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Contact Info
Home Town Born in Carnegie, Crawford County Pennsylvania
Last Address James Wagner's wife and child were living in New London, Conn. He was killed in an airplane accident at East Mountain, near the New York-Connecticut border on route to Groton, Conn.
Date of Passing Nov 03, 1945
Location of Interment Woodlawn Cemetery - Titusville, Pennsylvania
Ensign James Frederick Wagner
Naval Aviator, WWII
Killed while on Active Duty
James Wagner graduated from Colestock High School, Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1940 and enlisted, for six years, in the Navy on 19 December, 1940. He was serving as a storekeeper third class on the USS Beaver AS-5, a submarine tender at Casablanca in North Africa in early 1943, when he received orders to return to the United States to train as a Navy pilot. First he went to pre-flight school at Louisiana State college for three months and on 8 July, 1943, entered the civil aeronautics administration and war training school at Natchitoches, La. He was successively at Athens, Ga., Dailas, Texas, and Pensacola, Fla. At Pensacola he received his wings on 7 November, 1944. Ensign Wagner was afterward stationed at Deland, Fla., and Groose Isle, Mich. Next, he was assigned to an airwing of the new aircraft carrier, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVB-42, which had just been commissioned on the 1st of October 1945.
Wagner was killed in an air crash, of a single-engine two-seater SNJ Navy training plane, one month later on the 3rd of November 1945.
Other Comments:
Ensign James Frederick Wagner, and his wife Anna had a child, a girl named Priscilla Ann - who became: Priscilla (Wagner) Beaulieu Presley, the wife of Elvis Presley.
Ensign Wagner was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was just 5 months old. Her mother, Anna met and married Paul Beaulieu in 1948, he was the only father Priscilla ever knew.
World War II/European-African-Middle Eastern Theater/Convoy Duty / East Bound Atlantic Transit
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Description East Bound Transit
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories James Wagner graduated from Colestock High School, Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1940 and enlisted, for six years, in the Navy on 19 December, 1940. He was serving as a storekeeper third class on the USS Beaver AS-5, a submarine tender at Casablanca in North Africa in early 1943, when he received orders to return to the United States to train as a Navy pilot. First he went to pre-flight school at Louisiana State college for three months and on 8 July, 1943, entered the civil aeronautics administration and war training school at Natchitoches, La. He was successively at Athens, Ga., Dailas, Texas, and Pensacola, Fla. At Pensacola he received his wings on 7 November, 1944. He was afterward stationed at Deland, Fla., and Groose Isle, Mich. He was assigned to the new aircraft carrier, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVB-42, which had just been commissioned in October 1945.
