James C. “Jay " Kent was born on August 12, 1923 in Benton, Saline County, Arkansas. He was the son of James W. Kent and Ruby Maroon. He attended Bryant High School and was then employed by Republic Mining and Manufacturing Company in Bauxite, Arkansas.

On November 5, 1942, James enlisted in the Army Air Corps and received his boot camp training at Enid Air Base, Oklahoma. He then received further training at Denver, Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada. James completed aerial photography school and Armor Bombardment School as well as qualifying as an aerial gunner on B-24 Liberator bombers. James was assigned the 425th Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, 14th Air Force and departed the United States for Kunming, China (via India)in September, 1943. During his eight months overseas he flew 31 missions in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. On 5/20/1944 his B-24, aircraft Sn# 42-100249, departed from Liuchow Airbase in China and was flying a sweep over the South China Sea when it spotted a convoy of ten enemy ships. The sighting was reported and the convoy's position given via a radio message back to base. Such an opportunity could not be passed up, and command ordered multi-plane attacks. At some point during this operation, James' plane was lost in the sea.

James is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph located in Bryant Cemetery, Bryant, Saline County, Arkansas. He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov