James Lee Shackleford was born at Catchings, Sharkey County, Mississippi on August 10, 1923. (Catchings is no longer on the map.) He was the oldest of five children of James Paris Shackleford (12 Feb 1893 – 27 Jul 1985), who was born at Belzoni, Humphreys County, Mississippi; and Ella Lee (Walters) Shackleford (28 Jan 1902 – 7 Aug 1992), who was born in Mississippi. His parents married about 1922. In 1930 the family lived on a farm in Washington County, Mississippi, and his father was a cotton farmer. In 1940 his father was a street construction foreman for the Works Progress Administration.

He registered for the draft at Hollandale, Washington County, Mississippi on June 30, 1942. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 135 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. He completed three years of high school, and worked as a sales clerk. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Greenville Army Air Field, Mississippi on December 14, 1942.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training, and was assigned as nose turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Everitt F. Goethe. In December 1943 the Goethe crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 they were assigned to the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52743 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On May 20, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group took off from Lavenham Airfield to bomb a target at Liege, Belgium. Lt Goethe's crew took off in B-24H 42-52743 in poor visibility due to fog. The aircraft lost its number two engine soon after takeoff, and Lt Goethe was unable to climb or maintain altitude. He attempted to return to base, but the aircraft crashed and burned in a wooded area north of Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk, England, about two miles southwest of the base. Sgt Shackleford and four of his crewmates were killed in the crash. One man, Sgt Ned Vukomanovich, died later that day in hospital. Four men survived.

Sgt Shackleford is buried at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingly, England.

B-24H 42-52743 crew:
• Goethe, Everitt F – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Carmen, Earnest T – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Moentenich, Louis P – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Hartley, James W – 2/Lt – Bombardier – Safe
• Dustman, Darell M – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Allen, Stanley M – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – Safe
• Shackleford, James L – Sgt – Nose Turret Gunner – KIA
• Puglia, Joseph J – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – Safe
• Vukomanovich, Ned – Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Jeffries, William – Sgt – Tail Gunner – Safe

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com