Flight engineer James Finnigan sat at his station on the B29 “Superfortress,” one of the iconic World War II planes, listening to the roar of the engines, scanning and rescanning the instruments. The Engineer station facing the back of the plane... The FE and Pilot were back to back.... the pilot controlled the plane and the FE controlled the engines.  When the pilot called for "climb To 15000"   FE adjusted the throttle and mixture for climb and again when reaching altitude to level flight.

Think about what the Army considers when selecting from candidates for the mission James was on as he flew his escort plane for the Enola Gay over the Pacific toward the target. Courage, for one thing. You cannot assign a man to a dangerous, life-threatening mission without knowing that he has the courage to follow through with his assignment. An enforcer of the highest order, James, above all, could stand up to adversaries of any ilk – a neighborhood bully who attacked his little brother, the militarist nation of Japan whose attack had inspired him to enlist in the Army Air Corps., and from the time his mother died when he was 13, his father who sometimes wanted to go too far in disciplining his 6 younger siblings.

What other qualities got the young man selected for his position? High performance, for another. James lived and breathed aviation. As a child he built model airplanes, and, when he didn’t get enough excitement from simply flying them out of the upstairs widow at 499 Roycroft, he would light them on fire and surprise drivers going past. After Pearl Harbor he joined the Army Air Corp and spent WWII flying B29s sorties from the island of Guam. With the attack on Pearl Harbor Jim enlisted in the Army Air Corp, qualified for flight training and earned Pilot type ratings in single and multi-engine aircraft. Jim was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to a squadron based on Guam where he spent three years on active duty flying B29s. He knew his planes, and he knew his instruments. As Lieutenant he was the engineer responsible for keeping the engines humming on the B29, and there was no one better to do it.

Leadership. The oldest, Jim was the acknowledged and never-challenged leader of the members of that “Finnigan Gang.” Jim was 13 when Mother died and  Jim was the closest to Mother and that bore the brunt of the family’s pain dealing with her death.  He was devastated but took charge and was family leader when Dad was at work. He protected the family from housekeepers, teachers, and Dad!  Jim was angry about Mother's death and the anger gave him the strength to do what had to be done.  He didn't ask anybody to do things, he told them what to do.  He showed a lot of love and led with a smile but could show a temper, didn't hesitate to scold or punish anyone who disappointed him.  No one ever challenged Jim... never!  

James’s leadership, and his protecting his brothers and sister, lasted throughout his life. Dad placed a lot of responsibility on him with regard to managing the family, cooking, cleaning, babysitting the younger 3, etc, etc.  When Jim left for the military he wrote weekly letters addressed to Dad but always starting with "Hi you all!" And Dad always read Jim's letters to the family.  Jim frequently sent post cards addressed to each of the kids.  Jim visited Mother's grave often (we often went with him). After Dad died Jim arranged to have the headstone made for Mother and Shelia to replace the grave number which it had since burial.

James, then, sitting in the cockpit of that B29 Bomber with Sleepy of the Seven Dwarfs painted on the nose, James was a complete triumph for his father, a leader of men, a force changing the course of human history. He was handsome, too, having inherited Mother's good looks more than rest of the family except for John who was a close 2nd.  (Notes Paul, “The rest of us looked like Dad, sharp nose, chin and hairline.” 

Jim escorted the Enola Gay successfully on its mission, flew off as instructed when the bomb was dropped, and felt the aftershock from the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare.

An acknowledged leader, and a war hero, Jim was reassigned to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, where he became Flight Safety Officer. During the Korean War Jim became an Advisor the Royal Korean Airforce and subsequently served as Flight Safety Officer at Elmendorf Air Force base in Anchorage. 

His life, too, had its dark moments. Back at Lackland, Jim and Betty and their daughter Timi were enjoying life when tragedy struck. A prisoner escaped from a local jail, stole a police car found parked and running outside the jail and began a chase toward downtown. The car took an off ramp at high speed where Betty was the last of several cars stopped due to traffic, causing a fatal collision. Betty, who at age 54 had recently met with and was honored by President Jimmy Carter for her work in creating and promoting a national Foster Grandparents Program, did not survive.

Jim’s loss of his mother was helpful in dealing with the loss of his wife. Jim retired from the USAF and joined the U.S. Coast Guard where he was active the rest of his life.

In the case of James, the number one son, there was no question that Charles succeeded. The young man was exemplary and it is no exaggeration to say his achievements contributed to saving the country and changing the course of history.

But, truly, was he not a one-off? Could Charlie or anyone possibly replicate how Dad inspired James with any of those other bereft children blindly feeling their way through life without a mother? Jim was certainly a one-off!