Surviving a war, and a century
Nov. 11—Jim Lampkins doesn't bring up World War II very often.
His daughter, Linda Noble, said she hadn't heard many of his war stories until just a few years ago. "He didn't talk about it very much," Noble said. "I think this generation didn't speak of things like this."
But Lampkins has stories. And, at age 100, he is believed to be the oldest World War II veteran in Baker County.
He and 12 others were honored on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, in a ceremony at Meadowbrook Place, where he has lived for about 6 years.
"We should always continue to honor our veterans," said Julie Daly, community relations director at Meadowbrook.
Spurred by Pearl Harbor
Lampkins joined the U.S. Navy in 1942, prompted by the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
He enlisted with a buddy, who joined the U.S. Marines.
"He never spent any time in a war zone, and that's where I spent all my time," Lampkins said.
He was stationed on a Navy destroyer, the USS Bradford, in the South Pacific. The ship's mission was to intercept Japanese kamikaze pilots before they got to the main fleet.
His fleet was Task Force 58 with 1,500 ships.
Lampkins was assigned as a radar operator, which meant he watched the radar screen for four hours at a time. U.S. aircraft carried a special signal, so he could decipher between U.S. and Japanese planes.
"Every one was identified," he said. "You had to know who everybody was."
During his tour, his ship shot down 15 Japanese airplanes, and sank a Japanese cruiser and several smaller ships.
His own ship was never hit by enemy fire.
Others weren't so lucky and he, along with other sailors, were sent to find the survivors after an attack.
In a 2019 interview with the Baker City Herald, Lampkins recounted that grim task.
"There weren't many (survivors) — oil burning on the water, the ship still exploding," he said.
Lampkins was discharged in 1945. He'd married his wife, Virginia, on Sept. 11, 1944, during a 10-day leave.
They were married for 70 years. She passed away in 2014.
He still carries the stories of World War II. And he'll talk about them, a bit, in his quiet voice.
"That's a long time ago," he said.
