WWII vet celebrates 75th wedding anniversary

He was born in a small Oklahoma town that doesn't exist anymore. She was a Texan.

Seven children, 19 grandchildren, 37 great grandchildren and eight great great grandchildren later, James and Leedoma Wallace are celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary.

97-year-old James Wallace joined the US Army in 1938 and met his wife when he was stationed in Fort Sill. James purchased his moonshine from a local woman, and noticed she had a daughter.

“Then I visited more often.” James Wallace said.

They got married on February 3, 1940 and had two children. A year later, James was sent overseas to fight in World War II.

“He went all across Africa,” Raymond Wallace, their eldest child, said. “He went over on an old Italian freighter they had converted into a troop ship.”

While James served overseas as a Forward Observer, Leedoma, now 91, took a job welding ships.

“My mother could cook, sew and weld,” Raymond said. “And she was our doctor, too.”

James was injured many times during the war, but the final injury came in 1944, when he lost his leg in Italy. A fellow soldier lit a fire in a foxhole. James didn’t want him to get in trouble so he crawled inside and put a poncho over the hole.

The oxygen vanished and just as James was passing out, he reached up to pull the jacket aside and let the air in.

“The doctor said I would’ve died if I didn’t,” James said.

He survived but his leg was burned away.

WWII was the deadliest war in world history. Out of the 16 million Americans who served in the war, more than 407,000 never returned.

And those who returned are fading fast. According to US Veterans Administration statistics, 492 WWII veterans die every day.

There was no training to reintroduce soldiers into mainstream society back in the day. When James returned to the US from the war, now disabled, the family moved out to California for work.

“We got a tent and went out in the field and picked fruit,” Raymond said. “Okies. As it got towards winter, we picked cotton.”

Eventually the family made their way back to Oklahoma.

James and Leedoma settled in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and sold goods on Main Street when the old railroad station was still in operation.

“Across the street was a co-op,” Raymond said. “My mom and dad sold cream for people to make ice cream.”

The couple had a gathering in Broken Arrow on Saturday, celebrating 75 years of service to each other, family, God and country. Family came in from all over the country to attend the event.

“My dad has kept our family together, through all this time,” Raymond said. “Through thick and thin. And dedicated himself to our country. He’s my hero. They’re an inspiration to me.”

Raymond is living proof of that inspiration. He and his wife Judith have been together for 54 years.

When asked how James was able to set such a shining example, the answer was simple.

“We didn’t fight,” James said. “Too much.”