After devastating war injuries, 94-year-old dad, military hero shows us value of living life fully
By Norma Adams-Wade
Texas Metro News
What better time to say “Thank you for your service” than to say it now to a well-deserving war hero during Father’s Day and the American250 observance?
At age 94, former Air Force staff sergeant and B-36 bomber plane radar engineer James Wallace Breedlove of Duncanville is the hero and father that we salute.
Heroes, of course, rarely admit that they are that. Breedlove is no exception. He does admit, though, that people have flocked to him for life coaching during and after his military service. This even more so after he sustained life-altering burns and disfigurement. He was one of only two survivors of 17 on board in an inferno crash while testing a plane during the 1950s Cold War. The other survivor died in the hospital.
People who know Breedlove attest to his wisdom. For example, ask banker and former Duncanville Mayor Pro Tem Mark D. Cooks who said, “When I first started running for office, so many people suggested I talk with him.” Cooks saluted the then-92-year-old Breedlove on social media two years ago.
“How many of you recall this business legend…Jim Breedlove…full of wisdom and knowledge?” Cooks posted, showing a photograph of himself and Breedlove together. “I had the opportunity to sit on his sofa for a long dialogue a few years ago,”
Near-death experience
Breedlove gives his own version of why his life experiences resulted in counseling and serving others. He surmises that the answer goes beyond human understanding, and that surviving his Air Force near-death experience, a month before he turned 20, gave his life significant purpose.
“I survived three years of hospitalization with over 30 surgeries — two years focused on putting me back together physically, then later psychologically,” the former wounded cadet recalled during a Texas Metro News interview. “One day you’re this. The next day not so. …When the universe decided I needed to stick around, I discovered the world I live in is bigger than me. …Yes, I sometimes silently contemplated suicide. I am thankful the universe did not allow it.”
About Father’s day and America250
So, Father’s Day and America250 is our opportunity to thank the universe as well. Father’s Day is a long tradition that became an official holiday in 1972. The occasion honors Dads, granddads, and men who serve as father figures in general as they positively impacted the generation under them.
Breedlove’s daughter, Rhonda Breedlove, is a financial analysis retired from the Boeing aerospace manufacturing company. She said growing up, she did not understand the life lessons her Dad taught her and her two brothers. If ever he gave them money, they had to pay him back. They had to manage their spending. Now she realizes he was making his children independent and equipped to pay their own way in the world.
“He did not spoil his kids,” she said. “”As a youth, I felt he was being harsh compared to my friends. But he had a purpose in trying to help me develop the strength to stand on my own feet. I developed that strength and I have it now.”
America 250 marks two centuries and a half since founding fathers adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, gaining independence from British rule during the eight-year American Revolution, 1775 to 1783. The nation currently is honoring that achievement with celebrations that will culminate the 250 years on July 4, 2026.
Early childhood
Breedlove was born in Donora, Penn. on May 20, 1932 and is the last remaining of his parents’ four children. His dad, James Edward Breedlove, was a steel mill worker. His Mom, Queen Victoria Strange Breedlove, raised the family. Breedlove’s parents taught family and personal pride and dignity, a trait that stuck with him, even throughout his life’s trauma.
Breedlove’s brilliant mind and desire to excel showed up early in his life as did his fascination with airplanes he watched in awe flying overhead as a kid. Instead of going to work in the local steel mill as was customary, Breedlove joined the Air Force where his leadership soon stood out. He graduated #1 in his Air Force training classes, quickly gained Staff Sargeant rank, and was promoted to train others to operate the B-29 and later enhanced B-36 bombers designed to carry atom bombs.
Injuries, recovery
Then came life-changing April 15, 1952, that was preparing him to leave his teenage years, one month before he turned 20. The bomber plane crashed during takeoff for a training mission, set off an inferno in a farmer’s wheat field near Spokane, Washington, and was widely reported by newspapers with photographs of the decimated wreckage,
Thededicated psychologist, who would not allow Breedlove to give up, guided him through the grueling emotional and physical sessions that prepared him for how the world would react to what friends said was his once handsome face now severely scarred. People who looked beyond the scars to find his inner-self became friends. He learned to waste no time on those who could not see beyond his wounds.
Life after service
After medical discharge in 1955, Breedlove completed degrees at various colleges including Howard University in Washington D. C. There he earned the reputation of a personal life coach, advising other students, all younger than him. He later held various executive jobs at corporations mainly involving engineering and government contracting. Then-President Bill Clinton appointing him Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator over the five-state region that includes Texas. He served 1994-1998.
He married his sweetheart, Alice Wallace Breedlove from Chandler, Texas. The couple lived in five cities including Los Angeles and St. Louis before landing in the Dallas area in the early 1990s. They had a combined family of two sons and a daughter, three grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. His wife died earlier this year.
Professional achievements, leadership, wisdom
Breedlove’s life brimmed over with executive jobs and civic service for nearly 40 years before he completely retired in 1998. Achievements include Air Force missile systems engineer, graduating Summa Cum Laude in electrical engineering from Howard University, completing subsequent studies at other institutions, overseeing contracts with Resolution Trust Corporation, and being a guest lecturer in engineering at various colleges. Also, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton appointed him to head a five-state region of the Small Business administration.
Civically, he was a NAACP executive in various cities, member of various college boards, Los Angeles YMCA President’s Committee member, served four years on the Texas State Bar Grievance Committee, and devoted time to various professional honor societies including the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. His various honors include being named 1977 Citizen Engineer by 13 northeastern Indiana engineering societies.
In the Dallas-area, Breedlove continued his wide-spread community service with organizations including the NAACP and serving on numerous boards. He wrote the hard-hitting newspaper column, “The Truth Clinic,” that ran in various Black-owned newspapers. It covered cultural and community issues including self-esteem, self-destruction, political mistakes, money-matters, and community development. He authored the book Let’s call them Ni**ger and Other Controversial Commentary on Black America — described as exposing racism as a “virulent virus” that undermines America’s position as a global leader.”
People who know Breedlove
Banker and former Duncanville Mayor Pro Tem Mark D. Cooks said more: “He gives back not only to those in his professional industry but to the community as well. Sharing the knowledge he learned from his experiences allows the rest of us to become more than we were before. … He keeps the door open for us to return as needed. … I got wisdom way beyond the banking industry…. Concerning his war injuries, his mind is so detailed, you see beyond his physical self.”
Clara Brown-Trimble is a retired Dallas County executive office manager. She said she worked with Breedlove when he headed a local NAACP office. She said the burns from the plane crash forced him to present his inner brilliance instead of his former handsome looks. “He accomplished so much more after he was burned,” Brown-Trimble said. “We all have benefited from his desire to teach and share.”
Dr. Ester Davis is a host/producer of “The Ester Davis television Show” on YouTube, a Dallas Post Tribune columnist, and an active civic volunteer. She said: Breedlove is significant “because of the role he and his brilliance played in the forming of America.” She said after he was disfigured, he struggled briefly then “just flowed with it and followed divine orders.” Of his many civic improvements, she said, “It’s a lesson for anyone to see him conduct board meetings. As humans we want to feel sorry for ourselves. But not him. I don’t know anybody else like him. He is amazing.”
Accessing the value of a life
So, this occasion of Father’s Day and America250 allows us to pay homage to fathers, father-figures, and heroes in our lives. Breedlove is brutally honest when he questions why the universe took him from that burning plane while all others on the flight died. What does one do with the answer to that question? Breedlove has thoroughly examined the query. He has found a final peace about his life’s purpose.
