tax assessor for the Village of Irvington for seven years up to his death in November 1952. His mother was a stay-at-home mom who would die young.
James’ father, born in Yonkers in 1888 and raised in Tarrytown, was an Ivy League-educated civil engineer who worked with at least one private firm and later the Town of Greenburgh. He also worked as a tax assessor for the Village of Irvington for seven years up to his death in November 1952. His mother was a stay-at-home mom who would die young.
The couple married in early 1915, he was 27, she 23. They went on to have four children before May's death at 39 on March 1, 1932,
James was the oldest child and was almost 15 when May died. Daughter Grace was born in 1919 and tragically died in 1922. Son Donnell F., who went by the name Donald, was born in 1921 and finished his education at Rye High School in around 1939 before moving to Irvington where he was living with his father and stepmother when he enlisted in the Marine Corps in March 1942. Daughter Jayne, was born in 1924.
James’ widowed father remarried less than two years after May's death. His new bride, the former Josephine Herlihy, brought the family to Irvington, her hometown. Josephine was 14 years James' junior, and the couple wed on Valentine’s Day in 1934.
James’ widowed father remarried less than two years after May's death. His new bride, the former Josephine Herlihy, brought the family to Irvington, her hometown. Josephine was 14 years James' junior, and the couple wed on Valentine’s Day in 1934.
The new-look Kelley family, including the now 16-year-old James, moved to an apartment at 49 Main Street. The apartment was located above a Gristedes grocery store, in the large red brick former Abercrombie building at the northeast corner of Main and North Dutcher streets. By 1940, young James had returned to Rye where he moved in with his widowed maternal grandmother Mary McDonnell in her the home in which he spent his early years.
His father and stepmother had another child, James' half-sister Joan, in 1936.
Either way, Kelley left active duty (it appears he remained in the reserves) and returned to civilian life in 1939, working for the energy firm Socony-Vacuum Co. – today’s ExxonMobil – in Manhattan.
He returned to active duty in the Marine Corps in 1942 after the outbreak of war and was assigned to Camp Pendleton, Calif. Reports on his military deployments are spotty, but he fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal (Aug. 7, 1942-Feb. 9, 1943), the first land offensive by Allied forces against Japan, which had taken the British protectorate island in the Solomon Islands chain in February of 1942. He was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart, but the date and location are not available.
He was promoted through the enlisted ranks to as high as sergeant major in 1944 – after a hiccup in 1943 when he was busted down a rank from gunnery sergeant to staff sergeant after being convicted of taking an official Navy vehicle for his own use while served at Marine bases Camp Lejeune and nearby Cherry Point, both in coastal North Carolina. He quickly moved back up and attained sergeant major rank by April 1944. That is the Marine Corps’ highest enlisted rank, only one enlisted soldier ranks higher, the singular Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, only one soldier holding that rank at any given time.
In January 1945, Kelley married fellow Marine Josephine Busch while the two were assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. They went on to have three children, Michael born c. 1948, Patricia born c. 1950 and Kathryn born c. 1954.
After World War II Sgt. Maj. Kelley was assigned to Tianjin, China, not far from Beijing, as the Communist forces of Mao Zedong (formerly Mao Tse-tung) and the ruling Nationalist Kuomintang forces of Chiang Kai-shek ended their wartime alliance against Japan and resumed their own civil war in China.
Kelley would spend the years between World War II (1941-45) and the Korean War (1950-53) primarily at Cherry Point. In July 1950, a month after war broke out on the Korean peninsula, Kelley was deployed to South Korea and spent a year with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing there, before returning to Cherry Point. He would be transferred to Naval Air Station Olanthe, Kansas, near the Missouri border in late 1953. The Kelley family would spend three years at Olanthe before James, busted down the ranks again, this time to master sergeant, was deployed with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing to Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan. He was set to return stateside, but that changed on April 8, 1958 when he died in an ambulance en route to hospital.
His father and stepmother had another child, James' half-sister Joan, in 1936.
Young James enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and according to his obituary served from 1935 to 1939, during which time he saw duty in China and Cuba. One contemporaneous service document, however, states that he enlisted on Nov. 3, 1938, but it was an enlistment through the New York National Guard, which was renewable each year when the soldier was serving in the federal armed forces, so both reports could well be true.
The video story of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
He returned to active duty in the Marine Corps in 1942 after the outbreak of war and was assigned to Camp Pendleton, Calif. Reports on his military deployments are spotty, but he fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal (Aug. 7, 1942-Feb. 9, 1943), the first land offensive by Allied forces against Japan, which had taken the British protectorate island in the Solomon Islands chain in February of 1942. He was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart, but the date and location are not available.
He was promoted through the enlisted ranks to as high as sergeant major in 1944 – after a hiccup in 1943 when he was busted down a rank from gunnery sergeant to staff sergeant after being convicted of taking an official Navy vehicle for his own use while served at Marine bases Camp Lejeune and nearby Cherry Point, both in coastal North Carolina. He quickly moved back up and attained sergeant major rank by April 1944. That is the Marine Corps’ highest enlisted rank, only one enlisted soldier ranks higher, the singular Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, only one soldier holding that rank at any given time.
In January 1945, Kelley married fellow Marine Josephine Busch while the two were assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. They went on to have three children, Michael born c. 1948, Patricia born c. 1950 and Kathryn born c. 1954.
The headstone of Msgt. James Peter Kelley at
Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
After World War II Sgt. Maj. Kelley was assigned to Tianjin, China, not far from Beijing, as the Communist forces of Mao Zedong (formerly Mao Tse-tung) and the ruling Nationalist Kuomintang forces of Chiang Kai-shek ended their wartime alliance against Japan and resumed their own civil war in China.
Kelley would spend the years between World War II (1941-45) and the Korean War (1950-53) primarily at Cherry Point. In July 1950, a month after war broke out on the Korean peninsula, Kelley was deployed to South Korea and spent a year with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing there, before returning to Cherry Point. He would be transferred to Naval Air Station Olanthe, Kansas, near the Missouri border in late 1953. The Kelley family would spend three years at Olanthe before James, busted down the ranks again, this time to master sergeant, was deployed with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing to Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan. He was set to return stateside, but that changed on April 8, 1958 when he died in an ambulance en route to hospital.
The soldier who had survived Guadalcanal, World War II and the Korean Conflict had been taken down by a fall in his barracks. He died seven days shy of his 41st birthday and was interred at Fort Leavenworth (Kansas) National Cemetery, Kansas on April 25, 1958. His wife, Florence (Busch) Kelley was laid to rest next to him when she died in 1984.
Links to similar personal stories about Irvington heroes who gave their lives for their country*
◼ Pfc. Cuthbert Powell Sinkking: Class of '42 gave 3 of its own to the ages
◼ Pfc. John Joseph (Joe) Gilchrist: Died after capture of Saint-Lo
◼ Lt. (j.g.) George Eddison Haines: Lost at sea, awarded Silver Star
◼ Pfc. Joseph Thomas Costello: Teen lost life in Battle of Mindanao
◼ MSgt. James Peter Kelley: Survived WW II and Korea; died in fall
◼ S1 Archibald Ronald: Lost on next-to-last Navy ship sunk by U-boat
◼ TSgt. Raffaele R. (Ralph) Reale: A hero's life ended on East Sunnyside Lane
◼ Sgt. Robert F. Morrison: Took fight to the enemy, fell in Alsace
◼ Lt. Col. George W. Beavers Jr.: Re-upped as private; died on war's eve
◼ F2 Claude L. Bronnes: Went down with the Atlanta at Guadalcanal
◼ MMLC William James Downey: Died aboard ship off West Coast
◼ Pvt. Alick Main Ian: Died taking Aachen, first German city to fall in WWII
◼ Pfc. George Mills Hill Jr.: Survived Okinawa, only to fall in South Korea
◼ Pvt. Peter R. Robinson: Lost to shadows of time over Pacific, answers never found
WORLD WAR I
* World War II deaths include soldiers who enlisted during the World War II era and died while still in uniform, either killed in combat, or died of accidental or other causes. Two of the World War II fallen served in both World War II and the Korean Conflict and are listed under World War II. One of those died in an accidental fall after surviving both wars, the other was killed in action in Korea after surviving World War II.World War I deaths also include battlefield deaths and accidental or illness-related deaths by service members still in uniform at the time of their passing.
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