Bereavement Announcement for the Passing of James E Barnes

Prayers said for a wonderful warrior. I rode back and forth to many UDT/SEAL Assoc. meetings in Tampa with Jim Barnes.  What a gentleman!  I pray that he is at long last reunited with his beloved wife Hazel, who passed away years ago.  Jim P.S. I believe that the bio immediately below was written by Jim's friend Rick Green, a platoon-mate of mine in SEAL Team 2.  Rick and I rented a house in Chania, Crete when we were stationed there in '73-'74. Jim Barnes was in the S&R element that guided the landing force over the reefs for the invasion of Kwajalein during Operation Flintlock in the Pacific, Jan-Feb 1944.  That operation included the first use of UDTs and while S&R guided forces to the beach, the UDT were sent in to clear the harbor.  

Jim started collecting historical material around forty years ago and developed one of the largest personal collections of frogman and special ops material from WWII to through Vietnam that I've seen. He sent letters to countless military and veterans to collect their personal stories.  His extensive historical collection has been used as reference for several authors, and he's provided much of it to the USSOCOM History and Research Office so we could scan it for the SOCOM historical archives.  When SOCKOR was developing the package to name one of their buildings after a Korean War UDT frogman a few years ago, it was Jim's collection that provided all of the material that was needed, including the man's DD-214.  Jim was a member of the board for the UDT-SEAL Museum at Ft Pierce for many years, and during his era was one of, if not the longest, serving members.   Around 1996, I told Jim about an engraved brick program that was being used in St. Petersburg for fund raising.  Jim took the idea to the other members of the UDT/SEAL Museum Board of Directors and convinced them to try it.  Some were skeptical but they approved is and last time I checked the museum had sold well over 3000 bricks and was a great success.  Around 2015, Jim attended a ceremony in St. Petersburg where officials from the French embassy awarded "The Order of Legion of Honor" to several veterans who had helped liberate France during WWII.  Jim didn't qualify for the medal himself having served in the Pacific and not Europe, but he made it his mission to locate WWII veterans from all services  who were eligible for the award and help them submit the paperwork so they could receive it.  In some instances the veterans were in nursing homes and unable to do the work themselves so Jim helped their family's submit the paperwork.  We don't have a complete count of all the veterans he helped but it was quite a few. I talked with Judy, Jim's daughter, yesterday and she said Jim died around 0130 Friday morning, 7 January 2022, in his house, where he wanted to be  I saw Jim a few weeks ago and while getting frail, he was still the great Jim Barnes we knew.  Jim died just 9 days shy of his 101 birthday on 16 January.  Last year during COVID, Jim's daughter Judy helped him to a chair on his front lawn and the members of the St Petersburg UDT/SEL Association chapter and other friends drove by in cars, trucks, and motorcycles to honk horns and cheers to help Jim celebrate.  Jim would introduce himself as "'Older than dirt' Jim Barnes" and was known by all.  The special operations community has lost a great WWII frogman and a good friend. 

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Bereavement Announcement for the Passing of James E Barnes

We are saddened to share the passing of James "Jim" E. Barnes, 100, January 7, 2022. Jim was a WWII Scout and Raider. Funeral Arrangements have not been made yet, but Jim's ashes will be scattered at sea during the Muster in November 2022, Ft. Pierce FL. World War II Scout and Raider veteran Jim Barnes passed away peacefully during sleep at his long-time home in St. Petersburg, Florida on 7 January 2022 several days before his 101st birth date. He is survived by his daughter Judy Wacha and her family. Judy was his in-home caretaker, while he was recovering from a fall in October 2021. He was preceded in death by his wife Hazel and daughter Audrey. Jim joined the Navy, and was volunteer member of the Amphibious Scouts and Raiders (S&R) during World War II. When asked why he volunteered for Scouts & Raiders, he remarked: "Because it was a dangerous outfit." In November 1943, he was assigned variously to USS Monrovia (APA-31) and USS Rocky Mount (ACG-3) in the South Pacific. He was involved in assault landings at: Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, several islands in the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, and Borneo. Jim was discharged in December 1945. For too many years, the story of the Amphibious Scouts and Raiders had, for the most part, remained somewhat obscure in Amphibious Force and Naval Special Warfare history. In the early 1990s, however, the men gained significant identity and recognition through association with the UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida. This was largely because of the actions and activities Jim Barnes, who served as a member of the Board of Directors at the museum for many years, and was very active in Museum events in partnership with his wife Hazel. Jim was a member of the UDT-SEAL Association, and attended many annual reunion events at Little Creek, Virginia. He was a member of the Moose Lodge and Veterans of Foreign Wars; and, was very active with American Legion Post 14 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Jim was a devoted collector or history, and maintained an incredible amount of World War II and Naval history. He had a special passion for Scout and Raider history; prepared newsletters for S&R families, created and maintained a social directory for the men to remain connected, and assisted in organizing reunion dinners for S&R veterans and their families during annual Muster events at the Museum in Ft Pierce. After-life services are not currently planned. Jim's ashes will be scattered at sea during the 2022 Museum Veteran's Day Muster event at Ft Pierce in November.