James Stanley Woolfolk

James Stanley Woolfolk. Image Source: "Those Killed In The Services." Tecoan 1945. UA50-01. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

James Stanley Woolfolk was born on October 24, 1919, Greenville, N. C., the first son of Stanley Martin Woolfolk (1892-1955) and Lillie Peeble Woolfolk (1895-1984). He graduated from Greenville High School in the class of 1937. After studying at ECTC, he graduated from West Point Military Academy in May 1942 and was assigned to the Army Air Corps. He received his wings at Foster Army Airfield, Victoria, Texas, in December 1942. He was then stationed at Moore Field Air Force Base, Hidalgo County, Texas, for transitional training.

It was near Moore Field that Woolfolk met his death on January 27, 1943, when his plane crashed and burned. Lt Woolfolk was the third ECTC alumni to die in service in WWII, and the first of 1943. Before year’s end, another nine would lay down their lives while serving in the armed forces.

Woolfolk’s burial in the Greenwood Cemetery in Greenville was exceptional. Lt. Byron A. Evans of the Army Air Corps accompanied the body to Greenville. Several commissioned officers and a detachment of enlisted men from Seymour Johnson Field, Goldsboro, N.C., acted as a guard of honor. Taps were sounded at the grave. Legionnaires were honorary pallbearers.

ECTC also held “a simple but impressive memorial service” in Wright Auditorium during chapel services, paying tribute to “the three alumni” who had, at that time, lost their lives in the armed forces: Lt. O. D. Andrews, Lt. John C. Johnston; and Lt. James Stanley Woolfolk.

At the ceremony, ECTC President Leon R. Meadows observed, “We have assembled this morning for the purpose of paying tribute to three of our boys, all commissioned officers in the air force.” A fellow student, J. C. Shepherd, president of the YMCA, spoke of Lt. Woolfolk personally, noting his “great interest in all things scientific, as shown in even his grammar school days, and his love for flying, which made him write that he would rather fly even though he should crash, than not to have had the chance to fly.”

Sources:

• “18 N.C. Youths In Air Forces: Buddy Lewis Among Group Now in Training as Pilots at Randolph Field.” News and Observer. August 24, 1942. P. 1.
• “Class of 1942 World War II Deaths: West Point in Orange County, New York.” The Historical Marker Database. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=50166
• “Deaths and Funerals: Lt. James S. Woolfolk.” News and Observer. February 1, 1943. P. 6.
• “High Tribute Paid Alumni Casualties.” Teco Echo. February 13, 1943. Pp. 1, 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37915
• “Moore Field Pilot Killed.” Valley Morning Star. December 18, 1942. P. 1.
• “Service Flag For ECTC Presented.” Teco Echo. August 23, 1943. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37925
• “‘Yanks’ Take Big Share In Confederate Rites.” News and Observer. May 11, 1943. P. 2.

Related Materials

James Stanley Woolfolk. Image Source: Green Lights, 1936. Unpaginated yearbook for the Greenville High School.

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