James Lynn Billington was born on January 12, 1923, in Calloway County, Kentucky. He was the son of Roy Ellis Billington and Edna Pearl Palmer Billington. He was graduated from Gainesville High School in 1940 and attended the University of Florida for one year. He entered the US Military Academy at West Point in 1941, and after a year, received a medical discharge. He enlisted in the Air Corps on November 13, 1942, and received his wings in 1943.

2Lt Billington was in the Normandy beachhead campaign on D-Day, and on June 24, 1944, he volunteered for a special mission to knock out German tanks in the battle at St. Lo, France.

Piloting the P-47 Thunderbolt #43-25270 on June 24, 1944, he took off from station 417 Ashford, Kent, UK, on an armed reconnaissance over the Cherbourg area. He was shot down by AA fire, diving nose-first into the ground at 1320. Billington bailed out successfully but was too low to survive.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net