Frederick James “Jim” Lynn was born a Mainer and headed down a path that would see him remain one. His first big step in that journey was enrolling at the prestigious Bates College. At some point in his third year, he decided to serve his country and applied for and received an appointment to West Point. He joined the Class of 1959 in June of that year. As if the rigors of plebe year were not enough, Jim fought with the Math Department the entire year and, in the end, his valiant efforts fell short. Given the option of leaving West Point or coming back for another plebe year, he joined us in the Class of 1960 in August 1956. That determination to serve his country that surfaced at Bates once again shaped his future.

It was very strange to have Jim as a classmate who was not required to brace or endure other challenges that he had successfully met the previous year. But we all got used to it. Jim took advantage of a lot of cadet activities: the Hop Committee and Cadet Chapel Choir all four years and the Plebe Pistol Team. Life for Jim changed significantly when Vince Grande set him up on a blind date with Elaine, the best friend of Vince’s girlfriend Gloria. This foursome basically “dragged” their way around West Point as often as they could.

Upon graduation Jim was commissioned as a Field Artillery officer. He and Elaine were married right after graduation, on the same day and in the same church as Vince and Gloria Grande. Their first assignment was the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, OK and then to Fort Bragg, NC for Airborne School. They remained at Bragg with a host of other classmates assigned to the 82d Airborne Division. Jim was first assigned to A Battery of the 319th Artillery Regiment, where he cut his teeth as a section leader and executive officer. Success at that level led to a stint at division HQ. Daughter Jennifer was born in April 1961.

In the spring of 1963, Jim attended the Artillery and Missile Officers’ Advanced Course at Fort Sill. While there he received orders to the 12th Artillery, a 155 mm Howitzer unit forming up at Fort Sill from scratch for eventual deployment to Korea. Elaine and Jennifer stayed on as the 12th trained on its new equipment, and son Bradley was born in August 1963. Jim deployed to Korea, and Elaine and children returned to her hometown in Telford, PA.

Upon completion of this unaccompanied tour, the Army rewarded Jim with an ROTC assignment at Dartmouth College. As a Mainer, he was delighted to be returning to New England and was excited to learn that Dartmouth was the alma mater of Sylvanus Thayer, the “Father of West Point.” Dartmouth also had a strong record of its graduates serving their country in both world wars; however, when Jim arrived opposition to the Vietnam War was well underway. This hostile and sometime violent environment resulted in very personal disrespect towards Jim and the ROTC faculty. Jim met this challenge, accomplished the mission, and departed for the calm of Vietnam in the summer of 1968.

Jim served in various artillery units, first with the 9th Division and then with the 25th Division (when the 9th returned to the U.S. in 1969). He was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone and the Purple Heart. His last assignment was in Hawaii as executive officer for the 5-13th Field Artillery Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division. He resigned his commission in 1973.

Three years with the 25th in the Hawaiian climate convinced him to stay on the islands to pursue the next phase of his life. He picked the real estate sector to start his next career, managing a branch office and eventually opening his own firm. In 1977 the market hit a down cycle, and Jim rejoined the public sector, working for the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety.

After 20 years of government service, he retired in 1997. Despite “retirement,” Jim was still up for useful work, so he joined an H&R Block office as a tax return preparer. Now dedicated to a new form of service, Jim enrolled in a professional tax preparation course and became an enrolled agent with the Internal Revenue Service. For the next 12 years he worked with H&R Block preparing returns during tax season and occasionally teaching tax preparation during the off-season.

In 1991, Jim married Ophelia Nisperos and added a daughter, Heather, to the two children and three grandchildren from his first marriage. Until his death in December 2021, Jim remained on the islands he had selected as his home in 1973. Honolulu is a long way from Pittsfield, ME, but it suited Jim just fine. He is buried in the Punchbowl of the Pacific.

Jim’s Howitzer biography, written in May 1960, read: “His determination and ability will make Jim another ‘great’ in the Long Gray Line.” It certainly did.

Well Done, Jim; Be Thou at Peace.

— Company A-2 classmates, Jim and family