James Errington Milligan

West Point, 1949

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Terry Powers on April 5, 2023:

James E. Milligan 1949 Cullum No. 17076-1949 | October 6, 1949 | Died in Seguin,TX Bellevieu Cemetery, TN JAMES ERRINGTON MILLIGAN KILLED OCTOBER 6, 1949, IN A PLANE CRASH NEAR RANDOLPH FIELD, TEXAS, AGED 22 YEARS. JIMMY MILLIGAN was born December 7, 1926 near Trenton, Tennessee. He was the son of Wallace F. Milligan and Mrs. Milligan. He was graduated from Peabody High School in Trenton, Tennessee on May 21, 1945, and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point soon after. It was in June of 1949, when Jimmy graduated from West Point, that he went home to rest and recuperate from an almost fatal automobile wreck. He left Trenton in August to go to Randolph Field in Texas as a member of the Air Force. From this base on October 6, James and another officer took off on a routine training flight. They never came back, for their T-6 plane crashed within sight of the Seguin auxiliary field, which they were approaching for a landing. Crash equipment and medical personnel stationed at the Seguin field rushed to the scene of the crash, and were later joined by additional equipment from Randolph. Both flyers were dead when military personnel arrived. Jimmy's funeral was at the Baptist Church in Trenton. This church which he loved was filled to its capacity with flowers and friends. How proud Jimmy would have been had he seen it. The pastor whom he loved said words of eulogy which were fitting. The choir sang songs which Jimmy loved, and "Miss Mary", his Glee Club teacher, sang "Sunrise Tomorrow". For his pallbearers six of his closest buddies were chosen; his friend and roommate from the Academy acted as military escort. Members of the National Guard were in front of the church to direct his friends who came to bid him goodbye. Burial was in Bellevieu Cemetery, which is nine miles from Trenton. Here in reverent solemnity a military ceremony took place. The slowly setting sun threw a shaft of sunlight upon his flag-draped coffin as his energetic body sank to its last sleep. But the soul in him, the glowing, fervent soul of him, surely was flaming in eager joy upon some other dawn for: He wanted to fly- Up, up through God's blue, Up-until man's eye Could not follow him through Lacy clouds that seemed To beckon him on A shape, a speck, and then- He was gone. He wanted to fly; It meant more than life, And if he had to die And leave this storm and strife, He went the way he chose- To join the heroes, those Who have gone before. Yes, he wanted to fly, To plumb the unknown sea, To make the heavens safe For earthlings-you and me. Now, he sails the sky above us, To his Lord he clings. God has taken the engine And left him only the wings. This poem was read by Dr. Wieland in the funeral message. -submitted by His Mother

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