James Wiley '54
Date of birth: August 21, 1932
Date of death: February 22, 1959
Age: 26
Lucky Bag
From the 1954 Lucky Bag:
James Fenton Wiley
Chicago, Illinois
Jim Wiley was among the favored few from the Windy City, and he seemed to have found a home at the Academy. Almost any afternoon you could wander over to the natatorium, and walking along the edge you might happen to gaze into a niche at the bottom of the pool. There in a small heap under the water, slide rule in hand, Reynold's tables and skinny book anchored down, was our middy struggling with those academics. If you could separate him from either the water or the books, he would then be just another common midiot. Jim also does well in navigation whether it be in his favorite media, water, in a yellow peril, or even better yet cruising along that dance floor. The latter was where he belonged.
WATER POLO—4,3. SWIMMING—4,3,2,1. BASKETBALL—2,1. VARSITY: SWIMMING—4,3.
Loss
Jim was lost when his F2H-4 Banshee crashed near NAS Moffett Field, California on February 22, 1959. As of 2013, wreckage from the aircraft was still in place; a video is posted.
He was survived by his wife and is a memory marker in California.
Other
The aircraft he was piloting was assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF) 214… except that VMF-214 was re-designated (as VMA-214) in 1958. The squadron shifted to new aircraft in January of 1959.
Class of 1954
James is one of 37 members of the Class of 1954 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
