James M. Banning
James' Bucket List Dream
Bucket List Dreams is a non-profit organization created to tell the stories of US Military Veterans and wherever possible, to fulfill their Bucket List Dreams. This story will not end with a Bucket List Dream. The person of whom we write has long since passed away. This story is not about an Audey Murphy type war hero. It is not really a war story but rather it is about one of America’s finest… a man who stepped up to serve during the Second World War. This is more a story about romance, commitment, hard work and a man ‘who did life well’. This is a story that every young person should read because Jim represents all that a man should be. His life was not about ‘him’. It was about service, sacrifice, dedication, determination, and commitment… to the very end he provided for and was dedicated to his wife and family. America would be a much better place if we would raise up more like him.
Jim was raised in Arkansas City, Kansas. He was the youngest of four children… one brother and two sisters. Walter Banning, his father, was a house painter among other types of work. His mother, like all the truly great women of the Greatest Generation had one mission in life… to make a home for her family and to raise her children… no day care here, just a fully dedicated and engaged mother who loved her work.
Jim, like all young children, went to school, played sports, worked on his elder sister’s farm and in his other sister’s bakery. He learned early on how to work. The family lived through the Great Depression, and as difficult as it was, they survived. To sum it up, Jim was taught all the values, the disciplines, the determinations, and the commitments of the “Greatest Generation”.
This is where our story really starts.
Jim, like many young men in WWII was graduated from high school early so that he could go into themilitary. Jim’s older brother, Walter ‘Dub’ Banning, Jr. was already in the Army and was fighting with the infamous ‘Devil’s Brigade’. Dub went on to be seriously wounded in Anzio. At age 17, Jim received hisdiploma and immediately left for boot camp with the US Navy. He walked away from his high school sweetheart and went to war. Because of his experience in the family bakery, he was made a baker. Boot Camp, baking school, and he was off to Europe. Specifically, a Naval base in Plymouth, England. 
Arriving in England was his introduction to war because Plymouth was the single most bombed city
during the ‘Blitz’. Jim would remain in Plymouth until the end of the war. He performed well… seaman,
to Third Class Petty Officer and on to Second Class and even First Class. He would establish a life-long
friendship with George Jones… another sailor stationed with him and who was a very funny guy. George
kept Jim and his family to come, entertained for literally decades.
Like every other military man in history, Jim lived for the times he could ‘get into town’. Plymouth was a
typical English city full of British culture and of course, the fantastic English people. This was long before
the British Culture was ‘erased’ by globalism. The pub’s, the food, the vehicles, the architecture, were all
distinctively British. Jim loved it. He loved to especially visit a certain bakery. Yes, the baked goods were
good… basic because baking materials were limited and often hard to come by, but still the final product
was good. The bakery essentially produced the ‘staples’ of wartime life for Plymouth residents. But it
was not the baked goods that drew Jim. It was the pretty young girl who worked the counter… Doreen
Chappell.
Shortly after meeting Doreen, Jim wrote to his family and told them that he had met the girl he intended
to marry. Doreen on the other hand, was living under specific directions from her father; “You go with
Englishmen or none at all… you do not go with Yanks”. When Jim told Doreen about what he had told his
family, Doreen was highly offended. She said, “Who do you think you are? I’m not marrying any
bloomin’ Yank”.
Jim had a real challenge on his hands… a father who had forbid his daughter so see Yanks and a
daughter who respected her father enough to follow his directives. He did not give up, however. He had
made up his mind, so he persisted. Over time he began to break down the resistance. Bringing food and
critical supplies to a family in the most attacked city in Britain helped. As Doreen’s family began to warm
up to the Yank, courting began. Jim and Doreen dated and eventually decided to marry. With family and
US Navy blessings, arrangements were made. It was not all that easy in that the church they had booked
for the wedding was bombed and destroyed. A different church was found, and it all came together on
July 28, 1945.
The war had made this wedding difficult. While dating Jim, Doreen showed up one morning at the
bakery for work only to find that the front of the building had been blown off in a German attack.
Fortunately, they could still bake. Moving forward customers were served from where the windows
used to be. On another occasion, Jim, on his way to see Doreen was running down a street while the
building fronts on the other side of the street were being blown out by a German strafing run. The
Germans attacked Doreen’s neighborhood one night and a house just a few doors down was hit. The
entire family was killed and their infant child was found hanging over an overhead wire. Not to mention
the losses… friends from their workplaces, their neighborhood and extended family being killed and
wounded while fighting overseas. These were terrible times but the Greatest Generation were ‘strong’
people… so strong that they could plan, enjoy, and celebrate amidst the tragedy all around them.
Seven months after being married, Doreen left England on the now infamous “War Bride Ship.” The
Queen Elizabeth ferried 6000 war brides from across Europe to the US. The trip had been arranged by
the US Military to ensure that these families had a good chance at life in the US. Jim, because he had to
return on a troop ship, had gone ahead. Jim was already in Kansas and was busy preparing a home for
his wife to arrive. Doreen arrived in New York and made her way across the US to Arkansas City, Kansas.
Seven months after being married, Doreen left England on the now infamous “War Bride Ship.” The
Queen Elizabeth ferried 6000 war brides from across Europe to the US. The trip had been arranged by
the US Military to ensure that these families had a good chance at life in the US. Jim, because he had to
return on a troop ship, had gone ahead. Jim was already in Kansas and was busy preparing a home for
his wife to arrive. Doreen arrived in New York and made her way across the US to Arkansas City, Kansas.
Shortly after arriving in Monroe, Jim and Doreen met Al and Margaret McMullen. Al had been a Sargent
in the Air Force in England and Margaret was his war bride wife. The two couples established a lifelong
bond… Doreen and Margaret were like sisters. They raised their children together, they attended the
same church and they provided friendship and comfort for each other. Both Doreen and Margaret had
to cope with being in a new country with family back in England. They each had three children who all
grew up together. Holidays were spent together as one big family. Christmas Eve was always very
special… church and off to Margaret’s house for great food and family enjoyment. Then it was everyone
home to a much-anticipated Christmas morning.
Over the years other members of the Chappell family would immigrate to the US and join the Banning’s
in Monroe, MI. The Banning’s would raise three sons. Two of the Banning boys went on to serve in
military during the Vietnam War.
There is so much more to James Banning’s story. With all the details, it is truly a story worthy of a
Hollywood movie…. much more worthy than most of what Hollywood produces today. This is a story of
one US Military Veteran who stepped up to serve, and after serving his country, served his family and his
friends for the rest of his life. He did his part to build the once great USA. He helped to give us the
1950’s… the single most wonderful time to be alive in American. There is no greater story of
achievement available in the human experience than the amazing people of the Greatest Generation.
Very few were the Hollywood type heroes but rather most did much more. They, including Jim, did life
the right way… men and women alike. It was a job ‘well done’. As we say at Bucket List Dreams, “BRAVO
ZULU’.
