James Clifton White Jr. “JC”, was born June 1, 1921 in Rowlett, Texas, to James “Buck” Clifton White Sr., a salesman, and Winnie Faye McCallum White, a telephone operator. 

By 1930 the family, which included a daughter, had moved to Dallas. The parents divorced in 1933.

James attended Technical High School for three years, 1935-1938.  He enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 14, 1938 in Dallas and completed his basic training at the Naval Training Station San Diego, CA.  James Clifton White was assigned to the U.S.S. Arizona and first reported aboard for duty on March 11, 1939.

James was a fireman first class when he was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Six months after he was killed his fiancee wrote a plaintive letter to the Navy asking for any information about him. She asked whether he might have been picked up by another ship and was unable to write. Or, she wondered, was he in a hospital? Other relatives of Arizona men had similar hope that their man had miraculously survived. One mother even traveled up and down the West Coast looking for her son in Navy hospitals.

Sources: The Dallas Morning News; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona and updated by the efforts of “Operation 85”.  Special thanks to James’ cousin Wayne McCallum for providing the pictures.