Our Aviator Hero and Pioneer of U. S. Air power
...Jimmy Grisham
was one of 256 flying officers in the Army Air Corps prior to World War II. He flew the U.S. Mail across the country; He served as a test pilot under Jimmy Doolittle; He served as a Flight Instructor at Randolph Field and Kelly Field, out of San Antonio, Texas. He later served as flight instructor in England. He "barnstormed" along with the likes of Wiley Post and Chuck Yeager; He was a pioneer of the United States Air power.
"Jimmy's" given name, Lionel Moses, didn't sit right with him as he always had to spell Lionel for his teachers. So early on, he took on the name James Lionel.
Lionel Moses Grisham was born in Monticello, Arkansas on November 8, 1891 (son of Wilton Thomas Grisham and Asha Julia Lamb). His parents were early settlers of Monticello, and his father descended from a long line of English Greshams. However, during the Revolutionary War in the battle for America's Independence from the King of England, the Gresham settlers of Jonesboro, Tennessee sided with the American Patriots, while other Greshams sided with the King. Wanting to distinguish themselves from the Greshams loyal to the throne of England, they changed their names to Grisham. Unfortunately family members must have fought each other during the Revolutionary War. But the Grishams were triumphant in winning our Independence as a nation.
"Jimmy" was second to the youngest of 11 children of Wilton and Asha Grisham. His oldest sister, Florence Inez helped in caring for him and was like a mother to him. He was also very close to his eldest brothers, Warren & William. Growing up in Arkansas as hard working farmers, Jimmy longed to see the world and all the excitement it had for him. He joined the Army at the age of 18, initially as a cook, and eventually in the Army Air Corps became a pilot. Jimmy became one of 256 flying officers in the Army Air Corps prior to World War II. He flew the U.S. Mail across the country; he served as a test pilot under Jimmy Doolittle and flew under Billy Mitchell's command; He served as a Flight Instructor at Randolph Field and Kelly Field out of San Antonio, Texas; and later served as flight instructor in England. He "barnstormed" at the county fairs along with the likes of the famous aviators Wiley Post and Chuck Yeager; He was a pioneer of our United States Air power.
Jimmy had lots of friends to dinner at his home, many of them famous: General Hap Arnold, Jimmy Doolittle, Chuck Yeager, Wiley Post, and Will Rogers (both killed in a crash in Alaska) to name a few. Everybody loved our Jimmy.
He was not only a good pilot, a brave pilot (as he tested landing gear, tested instrument only "flying blind", and flew in rickety planes that were tossed by the winds in all kinds of weather). The weather technology of the day was a windsock and a barnyard weather vane. Jimmy would look out of his open cockpit for roads, rail lines, and landing strips to find his way in daytime flight. He had to watch the horizon to determine his altitude.
It wasn't until 1929 that the Artificial Horizon was introduced which would activate the aircraft controls to maintain proper attitude while flying when visible flight was not possible. Jimmy test piloted many of these new inventions which are still used by today's pilots. Some of Jimmy's friends who were test pilots died in those trials. One of his favorite sayings was "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no "old" "bold" pilots." He was brave, but he was smart too.
The airplanes Jimmy flew had open cockpits, and, while most of his body was covered, his face was exposed to the wind, rain and whatever the weather and sun threw at him. His skin eventually looked like leather from all of the exposure. He flew in the most treacherous conditions with little information other than what he could see out of his cockpit, but he always said "It's not a problem to fly through the clouds, unless there are rocks behind them".
After the sinking of the Navy's ship, the Ostfriesland, mentioned in more detail below, and the court martial of General Billy Mitchell, under whose command Jimmy Grisham dropped the bomb that sunk the Navy's ship, there were those that still held a grudge. Jimmy, although recommended for Brigadier General five times, was passed over. Nonetheless, he was a true Air Force Officer and loved flying for his country.
His Army Air Force Assignments included:
He served loyally and fearlessly, and retired from the Air Force in 1941.
"Jimmy's" given name, Lionel Moses, didn't sit right with him as he always had to spell Lionel for his teachers. So early on, he took on the name James Lionel.
Lionel Moses Grisham was born in Monticello, Arkansas on November 8, 1891 (son of Wilton Thomas Grisham and Asha Julia Lamb). His parents were early settlers of Monticello, and his father descended from a long line of English Greshams. However, during the Revolutionary War in the battle for America's Independence from the King of England, the Gresham settlers of Jonesboro, Tennessee sided with the American Patriots, while other Greshams sided with the King. Wanting to distinguish themselves from the Greshams loyal to the throne of England, they changed their names to Grisham. Unfortunately family members must have fought each other during the Revolutionary War. But the Grishams were triumphant in winning our Independence as a nation.
"Jimmy" was second to the youngest of 11 children of Wilton and Asha Grisham. His oldest sister, Florence Inez helped in caring for him and was like a mother to him. He was also very close to his eldest brothers, Warren & William. Growing up in Arkansas as hard working farmers, Jimmy longed to see the world and all the excitement it had for him. He joined the Army at the age of 18, initially as a cook, and eventually in the Army Air Corps became a pilot. Jimmy became one of 256 flying officers in the Army Air Corps prior to World War II. He flew the U.S. Mail across the country; he served as a test pilot under Jimmy Doolittle and flew under Billy Mitchell's command; He served as a Flight Instructor at Randolph Field and Kelly Field out of San Antonio, Texas; and later served as flight instructor in England. He "barnstormed" at the county fairs along with the likes of the famous aviators Wiley Post and Chuck Yeager; He was a pioneer of our United States Air power.
Jimmy had lots of friends to dinner at his home, many of them famous: General Hap Arnold, Jimmy Doolittle, Chuck Yeager, Wiley Post, and Will Rogers (both killed in a crash in Alaska) to name a few. Everybody loved our Jimmy.
He was not only a good pilot, a brave pilot (as he tested landing gear, tested instrument only "flying blind", and flew in rickety planes that were tossed by the winds in all kinds of weather). The weather technology of the day was a windsock and a barnyard weather vane. Jimmy would look out of his open cockpit for roads, rail lines, and landing strips to find his way in daytime flight. He had to watch the horizon to determine his altitude.
It wasn't until 1929 that the Artificial Horizon was introduced which would activate the aircraft controls to maintain proper attitude while flying when visible flight was not possible. Jimmy test piloted many of these new inventions which are still used by today's pilots. Some of Jimmy's friends who were test pilots died in those trials. One of his favorite sayings was "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no "old" "bold" pilots." He was brave, but he was smart too.
The airplanes Jimmy flew had open cockpits, and, while most of his body was covered, his face was exposed to the wind, rain and whatever the weather and sun threw at him. His skin eventually looked like leather from all of the exposure. He flew in the most treacherous conditions with little information other than what he could see out of his cockpit, but he always said "It's not a problem to fly through the clouds, unless there are rocks behind them".
After the sinking of the Navy's ship, the Ostfriesland, mentioned in more detail below, and the court martial of General Billy Mitchell, under whose command Jimmy Grisham dropped the bomb that sunk the Navy's ship, there were those that still held a grudge. Jimmy, although recommended for Brigadier General five times, was passed over. Nonetheless, he was a true Air Force Officer and loved flying for his country.
His Army Air Force Assignments included:
- 1924 Langley Field, Hampton, VA
- 1925-1929 (approximately) Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY
- 1929-1932 Philippine Islands, Nichols Field
- 1932 (approximately) Rockwell Field, Coronado Island, CA
- 1934-36 (approximately) March Field, Riverside, CA
- 1936-38 Natl. Guard instructor in Nashville, TN
- 1939 Bossier City, LA - National Guard air squadron. Barksdale Field
- 1940 (approximately) Santa Ana, CA served as Inspector General for the West Coast Training Command – a Full Colonel
- 1941 (approximately) Moffett Field, Los Altos, CA
- 1941 Retired in Bakersfield, CA until he died
- 1953 Buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma , San Deigo, CA
He served loyally and fearlessly, and retired from the Air Force in 1941.
Test Pilot
Jimmy Grisham testing the Fokker Y10-27 landing gear, found the gear faulty. He was given the option of landing in a field of hay. Jimmy chose to belly-land it alongside the Navy's Lexington Air Craft Carrier in San Diego Bay. See Airforce Record of crash below.
16 December 1932
"During a routine practice flight, Capt. J. L. Grisham flying Fokker Y1O-27, 31-599, '2', of the 30th Bombardment Squadron, is unable to get the port main undercarriage leg to extend more than one-quarter down, makes emergency landing in San Diego Bay off of NAS San Diego, California. He and Sgt. Clarence J. King survive, aircraft salvaged, repaired and returned to service" See Wikipedia article
16 December 1932
"During a routine practice flight, Capt. J. L. Grisham flying Fokker Y1O-27, 31-599, '2', of the 30th Bombardment Squadron, is unable to get the port main undercarriage leg to extend more than one-quarter down, makes emergency landing in San Diego Bay off of NAS San Diego, California. He and Sgt. Clarence J. King survive, aircraft salvaged, repaired and returned to service" See Wikipedia article
Pioneer in "Flying blind" by W. H. Grisham
The early aviators flew “by the seat of their pants,” relying on their sense of position and altitude. Flying by instinct was unreliable. Doolittle and others at the "Full Flight Laboratory" at Mitchell Field helped develop the artificial horizon,
forerunner to the attitude indicator, which uses a gyroscope for
determining an aircraft's relative orientation to the ground. It proved
to be the key instrument in making blind flying possible. This equipment was tested by none other than our James L. Grisham among other heroes. It was dangerous work, and many did not survive. Yet, the impact on commercial aviation was immediate and far-reaching, making all-weather flying safe and practical.
Jimmy was also a pioneer in flying the mail, as well as one of those dare devils in the barn storming era, who did aerobatic tricks to awe the hayseeds at County Fairs.
Many famous aviators came to dinner at our home. For example Wiley Post, who circumnavigated the globe in an airplane, and had the world record at that time, came to dinner one night. Hap Arnold, Billy Mitchell, Chuck Yeager, and Jimmy Doolittle were all good friends of my dad, Jimmy Grisham.
Jimmy was also a pioneer in flying the mail, as well as one of those dare devils in the barn storming era, who did aerobatic tricks to awe the hayseeds at County Fairs.
Many famous aviators came to dinner at our home. For example Wiley Post, who circumnavigated the globe in an airplane, and had the world record at that time, came to dinner one night. Hap Arnold, Billy Mitchell, Chuck Yeager, and Jimmy Doolittle were all good friends of my dad, Jimmy Grisham.
The first aerial ship bombardment
Jimmy Grisham making history by Bill Grisham
Dad flew under the command of General Billy Mitchell, Langley Field, VA 1921 to 1923 (just around the time of my birth). Billy Mitchell was one of the most famous and controversial figures in American air power history. His story climaxed with the dramatic bombing tests in those years that sank several battleships, proving that surface fleets were obsolete.
July 13 - 21, 1921 ... Army crews from the First Provisional Air Brigade at Langley Field, Va., flying Martin MB-2 bombers, sink three ships, off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, including the captured German battleship Ostfriesland, demonstrating the vulnerability of naval craft to aerial attack.
The "attacks" made by Army Air Service Martin bombers flying at 3,000 feet, each dropped two 1,100-pound bombs on Virginia, only one of them hit. That single bomb, however, was dropped by Jimmy Grisham right down the smokestack and "completely demolished the ship as such." An observer later wrote: "Both masts, the bridge, all three smokestacks, and the upper-works disappeared with the explosion and there remained, after the smoke cleared away, nothing but the bare hull, decks blown off, and covered with a mass of tangled debris from stem to stern consisting of stacks, ventilators, cage masts, and bridges."
Within one-half hour of the cataclysmic blast that wrecked the ship, her battered hulk sank beneath the waves. Her sister ship ultimately joined her shortly thereafter. Virginia's end, and New Jersey's, provided far-sighted naval officers with a dramatic demonstration of air power and impressed upon them the "urgent need of developing naval aviation with the fleet."
July 13 - 21, 1921 ... Army crews from the First Provisional Air Brigade at Langley Field, Va., flying Martin MB-2 bombers, sink three ships, off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, including the captured German battleship Ostfriesland, demonstrating the vulnerability of naval craft to aerial attack.
The "attacks" made by Army Air Service Martin bombers flying at 3,000 feet, each dropped two 1,100-pound bombs on Virginia, only one of them hit. That single bomb, however, was dropped by Jimmy Grisham right down the smokestack and "completely demolished the ship as such." An observer later wrote: "Both masts, the bridge, all three smokestacks, and the upper-works disappeared with the explosion and there remained, after the smoke cleared away, nothing but the bare hull, decks blown off, and covered with a mass of tangled debris from stem to stern consisting of stacks, ventilators, cage masts, and bridges."
Within one-half hour of the cataclysmic blast that wrecked the ship, her battered hulk sank beneath the waves. Her sister ship ultimately joined her shortly thereafter. Virginia's end, and New Jersey's, provided far-sighted naval officers with a dramatic demonstration of air power and impressed upon them the "urgent need of developing naval aviation with the fleet."
Grisham testifies on Mitchell's behalf
Unfortunately, Mitchell was Court Marshaled on trumped up charges by the War Department since the Navy “upper brass” hated him for upsetting their comfy status quo and privileges of the Navy Admirals and their huge “dreadnaughts”.
Among those who testified for Mitchell were Edward Rickenbacker, Hap Arnold, Carl Spaatz, Fiorello La Guardia and our James Lionel Grisham. The trial attracted significant interest, and public opinion supported Mitchell, however, on December 17, 1925, found him "guilty". Since Dad testified on Mitchell’s behalf, Dad was also blacklisted by the “upper brass”. Their grudge kept Dad from getting his well deserved “stars” (5 times he was blocked for promotion to Brigadier General). Read the full story .... or See original video footage
Among those who testified for Mitchell were Edward Rickenbacker, Hap Arnold, Carl Spaatz, Fiorello La Guardia and our James Lionel Grisham. The trial attracted significant interest, and public opinion supported Mitchell, however, on December 17, 1925, found him "guilty". Since Dad testified on Mitchell’s behalf, Dad was also blacklisted by the “upper brass”. Their grudge kept Dad from getting his well deserved “stars” (5 times he was blocked for promotion to Brigadier General). Read the full story .... or See original video footage
The First Aerial Survey of the Philippine Islands
by W. H. Grisham
My Dad, Captain James L. Grisham of the Army Air Corps led a squadron of Loening amphibian planes for the first aerial survey of the Philippine Islands. Here in this first photo three of these amphibians are beached on the shore line.
Lt. Bob Knowland was flying number 13 – an unlucky plane since when they landed for refueling a few hundred miles south of Nichols Field, Manila, and took off for the next leg of their survey, Bob’s number 13 could not lift off. The power in the Loening’s engines was barely adequate – and they would only lift off if the planes reached the velocity needed to get up on the “step” of the pontoon. Lt. Bob Knowland’s No.13 was the only one in Dad’s squadron which could not lift off. So Dad led the rest of the squadron down again to get No. 13 airborne. Dad got the rest of the squadron to line up downstream with instructions to cross their planes in front of No. 13 as it was taking off in order to rough up the water so that Lt. Knowland could pop up on the wavelets to get his pontoon’s on the “step”. It worked, and the squadron proceeded on south all the way to the archipelago between Borneo and Mindanao. |
This second picture shows another earlier Loening amphibian with Gen. William (“Billy”) Mitchell (the famous visionary of air power) on the left and Major Henry Clagett on the right. This was January 1925.
Later, in 1942 Major Clagett had been promoted to General, and was in command at Moffett Field near the northern end of the San Francisco Bay. Dad’s Bomber Squadron was operating out of Moffett, and I was a 16 year old Stanford University Sophomore. General Clagett had a young Daughter who was probably the most beautiful young woman I have ever seen. So naturally I dated her – and as usual I was in love. Unfortunately for me Lieutenant Jimmy Stewart (the famous movie actor) was in the Army Air Corp Reserves at Moffet Field. And he also started dating her. Can you believe it? She “dumped” me for him! |
Jimmy's family life
Jimmy married a first wife Elizabeth about 1915. She had a child that same year which they named, James Lionel Grisham, Jr. It is not really known why, but Jimmy divorced Elizabeth and refused to recognize the child as his own. Thoughts are that Elizabeth was either pregnant when dating Jimmy with another man's child, or Jimmy discovered she had been unfaithful. Something must have been discovered about the father of the child, that Jimmy believed the child was not his own.
Then Jimmy married his second wife, Elsie Lehr. They were married for almost 40 years. They had two children: (i) James Lionel Grisham, Jr. (read more....) (ii) William Howard Grisham (read more....) Jimmy was a great father and husband. He was patient with his rambunctious boys, but disciplined them when they'd gone too far. He'd make an appointment with them, after he'd cooled down and was no longer angry, and he offered their backsides the brown leather belt. The boys always dreaded getting an appointment with "Dad's belt". Jimmy eventually retired from the Air Force in 1941 and resided in Bakersfield, California where he passed away from liver failure on April 7, 1953. He was a true soldier, instrumental in America's air power. He was fearless, lovable, kind to all. A great husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was buried with full military honors at the National Cemetery in Point Loma, San Diego, California. To this day his grave site overlooks the old runways of Rockwell Field where he landed his planes in the 1930's. A treasure of American history, now with the Lord. |
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