James Landis

JAMES VALHAKE LANDIS

1920-2014

James Vlahake Landis, Senior Chief Petty Officer, USN, retired, passed away at home on November 24, 2014.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Ann Burmester.

Jim was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 10, 1920. The son of Nicholas Vlahake Landis, a WWI Veteran, and Maria Rizan, a French national.

From age 3-13, he was raised in a Catholic Seminary in the Pyrenees Mountains in Southern France, after which he returned to the US.

He graduated from Jackson High School in Jackson, MI. He completed 2 years of college before joining the Navy in December of 1939.

After being wounded during the attack on Pearl harbor December 7, 1941, he received the first of three Purple Hearts. He continued to serve on the old Lexington CV-2 aircraft carrier until it's sinking on May 8, 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Other assignments included Guadalcanal in 1943, the Black Cat Squadron, and flying the Bob Hope troop where he met his wife.

His entire Navy career was in aviation in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam serving on several aircraft carriers to include the USS Mindoro CVE-120, Saratoga CVA-60, and the Independence CVA-62, and later, a four year assignment working out of Thailand aerial mapping SE Asia.

Jim retired at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in 1970 with 30 years in the Navy, followed by a successful career in real estate.

Memorial Service held at Warrington United Methodist Church, 301 E Winthrop Ave, Pensacola at 2:00 pm, Saturday, January 10, 2015.

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