It was a hot and sticky day in South Viet Nam in May 1971. LTC Jim Torrence was Senior Advisor to his beloved Rangers, riding in a helicopter flown by South Vietnamese with the 12th RCAT, MACV. It was Jim’s second combat tour in Viet Nam, scheduled to be finished in two months when he would return home to his wife Bert and his two boys, Jimmy and Gardner. As the helicopter flew across the Bassac River in Vinh Binh Province, it either was hit by enemy fire or encountered mechanical difficulties. Witnesses say it quickly lost altitude, spun around once, and then crashed into the river, killing one of America’s best young officers and putting a cruel end to a good life and promising career. Jim was buried at West Point, returning to the place where he was born. He was the oldest of two boys of Dorothy and COL James Torrence ’23.
Jim graduated from Columbus High School in Columbus, GA, in 1950 and enlisted in the Army for the purpose of seeking a USMA appointment. After nine months at the USMA Preparatory School at Stewart Field, Jim entered West Point in June 1951. He was assigned to Company K-1, where he roomed all four years with Ed Anderson and Ted Livesay. The three of them were known as the "Three Musketeers."
Jim was active in football and swimming and excelled in lacrosse. He was named Honorable Mention All-American Lacrosse Goalie in 1955. Another classmate, Dick Fontaine, played on the lacrosse team and remembers, "Jim would knock me down in practice and then would say, ‘Sorry if I hurt you,’ as he extended his hand to help me up. He was a great guy and won people over with his natural leadership." Jim demonstrated a flair for military aptitude and was named cadet captain his First Class year, becoming one of the most respected company commanders in the class.
Upon graduation, Jim went to Ft. Benning for the Infantry Basic Course, Airborne, and Ranger Schools. Then he was off to Germany—first as a platoon leader in the 42d Armored Infantry, and then to Berlin Command as a platoon leader and Executive Officer of M Company, 6th Infantry. Returning to the U.S., Jim was aide-de-camp to BG Bruce Palmer at the Army War College before attending the Advanced Course. He was selected for an assignment with the Ranger Department at the Infantry School, but was curtailed when he was selected to be among the first advisors in South Viet Nam as the Asst. G-3 and Ranger Advisor to the 7th Infantry, ARVN.
Upon completion of his first combat tour, he was assigned to Ft. Campbell as Assistant S-3, S-3, and Company Commander with the 101st Airborne. Jim then went to CGSC before earning a master’s degree in history from Duke University. Next, he returned to USMA, as an assistant professor in the Military Arts and Engineering Department.
During his all-too-brief career, Jim was awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Republic of Viet Nam’s Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, Expert Infantryman Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge, National Defense Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Army Occupation Medal, Viet Nam Service Medal with stars, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
U.S. Army GEN Bruce Palmer wrote, "I first met Jim Torrence in the summer of 1959 at Carlisle Barracks where, as a brand new brigadier general, I was the Deputy Commandant of the Army War College. Jim was my first aide as a general officer, and it was his first assignment as an aide.
I was very impressed with his sincerity and common sense. He was eager to learn and was not afraid to take a chance or risk making a mistake. A fast learner, he mastered the art of being a good aide. He had many talents, and I considered him as one who would become a general officer some day."
The Pulitzer prize-winning author, David Halberstam, visited South Viet Nam as a young reporter in 1962 and was allowed to accompany an ARVN Ranger unit on a combat mission. CPT Jim Torrence was advisor to that Ranger unit. Mr. Halberstam wrote, "When I was a reporter in Viet Nam in the early 60s, the young American advisors there were almost exactly my age, and a significant number of them were from ‘the Point.’ A number of them were very good to me—as young and green and scared as I was at 28. On one of my first operations in the field, I was escorted by CPT Jim Torrence ’55. I was impressed, as much as anything else, by his sense of decency and obligation. Jim Torrence, who I thought was surely going to be a general, went back for a second tour and advised a Vietnamese regiment in 1970. His story seems to me to embody everything that is special about West Point. He was a graduate and the son of a graduate. He was born at West Point while his father taught mathematics there. He never considered going to any other school, and he had never considered any other career. Since his family moved around so much when he was young, Jim always thought of West Point as his one real home. He went to Viet Nam in 1962, full of enthusiasm for the cause, but by the time he was ordered back for his second tour as the Senior Advisor to a Vietnamese Regiment in the Delta, he was skeptical and disillusioned with the war. He accepted his assignment like a professional soldier, however, and was killed there in May 1971 when his command helicopter crashed. I think often of Jim. Whenever I visit West Point to teach a class, his is one of the names on the list of men who died serving their country that I seek out."
A most fitting tribute to Jim was extended by John Martling, a classmate who knew him well. John said, "Jim was the brother I never had, the friend I always wanted, the counselor I always heeded, and the man I wished I could be. After his death, nothing was the same. Joy had departed. Humanity was gone."
We will never forget you, Jim. Be thou at peace!
Classmates and family