Campbell, James D, “Jim” born 27-01-1922 in Saint Francisville-Laurence County/Illinois, 
the son of Daniel Edward Campbell (1880–1967) 
and Lydia M. born Turnmire Campbell (1897–1974). 
James had one brother and one sister, Lee Roy “Bunk” Campbell (1917–1971) 
and Louise Campbell Swarens (1919–2006). 
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James Campbell’s father died when he was 7 and he was raised by his aunt & uncle after his mother remarried. Sadly, his mother also died in 1940. Jim enlisted in the U.S Army 26-08-1942, and volunteered for the Airborne. He was placed in Easy Company, 506th PIR, 
at Camp Toccoa. 
Camp Toccoa (formerly Camp Toombs) was a basic training camp for United States Army paratroopers during World War II, located five miles (8 km) west of Toccoa, Georgia. Among the units to train at the camp was the 506th Infantry Regiment. The regiment’s Company E (“Easy Company”) was portrayed in the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. 
He became squad assistant to Sergeant Josef Joe Toye 
in 2nd platoon. On D-Day, Jim parachuted into Normandy. 
He made it through the campaign unscathed, and on 17-09-1944, he jumped into The Netherlands for Operation Market Garden. Easy’s 1st and 2nd platoon’s had been placed in Battalion reserve after the Crossroads fighting on October 6. Edward James “Babe” Heffron
recalls that on that day,
Death and burial ground of Campbell, James D “Jim”.
Jim received a letter from his wife saying she had met another man. Babe recalls Jim being down and wondering what would happen to their baby. Easy were then moved back on the front line on Oct 8. Joe Toye had asked Babe to come on a patrol with him but Jim told Babe to stay, and that he would go instead. The two men had just walked around the side of a building when a mortar hit, collapsing the building on top of them. Babe said “I ran over to check on Toye and Campbell. There was a large cloud of shell powder, like a mushroom cloud, and Toye stepped out of it. He said “Don’t touch me, I’m hit all over”. He was hit bad in the back and legs. His neck was all chewed up with shrapnel, it looked like rats got to it. It was his 3rd time hit in 4 months of combat. I looked at Campbell. Before I could check his pulse, Toye said “He’s dead, Heffron, I checked”. The shell had hit Campbell in the back, killing him instantly. He had a pair of Dutch wooden shoes, a gift from a farmer, in his mussette bag, and the shell had sliced those shoes right in half”. Babe credited Jim with saving his life. He was just 21 years old.Jim was buried in his hometown of Lawrence, Illinois.
James D “Jim” Campbell, a Easy Compnay warrior is buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery, Saint Francisville, Lawrence County, Illinois, United States.
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